The California Chamber of Commerce released its annual list of “job killer” bills on Monday, targeting 32 measures in the state Legislature it believes will have a negative impact on California’s business climate if they were to become law.
The tally is identical to last year’s, though it’s on the low end of tallies in recent years; in 2010, 43 job killer bills were singled out. Bills are usually added to the list as the legislative session progresses, so this year’s tally is likely to rise.
Among this year’s job killer bills:
• AB 10, which would raise the minimum wage to $9.25 an hour and indexes it to inflation;
• A pair of bills – AB 59 and AB 188 – that would raise commercial property tax rates;
• Three bills – AB 649, AB 1301 and AB 1323 – that would place a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” when drilling for oil and gas; and
• SB 747, which allows the state Department of Public Health to restrict the sale of products determined to contribute to obesity, cancer, heart disease or other public health threats.
The chamber started publicizing job killer bills back in 1997 as a way to put more pressure on lawmakers to drop or amend their bills to make them less hostile to business. Most of the bills have historically not survived the session; those that did have often been vetoed by the governor.
Of the 32 job killer bills identified in 2012, six passed the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown signed four into law. The year before, Brown vetoed four of the five bills sent to his desk.
