I wish every Chamber member a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I look forward to seeing many of you at the Chamber’s Christmas Party this Thursday night. On Wednesday, Bruster’s Real Ice Cream will have its grand opening just in time for the holidays. Please stop by and support this new business. Last week, we welcomed Gent’s Barbershop to our Chamber with a Ribbon-Cutting. This is Gent’s fourth location and first in Rancho Cucamonga. It is impressive to see these entrepreneurs open new businesses and contribute to our local economy. Remember to #ShopRC this holiday season.
The California Citizen's Redistricting Commission has released draft Congressional, Senate, and Assembly Maps which propose to split Rancho Cucamonga apart. Every 10 years, the Redistricting Commission is tasked with redrawing boundaries which reflect updated census data. Unfortunately, the current draft maps will separate Rancho Cucamonga into separate districts, which will unfairly dilute Rancho Cucamonga’s voting influence in Washington D.C. and Sacramento. Please contact the Redistricting Committee (www.wedrawthelinesca.org) this week and voice your opposition before its too late.
California passed 770 new laws in 2021. Many of these new laws will go unnoticed until the adverse effects are experienced, and the damage is done. Lawmakers typically do not contemplate the adverse effects that a law has on the public or will not be in office by the time the consequences are felt. For example, AB1346 is a new law that is an example of short-sighted thinking. This bill bans the sale of small gas-powered equipment, including leaf blowers, lawnmowers, and small generators.
The problems with this law are four-fold and indicative of how the consequences of legislation are routinely ignored. First, it functionally destroys any sole proprietor working as a gardener by requiring them to buy all new equipment that is neither practical nor cost-effective. As such, these gardeners (many who are already on the lower socioeconomic level) will not be able to afford it, must work more to earn less, and not be able to grow their business. Second, it raises prices on everyone by making landscaping more expensive, including residential leases (so much for making housing more affordable) and business owners who will pay more for common area maintenance. Third, gas-powered generators that many rely on as a back-up to California’s less than stellar delivery of electricity will be without recourse during the next rolling blackout. Fourth, AB1346 gives unchecked power to unelected bureaucrats at the California Air Resources Board to draft rules to micromanage how you clean-up your backyard. In summary, AB1346 means lost economic opportunities, higher costs for everyone, and bureaucrats having more control over our lives.
When asked about the negative effects of AB1346, the bill’s author described it as “pretty modest”. Such a statement can only be borne of ignorance or elitism. Making life more difficult and expensive, especially for low-income individuals, is punitive. Proponents of AB1346 claim it will reduce emissions but cite no actual evidence to support same. Instead, AB1346 cites the failure to meet previously adopted emission standards, which were patently unrealistic when adopted, as reason for more regulation. Also absent is any cost-benefit analysis as to whether the improvements to air quality will justify the costs borne by the public. Lawmakers may feel better having addressed one problem while ignoring the multitude of other problems they create. That level of critical thinking is sorely lacking in Sacramento.
Many Californians may shrug their shoulders to the above, but AB1346 is only the beginning as it won’t stop with gardening tools. Governor Newsom previously signed an executive order banning the sale of gas-powered new car sales in California by 2035. Whether the Governor has the authority to do so remains to be seen, but the reality is that California cannot afford such a ban. Said order will increase the costs of used cars by limiting supply and increase the costs of electric cars by mandating demand. The increased costs of cars will be felt by everyone. Rather than allowing this change to happen organically, the Governor is mandating a change that will exacerbate costs and undermine our economy.
The cost of electricity will substantially increase via more demand. This is particularly problematic since California does not currently produce enough electricity to avoid rolling blackouts every summer. Not everyone has access to charging stations to power an electric car. Half of California’s population currently live in apartments, many without garages or electrical infrastructure to handle charging stations. That means existing apartment buildings will have to be retrofitted to include power hookups and new apartments will have to include same. It does not take a mathematician to determine that those added costs will mean higher rents to offset the costs of adding electrical connections. The Governor championing an executive order that will raise rents while simultaneously lamenting the shortage of affordable housing is dubious and contradictory. Moreover, the loss of jobs and income in what is left in California’s oil and gas industry will further erode the middle class and blue-collar workers in the State long before the dream of green jobs materialize, if ever.
The above disasters could easily be avoided if lawmakers would think through the natural consequences of the laws they pass. Understanding the negative effects of the law is easy if you listen to those in the industry you are regulating rather than focusing solely on the intended benefits, which are often overstated and never realized. California deserves honest cost-benefit analysis of every law it passes.
Sincerely, your Chamber President,
Robert A. Hufnagel.
