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Happy February everyone! There’s a ribbon-cutting at Bruster’s Real Ice Cream today at 5:30 p.m. Please join us as we welcome this new business and enjoy some great ice cream. Our BCN lunch is this Thursday at Five Star Catering’s new event center. Luis Cetina of the Cucamonga Valley Water District will be our guest speaker at BCN and educate us on the state of our water supply, which is essential to our economy. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Be sure to #ShopRC when buying that special someone a Valentine’s gift. Also, come by the Chamber office on February 14 between 11 am – 2 pm for a special treat as the Chamber shows appreciation to its members.
Now is a great time for any business to become a President Circle Sponsor. Our current sponsors consist of large and small companies. Their sponsorships fund the many Chamber programs that help support and improve our business community. Please consider joining President’s Circle today. There are many sponsorship levels to choose from. We thank our existing sponsors.
As we move onward into 2022, I have a special, grandiose, out-of-the-box, one-of-a-kind proposal for this year’s legislative session in Sacramento. Here it is – I want the State Assembly and Senate to do nothing. No new laws for 2022! Yes, it is that simple – do not pass any new laws for one year and give the people of California a chance to catch-up and learn the existing laws.
In 2021, the State Legislature proposed endless new bills. Some bills ended in committee, but many made their way to the Governor’s desk. In the end, the Governor signed most everything, vetoed virtually nothing, and 770 new laws went into effect on January 1, 2022. Previous years have seen an average of 1,000 new laws, and in some years as many as 1,200. If we can have a year without any new laws, then we can have time to digest the approximate 5,000 new laws that have been passed the last five years. Many of these laws remain unknown until their ill effects are experienced.
Most of the new laws did not do anything to improve the lives of Californians, and in most cases, made things worse. If we can have a year without any new laws, then we can see what happens when the Legislature leaves us alone. Right now, the Legislature is proposing new legislation to increase taxes higher than ever before to pay for single-payer health care (AB1400), overregulate an already struggling restaurant industry with additional unnecessary employee protections (AB257), and impede new construction with restrictions that make it more expensive and litigious to build housing (AB1001). The Legislature has been in session for only one month! At this point, nothing is better than something when it comes to new laws.
Why are so many laws being passed each year and how can we correct this predicament? I may be a lone voice in the political wilderness, but three proposals should be considered to slow down the runaway legislative train. The first is to reduce the size of the Assembly and/or Senate or reduce them to part-time status. There are 80 Assemblymembers and 40 Senators working full-time in Sacramento, and it is not leading to good results. That’s 120 people working against the clock of term limits trying to make a name for themselves with flashy legislation so they can move on to a different office or take a cushy job for the special interest they just rewarded. Fewer politicians and less time should mean less damage to California’s anti-business climate.
The second is for the voters to elect representatives, not activists. Right now, many of our Assemblymembers and Senators are activists – meaning they are trying to advance a specific bill to advance a cause to benefit a select few regardless of the costs or opposition. Whereas, a representatives listens to the people, knows how to govern, respects the process, allows for vigorous debate, accepts input from the opposition, and is willing to wait to get the law right. Good ideas take time to develop. Bad ideas are instantaneous. Activists have no patience. Too often bad laws are passed just prior to the midnight deadline at the end of the legislative calendar.
The third is to not propose a law that will undoubtedly annoy and alienate a large segment of the population. We do not need that level of divisiveness. Nor do we need the elected acting like our parents dictating what is good for us as if we have no common sense of our own. If a voter does not want to eat the broccoli that the legislator is serving, then maybe they should go back to the kitchen and try a different menu. Collaboration is a beautiful thing, but coercion is divisive. In practical terms, if a proposed law is not supported by at least one member of the opposing party, then maybe the law is not worthwhile. Similarly, if a proposed law makes people want to leave the state, then maybe that law is not for the greater good.
I write the above in hopes that we, as a society, change our mindset because what we have been doing is not working. A tad more honesty, humility, and patience can go a long way to drafting better laws that hopefully lead to a better state. Until then, pass nothing!
If the Chamber can be of any assistance, please contact me at Chairman@ranchochamber.org.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Hufnagel
President-Chair
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