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Job Killer Bills

Fact Sheet

Questions and Answers

What Others Are Saying

The Coalition for California Jobs believes that protecting and creating jobs in California should be the top priority of policymakers. Economic growth and job creation are the keys to eliminating the state budget deficit, funding important programs like education and improving our quality of life. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of pending legislation that will kill jobs.

• How Jobs Are Killed
• Job Killer Bills That Must Be Vetoed
• List of Priority Job Killer Bills
• List of Job Killer Bills
• Complete List of Job Killer Bills

HOW JOBS ARE KILLED

Jobs are killed when employers layoff workers or can't afford to hire workers to provide goods and services to consumers. Workers are laid-off (or wages are reduced) if consumers do not buy goods and services from businesses, or because the cost of providing those goods or services has increased to the point where the business is not competitive. Consumers will not buy goods and services if they have less money to spend, or if the goods and services are a lesser value (higher cost/lesser quality) than alternatives in the marketplace. Lower wages and fewer jobs are the result of an employer not being successful in the marketplace -- when an employer is NOT competitive and/or consumers have no money to spend.

Government kills jobs when it passes laws, rules and regulations that discourage investment and production, that add unnecessary cost and burdens to goods and services, or that make California employers uncompetitive.

Job killer bills make employers less competitive or take resources from consumers.

While there are hundreds o pieces of bad legislation pending in the capitol, there are 51 bills on the 2003 Job Killer list. These bills impose burdensome or unnecessary regulations that increase costs on businesses, create new workplace mandates, increase litigation, expand government at businesses' expense, criminalize inadvertent business error, or impose new or higher fees and taxes.

**Job Killer Bills That Must Be Vetoed**

SB 2 (Burton) will impose a new multi-billion dollar health care mandate on California employers -- a burden employers cannot absorb on top of the stresses created by skyrocketing workers' comp costs and other expensive legislative mandates passed in recent years. Rather than increase the number of insured workers in California, it will increase the ranks of the unemployed.

SB 288 (Sher) backers want us to believe that the legislation will help California's air quality. It will not. Instead, will create uncertainty for future investments and greater confusion for California manufacturers trying to comply with California's complex air quality regulations. The bill will discourage them from expanding or modernizing their California facilities and hurt job creation and retention.

SB 796 (Dunn) allows bounty-hunting private attorneys to sue employers for even minor or inadvertent wage and hour labor code violations and extort civil penalties or settlements. SB 796 will hurt California employers ability to provide jobs as they will be unable to bear the cost burden of additional frivolous lawsuits.

AB 16 (Jackson) unnecessarily complicates the ability to move oil products to California refineries, which will result in supply problems, price spikes and job loss in the state.

AB 1715 (Corbett) will limit the ability of employers and employees to agree to arbitrate disputes and will open the door to costly lawsuits that benefit lawyers, not workers. Unnecessary lawsuit and court costs will further limit employers' ability to provide jobs.

AB 274 (Koretz) presumes that an employer is retaliating against an employee if the employer discharges, demotes, suspends or reduces the hours or pay of an employee within 90 after an employee makes a claim under the Labor Code. AB 274 will expose California employers to costly and meritless lawsuits and will harm their ability to provide jobs in the state.

SB 810 (Burton) will unnecessarily complicate the ability of landowners to conduct prudent stewardship of private forestlands and result in the loss of billions in dollars of state taxes, closure of many mills, and the loss of thousands of family wage jobs.

**PRIORITY JOB KILLER BILLS**

Here is a list of the Job Killer bills introduced this year that are still moving in the California Legislature, updated July 14, 2003. Following this is a complete list of all Job Killer bills considered this year.

**SB 288 (Sher)**
Blocks federal reforms of "new source review" rules and creates new lawsuits.

How it kills jobs: Conflicting and confusing grafting of federal law onto state law would jeopardize existing permits and weaken current air pollution requirements while likely resulting in new fees on employers. Unnecessary lawsuits would increase costs of litigation, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 288 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 16 (Jackson)**
Restricts movement of oil produced form offshore platforms to pipelines.

