Senator George Runner
Serving the 17th District which incorporates portions of the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Kern counties.

California’s economy is in a downward spiral, and Democrat legislators seem determined to make sure we hit rock bottom as fast as possible.

With reports of the unemployment rate nearing 7 percent, home foreclosures breaking all-time records and gasoline nearing $5 a gallon, the only solutions Democrats have offered are to raise taxes, meddle with the free market and impose more onerous regulations on businesses.

Assembly Bill 2716 essentially does all of the above. The bill, which passed the Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee yesterday on a 3-2 party line vote, would demand that all employers provide paid sick leave to every employee – in spite of the employer’s ability to pay and regardless of whether the employee works full or part time.

Specifically, any California employee who has worked at least nine hours in a given year would be entitled to paid sick leave at the accrual rate of one hour per 30 hours worked. Furthermore, employees would qualify after working only 90 days.

Like a mandated tax, AB 2716 would cost employers $4.6 billion in the first five years if it were to pass, according to a study by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation.

The study also shows 370,000 California jobs would be lost within five years of AB 2716’s enactment. So much for helping working Californians.

But this bill goes beyond being a job killer; it’s a cold-blooded economy killer. It would cost California companies an estimated $59.3 billion in sales in the first five years of enactment according to the same study.

With statistics like these, what business entrepreneur would dare open shop in California? The answer is: not many.

As this bill moves through the Legislature, my colleagues need to understand the level of damage these types of mandates inflict on the engine of California’s economy.

They need to understand that when small businesses get hit with cost increases, they cannot automatically increase prices to make up the difference.

The bill’s next stop is in the Senate Appropriations Committee – of which I am a member. I can assure you I will cast a “no” vote for this economy-killer bill.