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Bulletin, Progressive, Record, Reporter Wednesday, March 251 2011 9B
COMMUNITY
PERSPECTIVE
California's .Legislature
WHERE I STAND
JOHN KABATECK
CALIFORNIA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF
INDEPENDENT BUSINESS
If this year is any indication,
the news is not good for small
businesses and their employ-
ees. And it's not because of the
troubled economy, recession
or any other external source.
Well, check that, there is an
external source that consis-
tently, year after year, inflicts
pain and hardship on small
businesses.
Cue scary, dramatic music
here... The California Legis-
lature.
Some may assert that it is
an overgeneralization to say
that the entire Legislature
has it out for small business-
es in the state. But consider
for a moment the results of
the NFIB/CA 2010 voting
record. When 50 assembly
members and over 2O sena-
tors have voting records of 50
percent or less on the issues
that matter most to our mem-
bers -- something just isn't
getting through those Capitol
doors.
Let me pause here for a mo-
ment to address those elected
members of the Legislature
that have stellar voting
records with NFIB -- by that,
I mean 80 percent or higher
(at last count there were 36 in
the Assembly and 17 in the
Senate). NFIB sincerely ap-
plauds you for standing with
us... and honestly, you are
not the problem here. Your
hands continue to be tied by
the lack of understanding
your colleagues have about
small business.
Now back to the current
Main Street menace...
Nowhere is this lack of
support more apparent than
in the bills that are allowed
to pass and those that never
see the light of day. Take for
example the rash of bills that
would have reformed the tax
system fo: small business, or
eased wage and hour con-
straints. Most, if not all, of
those pieces of legislation are
dead on arrival. Gone. Never
to be seen again until the
next session. On the flip side,
the following bills that would
harm California businesses
are making their way
through the Legislature with
few, if any, bumps in the
road:
Senate Bill 104 (Steinberg)
would undermine the process
that now guarantees, through
secret-ballot elections, a fair
vote and the expression of
- A Main Street menace?
agricultural employees' true
sentiments on the selection of
a collective bargaining repre-
sentative. It should be noted
that unions were started in
California and the nation
(with help from Gov: Brown
and Cesar Chavez) with the
secret ballot process as a sa-
cred cornerstone. Yet, as la-
bor has witnessed their num-
bers and popularity decrease
in recent years, they are
making any attempt to force
unionization -- through em-
ployee intimidation -- in the
workplace.
Senate Bill 129 (Leno) pro-
hibits employers from taking
necessary steps to maintain a
safe workplace by precluding
them from enforcing a com-
prehensive drug-free employ-
ment policy. Translation here
-- your employees can come
to work high and there's
nothing you can do about it!
Puts employees in harm's
way, forces employers to
choose between violating
either state or federal drug-
free workplace policy, and
gives small businesses one
more reason not to do busi-
ness in California.
SB 653 (Steinberg) gives
counties authority to impose
new personal income, car, gas
and energy taxes -- atop what
Californians are already pay-
ing at the state level.
Throws another heaping
pile of new taxes on small
businesses and taxpayers
already deep in the hole, and
is taxation without represen-
tation -- forces non-residents
to pay new taxes in counties
they do business with with-
out any opportunity to vote
on those taxes.
Senate Bill 746 (Lieu)
would ban anyone under 18
from using an ultraviolet
tanning device -- though not
from tanning under the sun.
What's next, a ban on car
sunroofs so we don't acciden-
tally catch some rays? These
tanning facilities are already
sufficiently regulated by the
Department of Consumer
Affairs. Just another classic
example of Nanny Govern-
ment. It's going to be a long
summer, folks.
Assembly Bill 10 (Alejo)
increases the minimum wage
from $8 to $8.50 and indexes it
to inflation. Like paid sick
leave, another proposal that
will have the opposite effect
on those Californians it aims
to help: the working class.
Where do they expect small
employers to come up with
this new and unanticipated
expense? There'snothing left
in the till.