How it kills jobs: Creates oil supply uncertainty, raising prices for petroleum products, increasing costs for employers and consumers, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 16 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 2 (Burton)**
Requires employers to provide health insurance or pay tax.

How it kills jobs: Imposes new multi-billion dollar cost on employers, raising cost to consumers and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moved into conference committee.

Learn more: Click hereand select Senate from the House field and type 2 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 274 (Koretz)**
Presumes that an employer is retaliating against an employee if the employer discharges, demotes, suspends or reduces the hours or pay of an employee within 90 days after an employee makes a claim under the Labor Code.

How it kills jobs: An employee can create a 90 day safe harbor against employer action by filing a claim under the Labor Code because proving a negative (that the action was NOT in retaliation) is nearly impossible. This reduces employer's ability to manage wages and hours, discipline troublesome employees, thus raising costs on products and services, making the employer less competitive, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 274 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 1715 (Corbett)**
Limits use of arbitration in employment contracts.

How it kills jobs: By resulting in more employment disputes being adjudicated through the courts, rather than the normally more streamlined arbitration process, the bill will drive up the cost of litigation, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1715 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 515 (Kuehl)**
Deny employers the right to use Anti-SLAPP motions.

How it kills jobs: Employers right to free speech would be infringed by frivolous lawsuits, making defense against lawsuits more expensive, making the employer less competitive and raising costs to consumers, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 515 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 95 (Corbett)**
Expands lawsuits under the Unfair Competition Law.

How it kills jobs: Employers are frequently the subject of frivolous and abusive lawsuits filed under the so-called Unfair Competition Law. Routinely, small businesses are subjected to "shakedown" lawsuits filed by attorneys with the goal of extracting settlements to avoid incurring substantial legal defense costs. Rather than meaningfully reform this abusive litigation practice, AB 95 expands the ability of attorneys to shakedown businesses, increasing litigation costs, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 95 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 122 (Escutia)**
Employers sued under the Unfair Competition Law would have to "disgorge" profits, even if no injury is found.

How it kills jobs: Abusive and frivolous lawsuits under the UCL, already a problem for employers who are victims of extortion to avoid costly litigation, would greatly expand under these bills to create a new fund of money to reward aggressive attorneys. Raises costs for employers and consumers, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 122 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 76 (Corbett)**
Employers will be liable for the harassment of a worker by a person over which the employer has no control, such as customers and clients.

How it kills jobs: Increases insurance costs, exposing employers to attorneys fees, settlements, and judgments, raising costs of products, making employers less competitive, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 76 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 223 (Diaz)**
Employers pay attorneys fees even if only one penny judgment for employee.

How it kills jobs: Attorneys will be encouraged to sue employers even when there is no real injury to the employee in order to earn attorneys fees. This increases the cost to employers in insurance, attorney fees, settlements, etc. making them less competitive by increasing costs to consumers, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 223 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 796 (Dunn)**
Allows bounty-hunting private attorneys to sue employers for wage and hour labor code violations.

How it kills jobs: Expands the grounds by which employers can be sued by private attorneys, increasing the risks of hiring employees, increasing insurance costs, increasing attorney fees, increasing costs of settlements, raising costs to consumers, making the employer less competitive, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 796 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 20 (Sher)**
Imposes fee on manufacturers of any electronic device to fund recycling, and prohibits sale in the state of any device for which a fee has not been paid.

How it kills jobs: Purchases over the Internet from out-of-state manufacturers could avoid the fee, making California products more expensive and less competitive, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 20 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 572 (Yee)**
New incentives to file retaliation suits against employers.

How it kills jobs: Adds new grounds for retaliation suits against employers, increases penalties, adds personal liability and creates a new crime, including jail-time, for violations. Increases insurance costs, attorney fees, settlements, judgments, raising prices and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 406 in the Bill Number field.

**ACA 16 (Hancock)**
Raises property taxes on businesses by enacting a "split roll" constitutional amendment.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, taking resources from consumers, discouraging business investment in real property, killing jobs.
July 14, 2003 Status: Moving this year, still in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 16 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 1690 (Leno)**
Local governments can raise income taxes.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs. July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1690 in the Bill Number field.

