[Source: California Chamber of Commerce] This week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its final Enforcement Guidance on Retaliation and Related Issues. [https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/retaliation-guidance.cfm]. The final guidance was issued after a period of public comment that started in January. Federal and state law both prohibit employers from taking adverse action against employees or job applicants who Read More…
Newsroom
Democrats again gunning for legislative supermajorities
[Source: Sacramento Bee] With California’s legislative session finally behind us, attention turns to the fall elections, where Republicans are largely crouched in a defensive position and Democrats are looking to expand the electoral map. The end of session has traditionally marked the time when staff members hit the phones and fan out across the state Read More…
Legislative session ends; Pro Tem’s attempted Air Board power grab flops
[Source: CaliforniaCityNews.org] The 2016 legislative session ended in the early hours of Thursday morning, after a marathon session of farewells to outgoing legislators and last minute scrambling over legislation. Notably, if the “three days in print” rule comes to pass via Proposition 54 this November, it may be the last year of 11th hour proposals Read More…
Legislature declines to add ‘environmental justice’ members to Southern California air quality board
[Source: Los Angeles Times] The state Legislature has rejected a controversial measure that would have shifted the political balance of Southern California’s air-quality board by adding three state-appointed “environmental justice” members to represent low-income communities suffering from pollution. The legislation to expand the South Coast Air Quality Management District board from 13 to 16 members fell 11 votes short of passage in Read More…
Bid to add more seats to AQMD board fails in Sacramento
[Source: 89.3KPCC] “This is a textbook example of institutional racism.” That was the reaction from Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León’s (D-Los Angeles) after his colleagues in the Assembly voted down a bill he wrote that would have added seats for low-income and minority representatives on the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management Read More…
For small business, one good bill, one bad
[Source: Fox & Hounds/Joel Fox] There are obviously more than two bills that the Legislature is considering which would affect small business in either a positive or negative way, but for this writing, two to focus on is a measure to help small business gain the resources necessary to thrive while also looking at one Read More…
California climate change laws: More electric cars, solar power expected under tough new rules
[Source: The Mercury News] California is already a world leader in developing environmental policies that address climate change. But under a landmark bill sent to Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday requiring far steeper reductions in greenhouse gas emissions than anything the state has ever attempted, the next 15 years will likely see big changes for Read More…
Hundreds laid off at Ashley Furniture factory/warehouse in Colton
[Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin] About 840 employees at an Ashley Furniture HomeStore factory/warehouse in Colton were laid off Friday. “They told us to go into a meeting, and all of a sudden they tried to feed us and they said, ‘You know what, there’s no more jobs,” said Israel Naja, 37, outside the store Read More…
Manufacturers fear impact of new emissions target
[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] The passage this week of Senate Bill 32 to implement stricter greenhouse gas emissions standards creates uncertainty for businesses and may lead to more businesses leaving California, said Dorothy Rothrock, president of the California Manufacturers & Technology Association. That organization, along with other business groups and the oil industry, has Read More…