CRA Member Newsletter- March 2023

CRA Member Newsletter

March 09, 2023 | CRA Newsletter: Legislative, Political, Regulatory & Other Updates

Message from the President

The California Legislative season has begun and the CRA team is actively tracking hundreds of bills for our members.

Trends we are seeing:

A large number of labor backed bills ranging from staffing floors, to workplace violence, to allowing labor members access to financial statements.
A number of environmental bills related to PFAS, BPA/BPS, cosmetic safety, corporate climate data, climate related financial risk.
Bills related to the goods movement including a return of the moratorium on building new warehouses and a bill to ban diesel fueled heavy trucks in the Counties of San Bernardino and Riverside.

We are also watching a food labeling bill, changes to the WARN act, bills related to arbitration agreements and a bill related to the retention and transfer of displaced workers.

I encourage you to look at our entire bills list (which you can find in this newsletter) and send us any feedback.

On the positive side, there are number of bills we are supporting this session:

A bill on cargo theft, building on our ORC successes last year.
A bill to provide student aid for truck driving programs.
A bill promoting workforce development.
A bill aimed at third party litigation financing.

In addition, look for a bill related to PAGA reform to be public in the next week as the start of conversations around PAGA reform begin. As a reminder, I am on the Executive Committee for the PAGA Reform campaign and the CRA PAGA Advisory committee will begin meeting to discuss developments on PAGA. If you are interested in supporting CRA’s efforts to reform PAGA, let me know – I welcome anyone who wants to help us get much needed reform for not only retailers, but all industries in California.

This is going to be a tough year, again, in the California legislature. With a $27 Billion plus budget deficit and over a quarter of the legislature being new there is a lot of advocating and educating for us to do. We welcome all of our members to take an active role in knowing what is going on in the state by joining our committees, list serves and work groups.

As always, if you have any questions about what is going on in California pertaining to retail, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Here’s to an active and successful 2023 legislative season!

Rachel

In this Issue:

Legislative Updates
Regulatory Updates
CA Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates
CRA Outreach, Activities & Other Updates
Cal-ORCA Updates
CRA In The News
Member News
CRA Member Portal

Legislative Updates

Heavy-Duty Trucks: Grant Program: Operating Requirements

CRA signed on to a letter in opposition to AB 627 (Jackson), which, among many problems with the bill, would put hundreds of thousands of jobs in the San Bernardino and Riverside Counties at risk and create an unfunded grant program to transition away from diesel. The unfunded program would cost the state approximately 57 times more than the entire State’s standard California's Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) funding for FY22-23.

Read the letter here.

Organized Cargo Theft

CRA sent a letter of support for AB 523 (Fong), which would add the term “cargo” to the state’s organized retail theft statute to crack down on organized retail theft targeting California’s supply chain. This bill follows the author's particpation in last year's CRA/Cal-ORCA Conference in Ontario, where Asm. Fong and other policymakers heard firsthand the significant impact organized retail crime has had on California’s goods movement. This impact has added on to an already existing backlog of issues facing the supply chain during and following the pandemic. Read the letter here.

Food Labeling and Expiration Dates

Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin has introduced AB 660 related to food labeling and expiration dates. Her office has reached out to the CRA team in an effort to work with CRA on bill language. CRA will be meeting with her office next week and, in preparation, we have asked members to provide initial comments by the end of this week. Read more including highlights of what the bill is intending to do compared to existing law here.

Climate-Related Financial Risk Report

CRA signed on to an opposition letter for SB 261 (Stern), which was sent to the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. The bill would require a broad range of business entities to prepare and submit to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) a climate-related financial risk report. Read the letter here.

Legislative Deadlines

March 17, 2023 Assembly spot bill amendments to committees
March 22, 2023 Senate spot bill amendments to committees
March 30, 2023 Spring recess: begins upon adjournments
April 10, 2023 Legislature reconvenes from Spring recess
April 28, 2023 Last day for policy committees to hear and report to fiscal committees fiscal bills introduced in their house
May 5, 2023 Last day for policy committees to hear and report to the floor non-fiscal bills introduced in their house
May 12, 2023 Last day for policy committees to meet prior to June 5
May 19, 2023 Last day for fiscal committees to hear and report to the Floor bills introduced in their house. Last day for fiscal committees to meet prior to June 5.
June 15, 2023 Budget must be passed by midnight.
July 14, 2023 Last day for policy committees to meet and report bills. Summer Recess begins upon adjournment of session provided Budget Bill has been passed.

Legal Challenge to SB 1439

CRA joined a coalition of business and local elected officials in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of SB 1439 (Glazer). The coalition sent a memo to all members of the California Legislature detailing the legal challenge, which is based on a violation of the constitutional right to free speech.

Read the memo to the state legislature here.

COVID-19 Regulatory Compliance

Tax Credit

CRA sent a letter of support for SB 375 (Alvarado-Gil), which would reimburse employers for the cost of compliance with the new COVID-19 Prevention Non-Emergency Regulations in 2023 and 2024.

Read the letter here.

