Posted on 05/31/2008 9:34:44 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
Few pronouncements should chill California business owners more than this: “I'm a San Francisco Democrat, and I know what's best for you.” On legislation large and small, Bay Area Democrats never see any burden as too onerous for businesses to bear.
Now – with a measure requiring paid sick leave for any employee who works as few as seven days a year – this view is again on display. And this time it's got a grossly dishonest overlay. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, the bill's sponsor, and Assemblyman Mark Leno, one of its loudest advocates, make the ludicrous argument that one reason they want the measure enacted is to help businesses' bottom lines.
Who are these San Francisco Democrats kidding?
There is a reason no state has adopted such a law: It would place a vast burden on small businesses. It's not just the cost of having to give one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Paperwork bills alone would wipe out the profit margin for many employers with a handful of workers.
But the measure only gets worse. Its provisions could be enforced through civil lawsuits – setting the stage for the same sort of legal shakedowns over technical infractions that have tormented small businesses in California for decades.
If any bill deserved the chamber of commerce's designation as a “job-killer,” this is it.
Yet Ma and Leno would have us believe that this would help the economy, even if every business group disagrees. They would have us believe that giving California businesses a burden not placed on companies in the other 49 states would have zero effect on their competitiveness. They would have us believe that setting up small employers for lawsuits is a good thing.
Now for something that is also beyond belief: This joke of a bill has already passed the Assembly and looks bound for Senate approval, too. Thankfully, honesty and common sense are likely to prevail when the bill reaches Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk.
Leftists claim to hate big corporations but every measure they pass is in fact a gun aimed at the head of small business.
They actually hate small business because that’s where the freedom is.
These people are nuts — as are the morons who invented the disastrous “Family Medical Leave Act”.
Socialism in the People’s Republic of Kalifornia just marches on. Hey you stupid voters, you put them in office now you pay the price.
Socialism always fails because it cannot pay for itself and it destroys those that do pay the bills. Once Kalifornia is ruined financially, we have a chance to renew the Conservative government and state attiutde of 30 years ago and restore California from Kalifornia once again.
LOL. Arnold has learned something the democratic marxist running the state learned a long time ago. There is absolutely no limits to what the people of CA will tolerate from their rulers.
It’s just idiot leftists destroying another source of revenue for the state!....Just put the burden on the homeowner!
There is absolutely no limits to what the people of CA will tolerate from their rulers.
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So far, this has been true. I hope my lifespan is long enough to see the day when this finally ends. But it just may be a pipedream. This state will probably have to hit bottom first, before the spineless public finally stops tolerating the liberalism that will have destroyed what was once the nation’s model state....
There is no limit to what trash Arnold will sign, just so people will like him.
And if you look at her bio, Fiona Ma is a CPA with an MBA.
You’d think she’d know better.
I sure would hate to be one of her clients.
She got her MBA in 1994 and has been a politico since 1995. I didn't see any substantial private sector work experience after looking at several of her bios. Typical lib.
BUMP
How has FMLA been disastrous?
- It's unpaid
- It's for companies with more than 50 employees
- The employees must work at least a year before it kicks in.
It shouldn't have become law but still it hasn't hurt businesses.
What California needs is a business organization that presents a simple message. It polls its members on who is planning to leave the State when a given law or regulation is enacted.
They keep their message simple. Every time some new madness is proposed, they make a brief announcement that, for example,
“Because of this new burden on business, seven businesses are going to leave California. This will result in 25 million dollars less tax revenue and 114 jobs lost.”
If they make a habit of this, and compile statistics for the end of the year, they can bring a lot of heat down on the politicians responsible.
Then they can publish a one-page announcement showing which legislators proposed these things, and the total cost of their actions to the State.
Imagine the running tab on some of these scoundrels.
This bill will potentially cost 25% of the skilled construction jobs in California.
Employers will simply force their skilled employees to become licensed contractors to be able to work. All jobs will be bid on rather than going by prevailing wage. (live by the sharp pencil)
It will, as a consequence, reduce state income tax revenue, due to the lower compensation that will be paid to workers getting paid by the job, rather than by the hour. It will also end overtime.
You can't fire someone for taking FMLA and you can't discriminate in hiring simply because you think they might (for instance if the prospective hire is of childbearing age). Hiring someone to fill in for the shirking employees on FMLA adds unnecessary costs.
The folks who are left behind get discouraged and resentful. The supervisors are left with a non-stop juggling act trying to make sure everything that needs to get done does get done .
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