JOB KILLERS 2003

• Expensive, Unnecesary Regulatory Burdens
• Expensive Workplace Mandates
• Increases Frivolous Litigation
• Expands Government at Employers' Expense
• Criminalize Business Conduct
• New Taxes and Fees

1. EXPENSIVE, UNNECESSARY REGULATORY BURDENS.

These bills impose burdensome and unnecessary regulations that increase costs for employers, making their products or services more expensive, without providing significant consumer, environmental or other benefit. This makes employers less competitive and takes more money from consumers, thus killing jobs.

Environmental, energy, and other regulatory bills:

AB 406 (Jackson)
Prohibits project applicants from submitting draft reports or participating in document initiation and preparation under the California Quality Act (CEQA).

How it kills jobs: The construction sector has been among the most productive during this economic recession. This bill will lead to inaccurate EIR reports, higher project costs, more project litigation and unnecessary delays in public review and approvals. This raises costs to employers and consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 406 in the Bill Number field.

SB 532 (Romero)
Significantly expands CEQA by requiring risk assessment studies even when state environmental and public health officials find that a risk assessment is not necessary.

How it kills jobs: CEQA already contains the most rigorous environmental protection requirements in the nation. Employers spend billions of dollars annually complying with these tough environmental rules. Unnecessary studies will add more costs, making products and services more expensive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 532 in the Bill Number field.

AB 1015 (Laird)
Imposes redundant and unnecessary drinking water verification for development that conflicts with existing policy.

How it kills jobs: The bill will result in extensive, costly litigation and will needlessly slow down development in the state, raising costs on consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1015 in the Bill Number field.

SB 923 (Sher)
Imposes conditions on waivers for waste discharges.

How it kills jobs: Imposes costly, unnecessary, and unreasonable new conditions on dischargers even while regional water boards are revising waiver policies. Deprives the regional boards of flexibility needed to fashion waivers tailored to individual and categories of dischargers. This raises costs to employers, increasing costs to consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 923 in the Bill Number field.

SB 888 (Dunn)
Re-regulate the energy markets, increases energy costs, eliminates direct access and threatens new supplies.

How it kills jobs: The bill raises the cost of electricity for many manufacturing employers, making their products less competitive, killing jobs. It also threatens future electricity supplies, making future prices likely higher and supplies less reliable, causing employers not to expand in California, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 888 in the Bill Number field.

SB 304 (Morrow)
Mandates the same price of gasoline between refiners and franchise dealers within a region.

How it kills jobs: By forcing refiners to offer the lowest wholesale price to all dealers in a region, refiners are not likely to lower the price to meet competition in a particular location within the region, thus keeping retail prices higher. If they do lower prices across a region, the refiner may choose to make up any losses in less competitive markets, exacerbating the existing regional differences in gasoline prices. In addition to creating an enforcement nightmare, this bill makes gasoline more expensive for employers and consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 304 in the Bill Number field.

SB 974 (Alarcon)
Grants bid preference for "socially responsible" businesses doing business with the state.

How it kills jobs: Bidding preferences hurt small businesses in California that cannot absorb the various costs associated with meeting the various standards established in law. Each new standard represents a new cost to bidding on state projects, placing many California businesses at a competitive disadvantage, costing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 974 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 288 (Sher)**
Blocks federal reforms of "new source review" rules and creates new lawsuits.

How it kills jobs: Conflicting and confusing grafting of federal law onto state law would jeopardize existing permits and weaken current air pollution requirements while likely resulting in new fees on employers. Unnecessary lawsuits would increase costs of litigation, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 288 in the Bill Number field.

AB 623 (Lieber)
Imposes criminal penalties for Prop 65 chemical releases even if employer does not know of the release.

How it kills jobs: Already strict laws prohibiting chemical discharges with hefty civil penalties and private attorney rights of action would become even more punitive, with criminal liability for unknowing and unintended releases. This greatly increases the risks and costs of doing business in California, encouraging companies to leave the state, raising costs to consumers, making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 623 in the Bill Number field.