Supply Chain and Driver Shortage

CRA sent a letter of support for AB 376 (Villapudua), which would extend financial aid in the form of Cal Grant C to eligible low- and middle-income students enrolled in an entry-level driver training program. The bill is a proactive response to address the driver shortage that has plagued the State’s supply chain for decades.

Read the letter here.

Bad Arbitration Legislation

The CRA team has requested feedback from our member companies regarding SB 365 (Wiener), which impacts all consumer or employment arbitration agreements. Presently, if a court denies a motion to compel arbitration (in any context, not just employment), California Code of Civil Procedure Sec. 916 provides that the court proceedings should be stayed while the appeal is resolved. The California Employment Lawyers Association and Consumer Attorneys of California claim that appeals of these motions are meritless and, therefore, trial court proceedings should never be stayed during appeal. This means the company must spend the time and money litigating in court even if the appellate court later agrees the case should have been in arbitration all along. CRA is strongly opposed to this bill and part of the broader opposition coalition.

California Workforce Pay for

Success Act

CRA sent a letter of support for SB 382 (Becker), which would establish the California Workforce Pay for Success Program to assist workers facing economic, social and structural barriers to employment and career advancement. Read the letter here.

CRA Bill Lists

CRA's legislative committee held their first meeting of the 2023-2024 legislative session and discussed all relevant legislation the CRA team is tracking for our members. All bills were also shared with the various subject matter list serves and committees in an effort to solicit input, but, as a reminder, only the legislative committee can vote on the position the association will take on specific bills. The lists are available on the member portal and linked below. If you are interested in serving on a subject matter specific committee or not sure which committees and/or list serves you are on, please email cra@calretailers.com.

Click here to view CRA's master bill list, which includes all tier 1 - tier 3 bills the team is tracking.

Click here to view CRA's tier 1 priority bill list.

Regulatory Updates

Governor Newsom, Attorney General Bonta and CPPA File Letter Opposing Federal Privacy Preemption

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Privacy Protection Agency sent a joint letter to Congress opposing federal privacy preemption in the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, arguing that federal legislation should set the floor, not the ceiling for state data privacy laws.

Read the letter here.

Read Governor Newsom's press release here.

California Privacy Protection Agency Request for an Expedited Review for Rulemaking Process

The California Privacy Protection Agency requested an expedited review and an earlier effective date for the rulemaking process. Read the request here. Under the regular rulemaking schedule, these regulations would take effect April 1, 2023 if approved by the Office of Administrative Law and filed with the Secretary of State by the end of February. If the rulemaking package is filed between March 1 and May 31, the applicable effective date would be July 1. CRA members can submit comments for CRA to submit on behalf of the association, by NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2023. Read more.

Changes to SNAP Benefits

In January, States were noticed regarding the end of Emergency Allotments (EA) after the issuance of February 2023 benefits as required by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. A Q&A webpage related to the EA sunset and other changes is available here: Changes to SNAP Benefits - 2023.

Get more details on upcoming changes to SNAP benefits here.

Plastic Content Reporting and Compliance Permanent Regulations

CalRecycle has begun formal rulemaking activities regarding the AB 793 Plastic Content Reporting and Compliance Permanent Regulations. The Notice of Proposed Action (Notice) was published by the Office of Administrative Law on February 3, 2023, which also started the public comment period. CalRecycle will hold a hybrid public hearing regarding this rulemaking on March 21, 2023, and the public comment period will end at the conclusion of the public hearing.

CalOSHA Updates

COVID-19 CDPH Guidance Update

CDPH updated their COVID-19 guidance on Isolation and Quarantine and revised their Public Health Order (see press release here) resulting in changes for COVID-19 compliance across the state. The focus of the changes appears to be slight easing of testing requirements to end quarantine and a slightly easier ending to masking. What does this mean for Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 regulation and California’s employers? The short answer: it will likely lead to changes in Cal/OSHA’s enforcement in parallel, but we will need to wait a few days to see. The Order doesn’t go into effect until March 13th, and we expect to see FAQ updates from Cal/OSHA by the end of this week. Read more.

CalOSHA Standards Board Meeting

There was no discussion of the COVID regulation during the Cal/OSHA Standards Board meeting held in February, but a few other regulations were discussed including regulations related to lead, indoor heat, workplace violence and first aid. Read more.

Ninth Circuit Panel Upholds Injunction Against AB 51

The Ninth Circuit panel voted 2-1 to uphold the previous district court injunction blocking California’s anti-arbitration law (AB 51) from going into effect. CRA was part of the coalition that filed the suit. Given the split, the State could petition for rehearing in the full court or could petition for certification to the Supreme Court. Or they could accept reality that the law was properly found to be preempted in light of recent Supreme Court decisions. We will keep our members posted. Access the court filing here.

CPPA and Civil Rights Council Rulemaking(s) Related to

Automated Decision Systems

The California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) and Civil Rights Council announced two separate Automated Decision Systems rulemaking processes. The CPPA issued a formal invitation for preliminary public comments on cybersecurity audits, risk assessments and automated decision making with additional background material. The deadline to submit comments to the CPPA is March 27, 2023. CRA members are asked to submit comments for CRA to submit on behalf of the association, by NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2023. The Civil Rights Council also held a meeting on February 21 at 1:00 PM. Reach out to the CRA team if there are questions on either or both rulemaking processes.

California Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates

AB 1286 Closing a Pharmacy

Arguments to Effectively Oppose AB 1286 (Haney) - Pharmacist in Charge

AB 1286 (Haney) would authorize a Pharmacist-In-Charge (PIC) to close a pharmacy if they believe that the staffing at the pharmacy is ‘inadequate' or there are workplace hazards that may create an 'unsafe environment for pharmacy staff.' In addition, the bill includes a codification of pharmacy technicians’ ability to administer vaccines and modifies the pharmacist to pharmacy technician ratio from 1:1 to 1:2 for purposes of vaccine administration. The bill is sponsored by UFCW and includes language approved by the Board of Pharmacy. Coalition members have been asked to provide feedback on this bill to Rachel by NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2023. Read more.

CA Community Pharmacy Coalition Launched

The California Community Pharmacy Coalition, a project of the CRA, has officially launched. The Coalition was formed to promote the positive impacts community pharmacies have within California’s healthcare system by working on legislation and regulations that will expand access opportunities for community pharmacy services including in hard to reach, under served areas where Californians often have very limited options for healthcare. A new landing page for the Coalition is also now live. The page is housed on the CalRetailers website and available via the navigation bar at the top right of the site. View the new page here. Learn more about the coalition here.

Coalition Win: PREP ACT Clarification Secured

Just two hours after CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin sent out a letter requesting clarification on the Prep Act, clarification was secured. As a reminder, the clarification recognizing the PREP Act preemption was direly needed so pharmacy technicians could continue to provide immunizations after the DCA waiver would have ended on 2/28/23. This successful rapid response effort by the CRA team included outreach to Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramirez, CA Business, Consumer & Housing Agency; Dr. Mark Ghaly, Secretary, Health and Human Services Agency; the Governor's office - Dee Dee Myers, Senior Advisor; Dana Williamson, COS/Executive Secretary; Ann Patterson, Cabinet Secretary and Richard Figueroa, Heath Advisor; and members of the California State Legislature.

Read the Prep Act clarification alert from the board here.
Read the letter to the CA Business, Consumer & Housing Agency here.
Read the letter to the Board of Pharmacy here.
Read the example from the State of Oregon on the clarification their Board of Pharmacy provided in relation to the PREP Act here.

CRA Outreach, Activities & Other Updates

California Takes Down Coordinated Multi-State

Retail Theft Crime Ring

The California Retailers Association is proud of the partnership we forged with California Governor Gavin Newsom's office and the California Highway Patrol to combat the rise in organized retail crime. CRA worked with the Governor's Administration to secure funding for an expansion of the ORC Taskforces including dedicated ORC prosecutors for each task force and local law enforcement grants for retail theft. Read the press release Governor Newsom's office shared recently detailing this collaboration at work.

Supply Chain and Goods Movement Funding Advocacy

The CRA team provided testimony in support of the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development's (Go-Biz) Supply Chain and Goods Movement Package. CRA, along with members of a supply chain coalition, urged Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee Chair Senator María Elena Durazo and Senators Josh Newman and Kelly Seyarto to prioritize funding for Go-Biz's two programs under port operational improvements in the overall Supply Chain funding package: 1.) Containerized Ports Data Interoperability Grant Program ($27M); and 2) Funds to Improve Data Processes ($2.1M). CRA also signed on to a letter of support, which was sent to the Senate Budget & Fiscal Review Committee Chair Nancy Skinner. Read the letter here.

West Coast Port Labor Negotiations Update

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association issued a joint press release on the status of their negotiations. There is immense pressure to get a deal done on both sides as the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach continue to lose cargo volumes. Read the press release here.

CRA Monthly Policy Calls

The following includes the remainder of the 2023 monthly policy call calendar covering this year's legislative session (dates are subject to change). For CRA members' designated contacts who are not regularly receiving these policy call reminders and calendar invites, please email cra@calretailers.com to be added moving forward. Policy calls are held on Fridays at 11:00am PT (new time!).

March 10
April 14
May 12
June 9
July 14
No call in August
September 8

CRA Team Updates

CRA welcomes Sarah Pollo Moo as

Director of Communications and Public Affairs!

Cal-ORCA Updates

Next Round of FREE Auror Trainings

Cal-ORCA is using a new state of the art system for reporting, tracking and aggregating data across local jurisdictions and state lines. All CRA and Cal-ORCA members are invited to two upcoming virtual free training sessions (details below). Please save the date and add these sessions to your calendar if you are interested in learning more about how to access and navigate the online crime reporting portal. If you are a CRA / Cal-ORCA member and have not yet heard from Auror, please send an email to cra@calretailers.com. Zoom info was provided in a separate email notification. If you did not receive this notice, please reach out.

First of next two training opportunities:

Thursday, March 23, 11:00AM - 12:00PM PST

Second training opportunity:

Thursday, March 30, 10AM-11:00AM PST

CRA In The News