CAWA is promoting and protecting your interest in the government affairs processes in the three states we represent. 

As the industry's first line of defense out west, the Association recognizes that legislative proposals that benefit or are adverse to the auto care industry oftentimes starts out west and migrates to other states in the nation and even can become a discussion item in our nation's capital. We are proud of our legislative team's work in government affairs on behalf of our members, prospects, friends and the industry we represent. 

Legislative Proposals that CAWA is SUPPORTING in Arizona 

• SB 1241 (Barto) -Auxiliary Containers, Regulatory Prohibition, Reporting
  Would prohibit a city, town or county from the doing the following: requiring an owner, operator or tenant of a business, commercial building or multifamily housing property (business) to measure or report energy usage and consumption, including energy consumption benchmarking and building facility energy efficiency audits; imposing a tax, fee, assessment, charge or return deposit on a business; regulating the sale, use or disposition of auxiliary containers by a business, and the outlawing of plastic bags. Signed by governor and takes effect July 3, 2015. 
    
• HB 2331  (Fann) -  Workers Compensation, Fraudulent Claims, Forfeiture
  Would hold individuals accountable for making false workers compensation claims, thereby protecting the integrity of the entire system for the benefit of both workers and employers alike. Signed by governor and takes effect July 3, 2015.

Legislative Proposals that CAWA is OPPOSING in California 

• AB 67 (Gonzalez) - Double Pay on the Holiday Act of 2015
  Would enact the Double Pay on the Holiday Act of 2015 that would require an employer to pay at least 2 times the regular rate of pay to an employee for work on a family holiday as defined. Because this bill would expand the definition of a crime, it would impose a state-mandated local program. 
    
• AB 357 (Chiu) - Employment Work Hours - Additional Pay
  Would require a food and general retail establishment, as defined, to provide its employees with at least two weeks ' notice of their schedules. The bill would require a food and general retail establishment to pay those employees additional pay, as specified, for each previously scheduled shift that the food and general retail establishment moves to another date or time or cancels and each previously unscheduled shift that the food and general retail establishment requires an employee to work. 
    
• AB 708 (Jones-Sawyer) - Consumer Products - Ingredient Disclosures by Manufacturers
  Would, commencing July 1, 2016, prohibit the manufacture, sale at the wholesale or retail level, or distribution of certain consumer products unless the manufacturer (1) discloses each ingredient contained in the product by posting that information on the product label and on the manufacturer's Internet Web site, as prescribed, and (2) provides the Web site and page address on the product label, along with a prescribed statement. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
    
• AB 883 (Low) - Employment - Public Employee Status
  Would prohibit private and public employers from publishing or posting a job advertisement or announcement that states or indicates directly or indirectly that the applicant for employment must not be a current or former public employee. The bill would also prohibit these employers from communicating, directly or indirectly, that an applicant's status as a current or former public employee disqualifies an individual from eligibility for employment or from basing an employment decision on an applicant's current or former employment as a public employee.
    
• AB 970 (Nazarian) - Labor Commissioner:  Enforcement of Employee Claims
  Would authorize the Labor Commissioner to enforce local laws regarding overtime hours or minimum wage provisions and to issue citations and penalties for violations. This bill also would make related conforming changes. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.
    
• SB 3 (Leno) - Minimum Wage Increase
  Would increase the minimum wage, on and after January 1, 2016, to not less than $11 per hour, and on and after July 1, 2017, to not less than $13 per hour. The bill would require, commencing January 1, 2019, the annual automatic adjustment of the minimum wage to maintain employee purchasing power diminished by the rate of inflation during the previous year. The adjustment would be calculated using the California Consumer Price Index, as specified.
    
• SB 8 (Hertzberg) - Sales Tax on Services
  Would state legislative findings regarding the Upward Mobility Act, key provisions of which would expand the application of the Sales and Use Tax law by imposing a tax on specified services, would enhance the state's business climate, would incentivize entrepreneurship and business creation by evaluating the corporate tax, and would examine the impacts of a lower and simpler personal income tax.
    
• SB 32 (Pavley) - Emissions
  Would require the State Air Resources Board to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emission limit that is equivalent to 80% below the 1990 level to be achieved by 2050, as specified. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt interim greenhouse gas emissions level targets to be achieved by 2030 and 2040. The bill also would state the intent of the Legislature for the Legislature and appropriate agencies to adopt complementary policies that ensure long-term emissions reductions advance specified criteria.

Legislative Proposals CAWA is SUPPORTING in California

• AB 558 (Grove)   Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004
  The Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 provides the employer with the right to cure certain violations before the employee may bring a civil action, as specified. For other violations, the act requires the employee to follow specified procedures before bringing an action. This bill would provide an employer with the right to cure a violation of that wage statement law requirement before an employee may bring a civil action under the act. The bill would also delete obsolete provisions of law. This bill contains other existing laws.
    