AB 47 (Simitian)
Imposes redundant regulation on timber harvesting plans (THP)

How it kills jobs: California timber rules lead the nation. This bill requires findings and studies for THPs that are redundant to existing cumulative impact analysis for THPs. This will raise the cost of timber products in California, making other state's products more cost competitive, further killing jobs in California.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 47 in the Bill Number field.

SB 64 (Speier)
Prohibits an insurer from using credit scores to set the price for a homeowner policy or to determine whether or not a homeowner policy will be offered.

How it kills jobs: Consumers benefit from use of credit scoring because they earn discounted premiums. This bill will exacerbate an already tight homeowners insurance market, increase premiums to consumers and may also drive insurers from the California market, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 64 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 16 (Jackson)**
Restricts movement of oil produced form offshore platforms to pipelines.

How it kills jobs: Creates oil supply uncertainty, raising prices for petroleum products, increasing costs for employers and consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 16 in the Bill Number field.

SB 679 (Ortiz)
Mandates nutritional information for all food sold in restaurants.

How it kills jobs: Burdensome and onerous requirement that would raise the cost of restaurant food for consumers, expose owners to lawsuits for incorrect information, making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 679 in the Bill Number field.

2. EXPENSIVE WORKPLACE MANDATES.

These include bills that impose burdensome mandates on employers or unnecessarily restrict operations in the workplace that make products and services more expensive. This makes employers less competitive and takes resources away from consumers, killing jobs.

Health care mandates:

**SB 2 (Burton)**
Requires employers to provide health insurance or pay tax.

How it kills jobs: Imposes new multi-billion dollar cost on employers, raising cost to consumers and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moved into conference committee

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 2 in the Bill Number field.

SB 921 (Kuehl)
Universal health insurance funded by employers.

How it kills jobs: Imposes new multi-billion dollar cost on employers, raising cost to consumers and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moved into conference committee

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 921 in the Bill Number field.

AB 1527 (Frommer)
Requires most employers to provide health insurance or pay tax.

How it kills jobs: Imposes new multi-billion dollar cost on employers, raising cost to consumers and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moved into conference committee

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1527 in the Bill Number field.

AB 1528 (Cohn)
Employers pay costs of state health insurance for employees.

How it kills jobs: Imposes new multi-billion dollar cost on employers, raising cost to consumers and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moved into conference committee

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1528 in the Bill Number field.

Other workplace mandates:

AB 226 (Vargas)
Prohibits the issuance of corporate owned life insurance (COLI).

How it kills jobs: Many employers use corporate owned life insurance policies as a way to pay for employee retirement and benefit plans. By eliminating COLI policies, these employers would be forced to drop health coverage and retiree benefits or fund them by cutting wages, jobs, or other employee benefits.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 226 in the Bill Number field.

SB 57 (Burton)
Mandates yearly increases in minimum wage rates to track the consumer price index.

How it kills jobs: Employer costs would rise by at least $624 million annually, raising costs to consumers and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 57 in the Bill Number field.

SB 576 (Alarcon)
Extends benefits for Unemployment Insurance.

How it kills jobs: Increases employer UI costs by $404 million by triggering payment of UI without regard to looming UI trust fund insolvency or double digit employer UI tax increases made likely by last year's huge benefit increase. This raises costs of employer's products and services, making employer less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 576 in the Bill Number field.

SB 569 (Alarcon)
Creates a new way to qualify for unemployment insurance.

How it kills jobs: Raises the cost of UI by at least $120 million annually, increasing cost of products and services, making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 569 in the Bill Number field.

3. INCREASES FRIVOLOUS LITIGATION.

These bills make it easier to bring frivolous lawsuits against employers, making them pay more for attorneys and settlements. This increases the costs of products and services, making the employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

**AB 274 (Koretz)**
Presumes that an employer is retaliating against an employee if the employer discharges, demotes, suspends or reduces the hours or pay of an employee within 90 days after an employee makes a claim under the Labor Code.

How it kills jobs: An employee can create a 90 day safe harbor against employer action by filing a claim under the Labor Code because proving a negative (that the action was NOT in retaliation) is nearly impossible. This reduces employer's ability to manage wages and hours, discipline troublesome employees, thus raising costs on products and services, making the employer less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 274 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 1715 (Corbett)**
Limits use of arbitration in employment contracts.