Assembly Bill 400 (Ma)
mandates that all employers,
except those with collective
bargaining agreements, pro-
vide any employee who has
worked in California for seven
days with paid sick leave, the
accrual rate at one hour for
every 30 hours worked. Yet
another new mandate on
small employers. NFIB sur-
veys repeatedly show that 96
percent of all small employers
have already developed a com-
prehensive leave program
with their employees that is
functioning well. Law of unin-
tended consequences -- will
actually hurt those it intends
to help the most: entry-level
working Californians.
At the end of the day, all
small business owners want
is to be able to create jobs,
grow their businesses and
support their communities.
They can't do that when bad
policies are allowed to sail
through and commonsense
policies die a painful death
every time.
At our annual Day at the
Capitol event last month,
many expressed frustration
and outrage at our elected
leaders. They demanded an
explanation-- and they
deserve one.
As one member who owns
a single restaurant in Sacra-
mento exclaimed, "Our
government seems to do
everything they can to fight
developing the tax base."
• Small businesses, not govern-
ment, are the wealth and job
creators -- and feed our
economy -- yet our elected
officials portray them as the
enemy.
Now is the time for those
who claim to support small
businesses to actually do so
with the most powerful thing
they have -- their votes on
legislation that comes before
them. They can begin by re-
jecting bad bills that increase
the cost of doing business,
add more to the regulatory
burden and give the trial
lawyer lobby more power to
sue vulnerable job creators
-- and passing good policy
that will help scared, uncer-
tain "morn and pop" owners
and their employees crawl
out of the deep hole they're
in.
NFIB and California's
small business owners are
watching to see what those
who profess to support small
business will do ... and we
are ready to hold those who
don't walk the walk and talk
the talk fully accountable.
LETTERS to the EDITOR
Guidelines for Letters
All letters must contain an ad-
dress and a phone number.
We publish only one letter per
week, per person and only
one letter per person, per
month regarding the same
subject. We do not publish
third-party, anonymous, or
open letters. Letters must be
limited to a maximum of 300
words. The editor will cut any
letter in excess of 300 words.
The deadline is Friday at
3 p.m. (Deadlines may change
due to holidays.) Letters may
be taken to any of Feather
Publishing's offices, sent via
fax to 283-3952, or e-mailed to
mail@plumasnews.com.
Serious issues
As a friend of a Seneca Hos-
pital employee, I was pleased
to finally see more than just
public relations fluff printed
about the administration.
There are some very serious
issues which Ms. Burnett has
brought to public attention,
and I want to thank her for
her courage in doing so.
As she stated, she is a for-
mer employee. No current
employee would ever address
such concerns in a public fo-
rum for fear of being targeted
for retaliation. Even employ-
ees who have addressed such
concerns in a private meet-
ing have suffered the conse-
quences of speaking out
against the administration of
Seneca hospital.
And, once again Mr. Self
cannot comment because it
has to be "reviewed by' the
district's attorney." That is
his standard way of avoiding
commenting on anything he
is confronted with that may
be perceived as negative.
As a community you need
to be involved and ask ques-
tions. You all need to fear for
the future of Seneca hospital
under this current adminis-
tration. I encourage everyone
to attend the board of direc-
tors meetings, ask questions,
demand answers.
Seneca hospital is one of
the largest employers in
Chester, and probably has the
largest number of unhappy or
disgruntled employees of any
employer in Chester. This is
directly due to the current
administration. What if all
these people decided they
just couldn't take it any
more? You would not have a
hospital.
John W. Roberts
Chico
Shameful oversight
I am writing to express my
concern with the "tempo-
rary" closure of the Plumas
County Law Library.
Around eight months ago I
called the law library to ask
library staff a question.
When I couldn't get anyone
on the phone I called around
to court departments and
learned that the law library
was "temporarily" closed.
Eight months later the
library is still closed, with no
explanation. What is the
reason behind the library's
closure?
Background: County law
libraries were established in
California law in 1891 (Busi-
ness and Professions Code).
According to this law, county
law libraries are funded
with a small portion of local
Superior Court filing fees in
order to provide county resi-
dents with free access to legal
information (CA B&P 6360).
