Newsroom

Partnership Opposes One-sided Rent Relief Bill AB 1346, SB 939 Stopped in Committee

IRWINDALE - It's been a busy week in Sacramento as a terribly one-sided rent relief bill, AB 1346 (Chiu), was introduced that would allow renters to skip out on paying rent so long as the emergency health orders for the COVID-19 crisis remain in place. Another key rent bill, SB 939 was stopped in the Senate Appropriations Committee. It would have allowed commercial tenants the option of walking away from their leases and other contractual obligations.

"The coronavirus pandemic has hit renters across the state, including businesses and property owners," said Partnership President and CEO Bill Manis. "Many local governments and the state have enacted measures to allow renters leeway and flexibility on paying rent during the stay-at-home orders, however, there are many businesses that manage property that have bills, taxes, maintenance costs, and employees to pay, and these two bills allow renters to walk away from their obligations at the expense of others."

AB 1436 is a proposal that would force landlords to defer rents for 15 months after a state or local state of emergency is lifted - which can translate to years of unpaid rent - if a tenant is unable - or unwilling - to pay rent due to COVID-19. In many cases, local governments don't lift their emergency orders for years which means an owner may never receive the rent they deferred during the pandemic. Landlords would not have incoming revenue under AB 1436 to pay their taxes, mortgages, utilities, or staff. AB 1436 only makes our housing crisis worse and will put hundreds of rental owners into default leading to mass foreclosures on rental housing.

SB 939 (Weiner) was stopped in the Senate Appropriations Committee this week and put on the suspense file. The bill would have allowed small businesses to walk away from their rent obligations at the cost of property management businesses.

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Partnership surveys SGV businesses on curfews and civil unrest

IRWINDALE - The Partnership issued a short survey this week of San Gabriel Valley businesses to see what effect the civil unrest and county-wide curfews have had on their operations. Protests have occurred across the country following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota last week, with looting and rioting hitting parts of downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, and Long Beach. The San Gabriel Valley has been fortunate to see little violence in our region while many protests have been peaceful in cities such as Alhambra, Pasadena, West Covina, Pomona, Covina, Diamond Bar, Walnut, La Verne, Glendora, and Claremont. 

Survey results show that nearly 75% of the businesses surveyed reported that the county-wide curfews had not impacted their operations. Nearly 80% were in favor of the curfews and 78% were hopeful that their businesses could reopen and restart under new health guidelines. Only three businesses said that the riots have hurt their businesses, however the damage to these businesses was severe. One comment made was that the curfews are hurting businesses, who have done nothing wrong, when law enforcement should concentrate on stopping looters and property damage.

This short survey was available over four days this week and received 33 responses. It's a small snapshot of what has been a turbulent time for the country and Southern California. For more information, contact Paul Thomas, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Partnership - pthomas@sgvpartnership.org.

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Rep. Norma Torres joins Partnership by Zoom, talks new stimulus and transportation bills

IRWINDALE - Today, Congresswoman Norma Torres (D-Pomona) joined nearly 40 Partnership members for a video conference call to discuss a wide variety of important issues, including a new federal stimulus bill, a federal transportation bill, as well as ongoing efforts to address the coronavirus pandemic and the protests and civil unrest caused by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota.

"We were honored to have Congresswoman Torres with us today," said Partnership President and CEO Bill Manis. "The Partnership tries to hold individual events with each of our lawmakers every year and that's been challenging during the pandemic, so these video conference conversations are very helpful for our members to stay in touch while the stay-at-home orders remain in effect." 

Rep. Torres held a community forum on Wednesday afternoon with local leaders from her district to discuss the protests across the country caused by the murder of George Floyd in police custody. The Congresswoman discussed how challenging it may be to enact substantive changes to police policy and procedures through Congress but that this is a critical tipping point in our society and how we view law enforcement.

Rep. Torres also discussed a new federal transportation bill that has just been released by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Transportation has been one of the few areas with bipartisan support and may become a prime area of policy focus to aid in stimulating the economy towards recovery from the coronavirus recession. The Congresswoman also fielded a variety of questions dealing with water, job creation, higher education funding, and federal assistance with Ontario International Airport.

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Partnership opposes Job Killer bill, backs federal funding for cities

Irwindale - This week, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership voted to oppose AB 3075 (Gonzalez), a job killer bill, that would impose onerous new regulations on businesses regarding wage enforcement. The Partnership also voted to support new federal funding to assist local governments struggling with coronavirus-related budget deficits. 