How it kills jobs: By resulting in more employment disputes being adjudicated through the courts, rather than the normally more streamlined arbitration process, the bill will drive up the cost of litigation, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1715 in the Bill Number field.

SB 917 (Alarcon)
Creates vague and expansive legal liability for corporation directors.

How it kills jobs: Would discourage qualified individuals from serving as corporate directors, increase costs for insurance (if available) and attorneys in the case of litigation, raising the costs of products and services, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 917 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 515 (Kuehl)**
Deny employers the right to use Anti-SLAPP motions.

How it kills jobs: Employers right to free speech would be infringed by frivolous lawsuits, making defense against lawsuits more expensive, making the employer less competitive and raising costs to consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 515 in the Bill Number field.

AB 95 (Corbett)
Expands lawsuits under the Unfair Competition Law.

How it kills jobs: Employers are frequently the subject of frivolous and abusive lawsuits filed under the so-called Unfair Competition Law. Routinely, small businesses are subjected to "shakedown" lawsuits filed by attorneys with the goal of extracting settlements to avoid incurring substantial legal defense costs. Rather than meaningfully reform this abusive litigation practice, AB 95 expands the ability of attorneys to shakedown businesses, increasing litigation costs, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 95 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 122 (Escutia)**
Employers sued under the Unfair Competition Law would have to "disgorge" profits, even if no injury is found.

How it kills jobs: Abusive and frivolous lawsuits under the UCL, already a problem for employers who are victims of extortion to avoid costly litigation, would greatly expand under these bills to create a new fund of money to reward aggressive attorneys. Raises costs for employers and consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 122 in the Bill Number field.

AB 634 (Steinberg)
No protective orders allowed for settlements of alleged elder abuse.

How it kills jobs: Would discourage settlements of lawsuits in elder abuse cases, increasing litigation costs and delaying recovery, raise the costs of insurance, taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 634 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 76 (Corbett)**
Employers will be liable for the harassment of a worker by a person over which the employer has no control, such as customers and clients.

How it kills jobs: Increases insurance costs, exposing employers to attorneys fees, settlements, and judgments, raising costs of products, making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 76 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 223 (Diaz)**
Employers pay attorneys fees even if only one penny judgment for employee.

How it kills jobs: Attorneys will be encouraged to sue employers even when there is no real injury to the employee in order to earn attorneys fees. This increases the cost to employers in insurance, attorney fees, settlements, etc. making them less competitive by increasing costs to consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 223 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 796 (Dunn)**
Allows bounty-hunting private attorneys to sue employers for wage and hour labor code violations.

How it kills jobs: Expands the grounds by which employers can be sued by private attorneys, increasing the risks of hiring employees, increasing insurance costs, increasing attorney fees, increasing costs of settlements, raising costs to consumers, making the employer less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 796 in the Bill Number field.

AB 1582 (Koretz)
Creates a vague new reason to sue employers for harassment, adding "abusive workplace environment" to the list of prohibited employment practices.

How it kills jobs: Increases cost of litigation, settlements, insurance, and adds a new way for aggressive attorneys to profit from frivolous lawsuits, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1582 in the Bill Number field.

4. EXPANDS GOVERNMENT AT EMPLOYERS' EXPENSE.

These bills create new state programs to be funded by fees on employers, with little or no accountability or program review. This increases costs to employers and consumers, making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

SB 204 (Perata)
Fees on diapers to fund new, unproven recycling technology.

How it kills jobs: Increases bureaucracy and the cost of government, increases the cost of products, making employers less competitive, results in less discretionary income for young families with children, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 204 in the Bill Number field.

AB 586 (Koretz)
Imposes $200 million annual tax on purchasers of disposable cups and bags to fund ocean clean-up.

How it kills jobs: Increases bureaucracy and the cost of government, increases the cost of products and services, taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 586 in the Bill Number field.

SB 511 (Figueroa)
Fees on manufacturers to fund recycling program for mercury light bulbs.

