State end-of-session wrap-up
Oct. 9 marked the last day Gov. Jerry Brown could sign or veto any pending legislation. He signed 745 bills, adding to California’s already voluminous book of statutes and vetoed 125 bills. The California Restaurant Association (CRA) had a challenging year, engaging in several key bills that would have had dramatic consequences on the restaurant industry. The CRA is compiling the full list of new laws most directly affecting the restaurant industry, which will be released in November. The CRA lobbying team tracked and lobbied on almost 250 statewide bills. Below are some of the top key bills and their final resolve:
Labor + Employment
Minimum wage and mandatory paid sick leave: The effort to raise the minimum wage, AB 10 (Alejo), to $8.50 and allow for annual upward adjustments was stopped in the Assembly Appropriations Committee due to concerns about the negative impact to the state’s economy, as was the mandatory paid sick leave legislation, AB 400 (Ma).
Mandated Leave: Brown vetoed AB 325 (Lowenthal), which would have mandated employers to provide three days of bereavement leave to be used within 90 days of the loss of a family member. The CRA opposed this measure due to the mandate, and the fact that the restaurant industry is one of great flexibility that can accommodate an employee’s bereavement needs. In his veto message, the Governor acknowledged that employers already accommodate for bereavement leave and suggested that a legislative mandate was not necessary, particularly with the “far reaching” legal liabilities that the bill posed.
Use of credit reports: Brown signed AB 22 (Mendoza), which restricts the use of credit reports in hiring decisions for all non-managerial employees. The CRA had hoped that the bill could have been structured in a way that it would apply to an individual based on their job duties as opposed to their title.
Payroll cards: As more employers are offering payroll cards as a payment option to employees, this year’s bill to drastically restrict the usage of paycards was of great importance to the industry as its practical effect would have been to set up a de-facto ban on the product. The CRA actively opposed SB 931 (Evans) and partnered with others to offer a reasonable compromise, but that was rejected by organized labor groups. SB 931 (Evans) was vetoed by Brown as he shared concerns over the bill going too far and resulting in payroll cards disappearing as a payment option in California.
Environment
Food packaging: SB 568 (Lowenthal) sought to ban the use of polystyrene food packaging materials and was stopped in the Assembly during the final weeks of this year’s legislative session. The ongoing effort to increase the recyclability rates throughout the state, the loss of California based manufacturing jobs associated with the creation of the product, and the added costs to restaurants and school districts all provided strong justification for legislators to stop this bill.
Civil Justice + Disability Law
ADA clean-up legislation: Brown signed SB 384 (Evans), which addressed some of the legal ambiguities created by the passage of SB 1608 in 2008. SB 1608 sought to reduce frivolous ADA litigation by, among other provisions, requiring the plaintiff’s experience actual injury/ harm and by created a process which required plaintiff’s attorneys to notify defendant of their right to a pretrial hearing. SB 384 clarified that plaintiff’s attorney must notify defendants.
Nutrition
Statewide toy ban: AB 1100 (R. Hernandez) would have imposed a statewide ban on toys and other incentives offered by restaurants. The CRA worked vigorously at the beginning of the legislative session to highlight the misguided premise of the bill. The author decided not to move forward with the bill.
Taxation
Soda tax: AB 669 (Monning) would have levied a tax on manufacturers or the first in-state seller of sweetened beverages or concentrates at one cent per fluid ounce of bottled sweetened beverage or per fluid ounce produced from concentrate. The tax applies to any caloric sweetener including sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup or fruit juice concentrate. The bill was stopped early in the legislative year.
SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)
CalFresh (food stamps) enrollment streamlining: Gov. Brown signed AB 6 (Fuentes), which streamlined the process for individuals to enroll in CalFresh, California’s food stamp program. Specifically, the bill eliminates the Statewide Finger Imaging System (SFIS) for CalFresh participants. This law will potentially increase the pool of participants in the restaurant meals program.
Bans on use of food stamps in restaurants: In a handful of California counties, homeless, elderly and disabled food stamp recipients are able to use their benefits at participating restaurants. SB 471 (Rubio) would have prohibited the use of food stamps to buy junk food and specified that restaurant food would fall under the definition “junk food.” The CRA lobbied this bill forcefully at the beginning of the session and CRA succeeded in securing an amendment from the author to exclude restaurants from its provisions. Eventually the bill the dropped all together by the author.
Food Safety
Food handler card: The CRA supported SB 303 (Padilla), which clarified who can provide the food handler course and test and also made clean-up modifications to the California food handler card law passed last year. This bill passed the legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Brown.
Alcohol
Alcohol infusion: The CRA supported SB 32 (Leno), which permits alcohol licensees to engage in the practice of making small amounts of spirits flavored with fruits, vegetables and spices for use solely on the liquor licensee's premises. This legislation passed and was signed into law by the Governor. Prior to this law, this practice was prohibited.