News You Need to Know in Two Minutes

The CRA has had early success in our work to elevate the issue of California’s massive debt that resulted from an enormous spike in unemployment payments during the COVID pandemic, but what happens next? Will state lawmakers agree with Governor Newsom that the state should begin to pay down that debt? Sabrina explains why this fight is critical to minimizing the threat of future employer assessments.

Getting an initiative qualified for the ballot – and then passed by the voters – are no small tasks, but we think voters would agree: the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) isn’t doing what was intended, and it’s hurting a lot of people.

AB 257, a bill that creates an unelected “government council” made up of political appointees, has passed in the State Assembly, barely receiving the number of votes it needed to move forward. If you haven’t already visited our website, https://notakeouttakeover.com/, take a moment to do so today. There, you can help make your voice heard about this bill, which targets California’s restaurants with an untold amount of new regulation. It would leave elected lawmakers with little say – if any – on new labor regulation passed by the council.

If you’re a restaurant that qualified for a Restaurant Revitalization Fund grant but didn’t get one, you’re not alone. That’s true for tens of thousands of restaurants in California and hundreds of thousands around the country. And, not surprisingly, new data shows that those who were left out of getting help from that fund are struggling, especially because of the current impacts of the omicron variant of COVID-19. You can get a clearer picture of the situation by watching Sabrina’s video, but be sure to click here to tell Congress to replenish the RRF.

Last summer, we helped defeat AB 257, the bill that aims to create an entirely new government entity, a “government council” made up of unelected, unaccountable political appointees. This council would have the authority to make labor law for counter-service restaurants with more than 30 locations nationwide, but proponents of this idea have already said that if they are successful, they will expand the law throughout the restaurant industry and to other industries as well. 
 

At the CRA’s urging, Governor Newsom has proposed tax fairness for restaurants who received grants from the federal government’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund, along with a partial paydown of the state’s unemployment insurance (UI) debt. Neither of these measures will be official until the state legislature passes the governor’s budget proposal.