The California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) recently released its 2019 “Making CA” legislative agenda with its annual list of Manufacturing “Maker” and “Breaker” bills. The list of seven bills provides a forward path for our California State legislators to champion a growing manufacturing economy.
“Manufacturing Maker” bills directly improve manufacturing competitiveness by removing barriers to operational compliance, long term investment, and/or talent acquisition. This legislation will help keep California’s manufacturing industry at the forefront of global leadership and innovation.
“Workforce and economic development are the essential bedrocks of manufacturing growth,” says CMTA President Lance Hastings. “In today’s hyper-efficient and cutting edge global markets, regional manufacturing can’t grow without a skilled technical workforce and competitive operating environments. With this list, California legislators have a clearer view of how they can grow high wage manufacturing jobs and world class production facilities in their communities.”
This year’s “Maker” bills include proposals for new staff at the state’s economic development arm GO-Biz to coordinate workforce development and target economic development programs, new funding for career technical education, new worker training tax credits, the creation of a statewide economic development plan, and an extension and reform of a sales tax credit for next generation technologies.
The second half of CMTA’s “Making CA” legislative agenda comprises California’s “Manufacturing Breaker” bills and they will be announced in early May. They significantly alter production and/or increase operational costs in a way that lead to lost revenue, job reduction and an inability to effectively compete. These bills often disregard scientific evidence, underestimate economic impacts, or interfere with markets by picking technology winners and losers.
Legislators’ votes on CMTA’s “Making CA” legislative agenda will be the foundation of CMTA’s annual Champions Legislative Vote Record.
CMTA’s “Maker Bills” are listed here:
Workforce Development
*AB 23 (Burke): Creating a Deputy of Business and Workforce Coordination with GO-Biz
Creates a dedicated position within the Office of the Small Business Advocate to coordinate workforce development efforts that are crucial to California’s manufacturing industry.
AB 48 (O’ Donnell): Bond to Fund CTE Education
Provides necessary funding to build California’s pipeline of skilled workers.
*AB 1542 (Rubio): Worker Training Program Tax Credit
Establishes a tax credit for employer investments in training California workers with skills needed to adapt to changes in industries brought on by new technology and innovation.
Economic Development
*AB 1248 (E. Garcia): Incentive Program for Manufacturers Revitalizing Communities with their Investment
Establishes a program that allows local governments to enter into partnerships with small and mid-size manufacturers as part of their plans to revitalize and develop their communities.
AB 742 (Cervantes): Creating the Office of Place-Based Economic Strategies within GO-Biz to Facilitate Opportunity Zones and Promise Zones
Creates a dedicated advocate to strategically expand California’s use of targeted economic development programs.
AB 906 (Cooley): Statewide Economic Development Plan
Requires California to develop a economic development plan that identifies hurdles and policy solutions that would facilitate growth and address challenges faced by strategically important California industries, like manufacturing.
SB 162 (Galgiani): Extending Treasurer’s SUT Program for Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Manufacturing
Extends the CAEATFA program that has been vital to the development of many California-based manufacturers creating innovative and next generation technologies.
CMTA’s “Breaker bills” are listed here:
CREATE OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES
AB 555 (Gonzalez): Paid Sick Leave Expansion Without Reforms
Threatens manufacturers’ ability to effectively manage their operations, meet production schedules and prevent misuse by expanding paid sick leave without any reforms to prevent abuse.
AB 628 (Bonta): Leave Without Checks to Combat Misuse
Creates an incredibly low standard for alleging sexual harassment violations in the workplace that can result in an employee (and any family member) taking leave any time for any amount of time.
SB 135 (Jackson): Inconsistent Leaves of Absence
Requires virtually all manufacturers to provide 12 weeks of protected leave each year that will run inconsistent to federal leave policies and impact manufacturers’ ability to adjust and accommodate production schedules.
SB 561 (Jackson): Expanding the Liability in the CA Consumer Privacy Act
Places a private right of action in the CCPA while removing manufacturers “right to cure” potential violations, exacerbating existing problems in the CCPA that have yet to be fixed and creating significant liability for manufacturers creating and integrating connected devices.
MAKE CALIFORNIA PRODUCTS UNCOMPETITIVE
AB 1468 (McCarty): Misdirected Tax on Opioid Manufacturers
Unfairly places the cost of solving public health problem of drug abuse and over-prescription on manufacturers by imposing an annual $100 million tax on the manufacturers of opioids sold or distributed in California.
AB 1672 (Bloom): Flushable Wipes Ban
Eliminates a popular and efficient California manufactured consumer product used nationwide, without scientific evidence that the ban is necessary.
SB 347 (Monning): Warning Labels for Sweetened Beverages
Creates a California-only warning label for soda and beverages with added sugar, even where the sugar content is less than the sugar in naturally sweet beverages, increasing operating costs and hurting the competitiveness of California-made products.
OVERREACH AND IMPROPER EXPANSION
AB 170 (Gonzalez): Liability for Actions Outside Manufacturers’ Control
Exposes manufacturers to misplaced liability by making them responsible for harassment occurring between the employees of another company.
AB 1066 (Gonzalez) – Using Unemployment Insurance to Fund Strikes
Overreaches beyond the intended purpose of unemployment insurance by substantially extending benefits to workers on strike, depleting the funds available for workers facing an unexpected and involuntary job loss.
* indicates CMTA sponsored bill
Gino DiCaro is VP, Communications, for CMTA, the California Manufacturers and Technology Association. Reach him at gdicaro@cmta.net.