"Cities are struggling due to losses in sales tax revenue, which they depend on to fund critical services," said Partnership President and CEO Bill Manis. "A new federal stimulus bill should include billions in funding to help local governments continue to fund vital services for their residents."

The Partnership's Legislative Action Committee voted to support the federal funding portion included in the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) which would bring some $950 million to the cities of the San Gabriel Valley. It also voted to support including federal funding for local governments in a new stimulus bill originating from the U.S. Senate.

The Partnership also voted to oppose AB 3075, a job killer bill that imposes onerous new wage regulations in California and among local jurisdictions. AB 3075 would open the door to local enforcement of an unknown and potentially unlimited number of wage standards that meet or exceed the requirements of state law. This would appear to include things like the time for payment of wages, overtime standards, penalties for violations of wage standards, and a plethora of other issues currently covered by state law.

This would dramatically exacerbate a problem that already exists at the local level – overlapping, inconsistent, and contradictory labor standards. These standards make it exceedingly difficult for employers to operate in jurisdictions that have different minimum wage, paid sick leave, “ban the box” and other standards – all of which differ from each other and differ from state law, resulting in confusion, chaos and inconsistent enforcement.

AB 3075 would exponentially make that problem worse by extending such authority to unspecified local labor standards regarding “payment of wages.”  Under this proposal, a local jurisdiction could attempt to require an employer to pay wages daily, or to pay overtime wages after six hours in a day, or establish entirely new penalties for wage violations on top of penalties already imposed at the state level, as long as they are “at least as stringent” as state law.  This would make it extremely difficult for employers to operate in California, and would subject them to overlapping, duplicative and contradictory labor standards. 

For more information, contact Brad Jensen, Director of Public Policy at the Partnership. bjensen@sgvpartnership.org

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Partnership Oppose Commercial Rent Relief Bill, 3 Key Telecommunications Bills

IRWINDALE - This week, the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership waded into pending legislation in Sacramento, opposing an ill-conceived major commercial rent relief bill while also opposing three significant telecommunication regulation bills. With the State Legislature back in session, expect to see a large amount of legislation move as lawmakers try to address of a budget deficit, provide substantive assistance to drowning small businesses, weigh several tax increase proposals, and consider a package of housing bills.

The Partnership strongly opposes SB 939 (Weiner), a bill with good intentions to aid small businesses, but ends up harming commercial real estate businesses. SB 939 allows commercial lessees wide latitude in postponing rent payments, even up to a year, but it denies commercial lessors critical income which will push many into foreclosure, staff layoffs, and will set a bad precedent that undermines contracts in the state. The bill also removes existing legal remedies and lessor rights for an extended period of time, giving only one party to a contract the right to walk away from a legal obligation with no responsibilities or penalties.

"SB 939 may come with the best of intentions to help struggling small businesses across the state but it does so at the cost of many other small businesses," said Partnership President and CEO Bill Manis. "By giving businesses a year off of paying rent and the option to walkout on a long-term lease contract, SB 939 violates basic constitutional law and imperils many businesses that operate on the basis of receiving rental income."

The Partnership also opposed three key telecommunications regulatory bills. SB 1058 (Hueso) adds redundant and unnecessary regulatory requirements for Internet service providers to report to the California Public Utilities Commission. Similarly, SB 1069 (Jackson) adds additional reporting requirements for Internet service providers during natural disasters or emergencies, including rules to disclose location and information about facilities and infrastructure. Finally, the Partnership opposes unless amended SB 1130 (Jackson), a bill that adds new requirements to the California Advanced Services Fund program that will result in an overbuild out and costly new broadband requirements to provide Internet to un-served areas of the state. 

For more information on these political actions, contact Brad Jensen, Director of Public Policy, bjensen@sgvpartnership.org.

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Gov. Newsom Expands Worker's Compensation with Executive Order, SCAG Extends Comment Period on Regional Transportation Plan

IRWINDALE - In an eventful week, Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order establishing a rebuttable presumption that any COVID-19 related illness of an employee who worked outside the home, not just those who are essential workers, was the result of employment for workers’ compensation purposes if certain requirements are met. The presumption dates back to March 19, 2020 and will continue for 60 days from the date of the order (May 6, 2020).