The Plumas County Law
Library should still be receiv-
ing $23 per court filing (B&P
6321), yet the doors to the
law library remain closed.
Where is the law library's
designated funding going if it
isn't being used to keep the
library open to the public?
We are living in the worst
economy since the Great
Depression, and many people
cannot afford to hire an attor-
ney. Since rural communities
do not have nearly as many
legal aid resources as large
cities, county law libraries
are sometimes the only
"show in town" when it
comes to (freely) helping
people with their important
legal issues.
I urge residents of Plumas
County to ask about the
status of their county law
library by contacting the law
library trustees, court or
county officials. Closing the
Plumas County Law Library,
despite having funding for it,
isn't just a shame- it is an
oversight that compromises
the ability of the county to
provide its residents with
equal access to the California
judicial system.
Vanessa Uribe
Law Librarian
E1 Dorado County
Royal treatment
A quick review of the
current Portola city budget
(available on the city web-
site) reveals that among the
city employee benefits are
health insurance costs of
$25,200/year ($2,100[mortth)
for each of Six employees
and $18,792/year ($1,566/
month) for each of four other
employees. One assumes the
difference is a matter of
dependent coverage. With a
published Portola median
household income of $29,430
(source: muninetguide.com)
and an assumption that each
household consists of two
people, either health insur-
ance cost exceeds the Portola
median per capita annual
income.
It is easy to envision a visit
of one of these fortunate cry
employees to a medical facili-
ty in which the facility staff
rushes out to lay down a
red carpet for the employee's
entrance. If this is not the
case, we can be certain that
when the insurance salesman
who packaged the deal leaves
his mansion to walk among
the commoners, he marches
on the plushest of red
carpets.
It is comforting to know
that we Portola taxpayers,
through our financially
This week at plumasnews.com
The most read stories on our website for the past week were:
"Fishing Report: Lake fishing keeps getting better"
"Quincy goes crazy for quilts"
"EQSD board votes to end consolidatio n process"
The story "Was Bible distribution on school grounds?" received
the most comments:
"What ever, in the world, is wrong with the handing out of
the Bible and in the manner that it was done?
"Most recreational miners are in fact very environmentally
conscious, and would no sooner poison the fish than them-
selves. In fact, many would likely go fishing for their dinner
and camp nearby. Miners often bring home more trash than
gold, trash discarded by other recreational uses of the land."
--Allan
mThank you Delaine Fragnoli for writing a fair and responsible
piece.
1 am a disabled OIF Vet and have been prospecting all my
life. Due to my injuries the only way I can prospect anymore is
the use of a suction dredge.
"Is there a copy of a Bible in the school library? The principals
actions are way out of line, over nothing.
--Bill Kauffman
"Thank you and the Plumas County Supervisors for giving us a
fair shake.
--Mason
Just curious if your reaction would be the same if it had
been the Koran that has handed out?
--Michael
"Nice to hear a smart reaction to dredging moratorium. My
family goes dredging for recreation every summer. We con-
tribute lots of money in the local areas we go to.
Had a response regarding my comment, asking if I would
think the same, if the Koran was being handed out. Yes, it
would. Anyone offered either or any publication, can always
say "No Thank you.'
--Bill Kauffman
Unless the Bibles were handed out by school employees dur-
ing school time, there is nothing to complain about."
--Ingineer66
"County pans DFG's dredge study" also elicited several responses:
"California history is the gold prospectors!!!
--susan
One reader left a plea for help in response to "Plumas-Eureka
on state park closure list":
"1 would like to start a letter writing campaign but need help
in knowing what should be included. My family has been
going to Plumas for over 48years. It is a family tradition.
--Trudi OConnell
disinterested city council, are
providing royal treatment for
someone.
Bill Mainland
Portola
Counterproductive
Steve Brenneman had a
good tutorial going on the ba-
sic meaning of the legal term
"proper standing" and Ari-
zona Christian School Tu-
ition Organization'v. Winn,
until he made this assertion
'about the minority dissent:
,,(i)n other words, any m0fiey
you earn belongs to the gov-
ernment." I can't speak for
the justices writing for the
minority but I'm certain that
the principle at stake with
the $500 tax credit was that
any money you owe the gov-
ernment, accordingto tax
law, belongs to the govern-
ment.