• AB 944 (Obernolte)   Unemployment compensation benefits: hearing procedures
  Current law regulates the hearings of disputed unemployment claims, appeals, and petitions and requires the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, among other things, to permit a party or representative to participate in a hearing by telephone upon the party's or representative's request, as specified. This bill would instead require those hearings to be conducted by telephone unless a party or representative requests otherwise pursuant to regulations adopted by the board.
    
• AB 1252 (Jones)   Proposition 65: enforcement
  Would impose specified requirements with regard to a person filing an enforcement action in the public interest upon a person for a violation of the requirement to provide a warning for exposure to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity, if the person employs fewer than 25 employees. The bill would prohibit an enforcement action against the alleged violator, and the recovery of certain payments or reimbursements, if, within 14 days after service of the notice, the alleged violator corrects the alleged violation, agrees to pay a civil penalty in the amount of $500, and notifies the person bringing the action that the violation has been corrected.
    
• AB 1425 (Allen, Travis)   Small employers: health reimbursement arrangements
  Would prohibit a health care service plan or health insurer from prohibiting the pairing of a specific health coverage product issued by a plan or insurer to a small employer with a health reimbursement arrangement or other employer-sponsored method for reimbursing employees for all or part of their deductibles, copayments, or other out-of-pocket medical expenses under the plan contract or policy. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
    
• AB 1470 (Alejo)   Working hours: overtime
  Would establish a rebuttable presumption that an employee is exempt from overtime pay if the employee earns total gross annual compensation of at least $100,000 and regularly performs any of the exempt duties or responsibilities of an executive, administrative, or professional employee as set forth in the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders. This bill, to rebut the presumption, would require evidence that the employee did not earn total gross annual compensation of at least $100,000, that the employee did not earn at least $1,000 per week, as specified, or that the employee did not regularly perform at least one exempt duty of an executive, administrative, or professional employee. This bill would only apply to an employee whose primary duty includes office or non-manual work, as described.
    
• SB 206 (Gaines)   Vehicle information systems
  Current law requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt and implement motor vehicle emission standards, in-use performance standards, and motor vehicle fuel specifications for the control of air contaminants, including standards for off-road and nonvehicle engine categories. This bill would prohibit the state board from obtaining locational data or vehicle speed data from a vehicle information system, as defined. The bill would provide that these provisions do not apply to the motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program, commonly known as smog check.
    
• SB 701 (Berryhill)   Stop-loss insurance coverage: attachment points
  Current law prohibits a stop-loss insurance policy issued, reissued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2016, to a small employer from containing an aggregate attachment point for a policy year that is less than the greater of one of the following: $5,000 multiplied by the total number of group members, 120% of expected claims, or $40,000. This bill would instead require that the $5,000 per group member attachment point be changed to $2,500 per employee.

Legislative Proposals CAWA is WATCHING in Nevada

• SB 193 - (Senate Commerce Committee) - Minimum Wage and Overtime ChangesRaises the minimum wage to $9 per hour, if the employer does not offer health insurance for the employee.  Changes overtime from 8+ hours in a 24 hour period to 40+ hours within a week. 

Legislative Proposals CAWA is OPPOSING in Nevada

• AB 146 - (Assembly Committee on Transportation) - Emission Testing Frequency
  Requires emission tests every other year starting July 1 and requires new cars to be tested after four years on the road instead of two years.  The fee collected by the state to finance air quality measures would double from $6 top $12 for each test, without a cap on amount a station could charge for a smog check.
    
• SB 252 - (Senate Commerce Committee for Gov. Sandoval) - Changes Nevada's business license fee structure
  Governor Sandoval proposed a $7.3 billion general fund budget that relies heavily on $1.1 bill in new or extended taxes, most targeted to improve Nevada's public schools.  The cornerstone of his agenda is SB 252 which would replace Nevada's business license fee with a tiered rate system based on 30 industry categories and a business's gross receipts.  It is estimated to generate $250 million a year.  The license fee would replace a flat, $200 annual fee currently paid by businesses large and small, which would under SB 252 range from $400 to $4 million yearly. 

For further information on these legislative proposals, contact our legislative advocates in each state. For a listing of our advocates go to www.cawa.org. 
  

Sincerely,  

Rodney Pierini
President & CEO  

CAWA - Representing the Automotive Parts Industry
4030 Lennane Drive, Sacramento, CA. 95834
800.332.2292, ext. 1
[email protected]
www.cawa.org