California Restaurant Association Responds to Passage of Assembly Bill 8
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 11, 2007
Sacramento, Calif. – California Restaurant Association President and CEO Jot Condie made the following statement regarding the passage of Assembly Bill 8:
“The California Restaurant Association (CRA) strongly opposes Assembly Bill 8 (Núñez-Perata) and urges the Governor to veto the bill. This bill would impose a minimum 7.5 percent payroll tax on employers, which will have the greatest negative impact on minority and small businesses and low-income employees. Ironically, this bill will make health coverage even more unaffordable and will result in job loss for the state’s most vulnerable workers.
“AB 8 does not take into consideration small businesses’ ability to pay, but rather imposes a payroll tax that offers no protections for small employers. Under AB 8 premiums for small businesses could increase and there is every expectation that the payroll tax will rise each year to keep pace with escalating health care costs.
“The CRA supports health care reform that embodies the principle of shared responsibility. The CRA supports a one cent sales tax, as that is the most equitable way to ensure that there is adequate funding for a reformed health care system. Although the sales tax will have a significant impact on the restaurant industry we believe that it will be applied fairly.
“AB 8 will create job loss and business failure in small, labor-intensive businesses in low-margin, low-wage industries, such as restaurants. A sales tax is an alternative funding mechanism that does not burden California’s employers, but would provide sufficient revenue to finance a new health care program.
“The CRA supports the Governor’s call for a special session to continue working on this important issue.”
The CRA defeated the employer health care mandate, Proposition 72, in the November 2004 election. Since then, the CRA has been committed to be a part of the right solution to the growing problem of uninsured Californians and has met with a number of stakeholders that are critical players in solving this problem.