I know that government-
bashing is all the rage these
days and, lord knows, there
are plenty of legitimate,
truthful reasons to criticize:
local, state or federal. But it
seems counterproductive to
be hysterical about it.
Steve Shepherd
Clio
Not surprised
I am not at all surprised
that President Obama's de-
tractors would find fault with
another of his accomplish-
ments at which George Bush
failed.
Immediately, the Obama
detractors became skeptical
and wanted to see Bin
Laden's body. I am sure there
was a good reason for the dis-
posal of the body as soon as
possible; although, I must ad-
mit, upon reading that Bin
Laden was buried at sea, I
knew it would open the door
for skepticism.
I am convinced, however,
that putting a quick end to
the saga of Bin Laden is best
for America and the world. It
would have served no pur-
pose to put Bin Laden's body
and the pictures of his
dernise On display: ....
Bush did not squander a tril-
lion dollars, as one writer
would have us believe, just to
see pictures of Bin Laden's
demise. Ostensibly, Bush
bankrupted our nation to
make our country safer, al-
though how the invasion of
Iraq and Afghanistan was to
h.ave accomplished that has al-
ways been a mystery. Neither
nation had been a.threat to
America. Bush invaded those
countries without provocation.
The relatively inexpensive
dispatching of the lion in
his den by the Obama team,
however, has put an end
to the real very charismatic,
resourceful and powerful
enemy who was doing his
best to destroy us.
In any case, now the tea
people can put the outra-
geous claims of socialism,
secularism and Obama's
birth on the back burner for
a while. They have some-
thing else to obsess about.
Salvatore Catalano
Taylorsville
Contact your elected officials...
PLUMAS COtrNTY SUPERVISORS - 520 Main Street, Room 309, Quincy,
CA 95971; (530) 283-6170; FAX: (530) 2&3-6288; E-Mail:
pcbs@countyofplumas.com. Individual supervisors can also be
e-mailed from links on the county website, countyofplumas.com
PRESIDENT - Barack Obama, the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW Washington, D.C. 20500. (202) 456-1414. Fax: 202456-2461.
E-mail: whitehouse.gov/contact /
U.S. SENATOR - Dianne Feinstein (D), 331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224-3841; FAX: 202-228-3954; TIT/TDI. (202)
224-2501. District Office:. One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104
i Phone: (415) 393-0707; Fax: (415) 393-0710 Website: feinstein.senate.gov.
U.S. SENATOR - Barbara Boxer (D). District Office: 501 1 St., Suite 7-600
Sacramento, CA 95814. 1916) 448-2787; FAX (916) 448-2563; OR 112 Har
Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20510. (202) 224-3553. FAX (202) 228-0454.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 4TH DIST. - Tom McClintock. 508 Cannon HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515. (202) 225-2511; FAX (202) 225-5444.
mcclintock.house.gov. DISTRICT OFFICE: 8700 Auburn Folson Rd., Suih
#100, Granite Bay, CA 95746; (916) 786-5560, FAX: (916) 786-6364.
STATE SENATOR, 1st DIST. - Ted Gaines. State Capitol, Room 3056
Sacramento, CA 95814. (916) 651-4001, FAX: (916) 324-2680. Roseville office:
2140 Professional Dr., #140, Roseville, CA, 95661. (916) 783-8232, FAX (916)
783-5487; Jackson office: 33 C Broadway, Jackson, CA 95642, (209) 223-9140.
STATE ASSEMBLYMAN, 3RD DIST. - Dan Logue, State Capitol,
Sacramento, CA95814, (916) 319-2003; FAX (916) 319-2103.
District Office, 1550 Humboldt Rd., Ste. #4, Chico, CA 95928; (530) 8954217,
FAX (530) 895-4219.
GOVERNOR Jerry Brown, office of the Governor, State
Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95814. Website: gov.ca.gov/
(916) 445-2841. FAX: (916) 558-3160.