CALIFORNIA: Anti-Wal-Mart bill clears Senate committee

Sacramento Bee ^ | 4/6/11 | Dan Walters

[SmithL]

A Capitol political battle lasting years over placing restrictions on Wal-Mart and other big box retail stores flared anew Wednesday when the Senate Governance and Finance Committee approved union-backed legislation.

The bill, Senate Bill 469 by Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, would require proposed "superstore" projects to undergo an "economic impact report" before approval by local governments. It's the latest in a long-string of anti-big box bills; predecessors were vetoed by former Govs. Gray Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[SmithL]

These clowns in the Legislature shouldn't be allowed to do anything until they've come up with a balanced budget.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I’d drive over 200 miles of bumpy dirt road just to shop at Walmart so I could piss off the commie union thugs.

[blam]

Down with union thugs everywhere.

Everything they do is a 'stick-up' of everyone else. It ought to be against the law.

[goldstategop]

At a time when people are trying to save money, CA politicians want to prevent them from shopping in a Wal-mart SuperCenter by force.

They don’t have that malarkey here in CO!

[Graneros]

Well they don’t have to worry about it. Not much building of anything going on out there.

[newzjunkey]

Vargas did this specifically because San Diego rescinded its own local ban.

With registered Socialist (seriously) Bob Filner giving serious consideration to running for mayor in 2012, I imagine Vargas is doing this as a way to get in good with the unions. You see, Vargas challenged Filner in the Democrat primary and lost. I wouldn't be surprised if he still has his eye on that House seat.

I think Vargas was on the San Diego City Council (termed out in '00) when it made the infamous "Enron-by-the-Sea" pension deals with public employee unions.

[Inyo-Mono]

I’d drive over 200 miles of bumpy dirt road just to shop at Walmart so I could piss off the commie union thugs.

That's just about what I do.

[backwoods-engineer]

Why doesn’t Wal-Mart just LEAVE THE FASCIST STATE if such a bill is passed? At what point does complying with Kal-ee-fornya government bullcrap cost more than the business available there?

[Graybeard58]

At what point does complying with Kal-ee-fornya government bullcrap cost more than the business available there?

When it reaches that point, they'll leave.