How it kills jobs: Moving from current system to requiring manufacturers to fund a recycling process would increase transaction costs for recycling. Will substantially increase the cost of energy-efficient light bulbs, increasing costs for California's consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 511 in the Bill Number field.

**SB 20 (Sher)**
Imposes fee on manufacturers of any electronic device to fund recycling, and prohibits sale in the state of any device for which a fee has not been paid.

How it kills jobs: Purchases over the Internet from out-of-state manufacturers could avoid the fee, making California products more expensive and less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 20 in the Bill Number field.

AB 1500 (Diaz)
Imposes $700 million annual fee on oil to fund new programs.

How it kills jobs: This bill would result in a 3 to 4 cent hike in the price of fuel, dramatically increasing costs to consumers and employers throughout the state, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1500 in the Bill Number field.

5. CRIMINALIZE BUSINESS CONDUCT

These bills make criminals out of businesses for violating various rules, paperwork requirements, or administrative matters. This is on top of already substantial administrative and civil fines, penalties, and legal liability. They send an anti-jobs message of "be a business go to jail," chilling investment in California, killing jobs.

AB 897 (Jackson)
Regional water boards can't consider economics in issuing Waste Discharge Requirements. Imposes new civil and criminal penalties on waste water dischargers.

How it kills jobs: It could prohibit discharges into federally-listed "impaired" waters, the vast majority of California's waters, even if the discharge does not affect use of the water. These limitations would be costly to overcome, raising costs to consumers and making the employer less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 897 in the Bill Number field.

SB 766 (Florez)
Extends securities fraud liability to officers, directors, accountants, and banks even if they did not trade in securities or intentionally make false statements.

How it kills jobs: Makes operating facilities and hiring employees in California very risky, increasing the costs of insurance, reducing choices for consumers and raising prices, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 766 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 572 (Yee)**
New incentives to file retaliation suits against employers.

How it kills jobs: Adds new grounds for retaliation suits against employers, increases penalties, adds personal liability and creates a new crime, including jail-time, for violations. Increases insurance costs, attorney fees, settlements, judgments, raising prices and making employers less competitive, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 406 in the Bill Number field.

6. NEW TAXES AND FEES.

These bills impose new taxes and fees to pay for existing government programs or under the guise of reforming the tax code or the budget process. Higher taxes and fees will have a direct result of increasing the cost of products and services, making employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

(Please note: these are just a few examples of the numerous pending tax and fee proposals.

**ACA 16 (Hancock)**
Raises property taxes on businesses by enacting a "split roll" constitutional amendment.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, taking resources from consumers, discouraging business investment in real property, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving this year, still in the Assembly

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 16 in the Bill Number field.

SB 516 (Speier)
Raises taxes on small businesses by limiting use of Subchapter S status to under $20 million employers.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 516 in the Bill Number field.

**AB 1690 (Leno)**
Local governments can raise income taxes.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Moving, now in the Senate

Learn more: Click here and select Assembly from the House field and type 1690 in the Bill Number field.

SB 400 (Florez)
Imposes sales tax on services.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 400 in the Bill Number field.

SB 981 (Soto)
Increases cost of fuel by enacting a refinery gate tax of 30 cents per barrel.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, increasing cost of fuel, taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 891 in the Bill Number field.

SB 541 (Torlakson)
Indexes the gas tax for inflation, resulting in near-automatic tax increases.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, increasing the cost of fuel, taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 541 in the Bill Number field.

SB 557 (Kuehl)
Imposes a tax on timber-related products.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, increasing the cost of timber products, increasing housing costs, taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 557 in the Bill Number field.

SB 108 (Romero)
Imposes a "nickel a drink" tax on alcohol.

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, increasing costs to consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 108 in the Bill Number field.

SB 726 (Romero)
Counties can impose taxes on sales of alcoholic beverages

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive, increasing costs to consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 726 in the Bill Number field.

SB 676 (Ortiz)
Imposes tobacco manufacturers fees

How it kills jobs: Extracts more money from employers to pay for government programs, making employers less competitive and taking resources from consumers, killing jobs.

July 14, 2003 Status: Not moving this year

Learn more: Click here and select Senate from the House field and type 676 in the Bill Number field.

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