Sherman Oaks, CA – The United Chambers of Commerce Government Affairs Committee took the following positions. 

The United Chambers of Commerce at its June monthly Government Affairs meeting took the following positions on 4 State bills. June 1, was effectively the half way point in the legislative process where bills had to be out of the house of origin and sent on to the other house.

In a unanimous vote, UCC took the position along with the Los Angeles City Council to oppose AB 516 which repeals the existing law that authorizes the towing of vehicles for having five or more delinquent parking or traffic violations, and for having a lapsed registration in excess of six months.  

This bill would affect everyone from small business owners to property owners by basically taking away the LAPD’s authority to tow vehicles wherever they are parked. This bill was presented by Assembly Members Chiu and Santiago and passed the Assembly on May 13 and is now in the Senate committee process. The Los Angeles City Council opposes the bill with the resolution made by Councilmember Greig Smith from CD 12 and is now subject to the Mayor’s approval by June 24th.

The United Chambers of Commerce Committee has voted in favor of AB 5This bill by Assembly Member Gonzalez codifies the decision of the California Supreme Court in the Dynamex decision that presumes a worker is an employee unless a hiring entity satisfies a three-factor test. Though AB5 as currently written exempts some occupations, UCC is aware that major companies are working to add more professions and trades to the legislation exempt list and agreed to add that provision to our position. All bills must be finalized and be on the Governor’s desk by September 13, for his signature or veto.

With a super majority vote, the UCC committee has voted to oppose SB 142 which is titled: Employees; lactation accommodation. The primary reason for opposition was that there is already a law that requires employers make available space for lactation purposes and it cannot be a bathroom. AB142 also required employers to maintain a record of requests for 3 years and provide a written response to the employee if those requests cannot be accommodated. The bill could be costly to small businesses if they were required to construct exclusive space at their facility.

In its final vote of the meeting, the Government Affairs Committee discussed and motioned to unanimously oppose SB 43. This bill written by Senator Allen tasks the ARB (California Air Resources Board) with determining whether the state could feasibly assess and assign carbon intensity to retail products for purposes of adding a Sales and Use Tax. The carbon intensity of all consumer products would include the energy to produce, package and transport those goods. If the estimated 3 year, $3 million study concluded with the recommendation that it was feasible to add a carbon intensity number to all retail products sold in the state, the committee felt adding another tax was too onerous especially when our sales and use tax already exceeds 10% in many areas of our region.

The United Chambers of Commerce Government Affairs Committee meets monthly on the 3rd Monday of each month and is focused on bringing forth and taking positions on issues that can affect our San Fernando Valley businesses.

The United Chambers of the San Fernando Valley and Region is a coalition of 18 Member Chambers representing over 135,000 businesses valley wide.  

United Chambers deals with Valley-wide, County-wide and Regional issues and promotes the San Fernando Valley’s overall welfare, progress and economic prosperity.