As business lobbyists pore over 3,000-plus bills introduced by the Democrat-dominated state Legislature last month, their biggest concern is with the 200 or so healthcare proposals.
Two dozen of the bills involve additional mandates on employers or insurers,including expanded coverage for pregnancy-related services or drug treatment programs.
“The focus this year seems to be on driving down healthcare costs so that more people can get covered,” said Martyn Hopper, director of the California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.
Democrats also have come forward with proposals to lower the cost of healthcare, including tax deductions for employers who begin offering healthcare or expand their coverage.
The federation is pushing for legislation to allow small employers to pool together to seek healthcare insurance.
“So much of the working population is uninsured now that we have to come up with something,” Hopper said.
Besides healthcare, business groups are monitoring proposals to increase the minimum wage.
Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, carried a minimum wage hike last year and she’s back with another bill, though the exact amount of the proposed hike is undetermined.
Business lobbyists, meanwhile, are pushing for an overhaul of the state’s daily overtime law. Several proposals are on the table, including one from newly elected Assemblyman Van Tran, R-Costa Mesa. It would allow hourly employees to work out a four-day workweek schedule with their employers.
“This will be a big fight,we expect a lot of labor opposition,” said Julie Broyles, director of employee relations and small business for the California Chamber of Commerce.
Also on the table is cleanup legislation after last year’s massive restructuring of workers’ compensation. Labor unions and lawyers have their own proposals to roll back those same reforms.
Looming over all this is the fight between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats about government reform. Much of this battle ultimately may be fought at the ballot box. But it still could have an effect on the legislative session, making it harder for each side to compromise.
“Everybody’s positioning themselves on where we go with the special election,” Hopper said. “Redistricting and term limits especially have changed the dynamic this year.”
Business groups, especially the California Chamber of Commerce, largely are supportive of the proposals on redistricting, pension reform and spending limits that Schwarzenegger has put forth.
But they also are mobilizing to fight what they expect will be several anti-business measures on the same ballot. Last week, the chamber, the California Business Roundtable and other business groups banded together to form Californians to Stop Higher Taxes.
Time Crunch
Time may be the biggest challenge for Gov. Schwarzenegger and others looking to put initiatives on a November special election ballot.
In order for initiatives to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot, signatures must be submitted to the secretary of state’s office by late May or early June. As of late last month, only 11 initiatives had entered circulation. Another 70 were awaiting “title and summary” declaration by the state attorney general’s office and are weeks away from being allowed to start collecting up to 1 million signatures each.
“There’s only going to be about six to eight weeks for these initiatives to gather signatures,” said Tony Quinn, a political consultant who co-edits the California Target Book, which tracks state races. “That’s a lot of initiatives to hit people with in a short time. Some will undoubtedly be winnowed out.”
Redistricting, which the governor has made a priority, is on two of the 11 initiatives now circulating for signatures (and he’s not endorsed either of those). The other topics he’s mentioned, including merit pay for teachers and reform of the state pension system, are either awaiting “title and summary” by the attorney general or have yet to be submitted for consideration.
Meanwhile, Democratic proposals pending with the attorney general’s office include measures to hike the minimum wage, re-regulate the state’s electric utilities and close corporate tax loopholes.
Montage on Beverly Hills Ballot
Laguna Beach-based Montage Hotels & Resorts LLC has something at stake in Tuesday’s voting in Los Angeles County.
The operator of Laguna’s Montage Resort and Spa is behind the $200 million Montage Hotel Beverly Hills and Public Gardens project on the ballot in Beverly Hills.
Montage Hotels & Resorts is working with developer Athens Group on the project, which calls for a 214-room hotel, 25 condominiums, 33,000 square feet of gardens and a 1,172-space underground parking garage. The Beverly Hills City Council approved the project last year. Opponents forced a referendum.
Supporters, including Beverly Hills Mayor Mark Eggerman, say the project will bring more than $50 million a year in added revenue for the city and revitalize a long-neglected portion of the “Golden Triangle.”
Opponents, a group of residents and merchants under the banner of the Campaign to Save Beverly Hills, say the project would add traffic to already gridlocked streets and cost taxpayers $30 million in public subsidies.
Fine is a staff reporter with the Los Angeles Business Journal.