"The concern with this order is that it covers any employee working outside the home," said Partnership President & CEO Bill Manis. "As the economy begins to open up, more workers will be working outside the home, thereby increasing the number of employees to whom this order applies. A reopened economy also increases the likelihood of contracting the virus in the community, not at work. This could cost California employers - who are not in great shape right now - billions."

Recently, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau released a study which found the annual cost of COVID-19 claims on Essential Critical Infrastructure (ECI) workers under a conclusive presumption ranges from $2.2 billion to $33.6 billion with an approximate mid-range estimate of $11.2 billion, or 61% of the annual estimated cost of the total workers’ compensation system before the impact of the pandemic.

SCAG Extends Comment Period and Postpones Final Vote on 2020 Regional Transportation Plan (Connect SoCal)

In a significant win for the business community, the Southern California Association of Governments has agreed to extend the comment period and postpone the final vote on the 2020 Regional Transportation Plan for 120 days. The Partnership, along with many of our partners in the business community, testified yesterday at the SCAG Regional Council meeting in support of the extension.

The Regional Transportation Plan is a key document that tries to integrate land use policy, housing goals, and transportation planning across Southern California. Extending the comment period allows for greater analysis and input from the businesses community on what is a very long, complicated document. This is a solid win for the public and the business community to be able to provide substantive feedback on a critical policy plan.

LA County Supervisors Approve COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

IRWINDALE - On Tuesday, the LA County Board of Supervisors approved a COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. The ordinance applies to companies with over 500 employees nationwide as well as in the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County. The County CEO Office said that there are 38 businesses that will be affected by this supplemental ordinance. Some of the provisions include:

• Employers must provide full-time employees 80 hours of supplemental sick leave for COVID-19 related reasons

• Requires a doctor's note to request leave.

• Employer offset: If an employer provided additional paid leave, the obligation to provide leave may be reduced by every hour the employer allowed an employee to take leave.

• Exempts emergency first responders and health care providers.

• Exemption for collective bargaining agreements if there is a waiver in the agreement.

• This was approved as an urgency ordinance.

• The supplemental ordinance sunsets Dec. 31, 2020.

The Partnership is working with our many business allies and partners to continue to advocate on the Right of Recall and Countywide Worker Retention ordinances which are expected to be considered by the Board of Supervisors on May 12, 2020.

County Regional Planning Commission Passes Inclusionary Housing Ordinance

IRWINDALE - On Wednesday, in a 5-0 vote the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission (RPC) passed the County's Draft Inclusionary Housing Ordinance with several harmful amendments. The Partnership had strongly opposed the ordinance.

"The County's Inclusionary Housing Ordinance will only increase the cost of housing in the unincorporated areas while discouraging new construction," said Partnership President & CEO Bill Manis. "The amendments that were added, only make the new ordinance worse."

The added amendments include:

• A new definition of what is considered a "small project" - lowered from 20 or less units to 15 or less units.
• Amended the offsite option to require that offsite units remain in the same or higher opportunity band.
• Requires an MOU and report on contributions made if a third party partnership provides offsite units.
• Changed the covenant requirements from 50 years to 99 years contingent on a report from the County consultants on this feasibility.
• Based on a future review from County consultants, they will amend the previously exempted sub-markets to include a feasible percentage of inclusionary housing.

These new amendments significantly worsen the ordinance by making housing production more challenging. More updates will be forthcoming as the ordinance moves to the Board of Supervisors for final approval.

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The San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership joined the LA County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) and the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation (SCVEDC) in support of an Economic Recovery Task Force that would collaborate and develop metrics, guidelines, and specific instructions to businesses to reopen and resume operations in the coming weeks. The three organizations sent a detailed letter to the LA County Board of Supervisors last week laying out details of the task force and the role it should play in reopening the County for business. The Board of Supervisors approved the creation of this task force at their meeting yesterday morning. 

“The coronavirus pandemic has been an economic disaster not seen since the Great Depression,” said Bill Manis, President and CEO of the Partnership. “Our healthcare workers have done a tremendous job in limiting the spread of the virus. Now it’s time for government officials to turn some attention to getting people back to work and letting businesses reopen and restart operations.” 

LA County’s stay-at-home order is in effect through May 15^th. The Bay Area recently extended their stay-at-home order through the start of June. With coronavirus cases stabilizing in the state, preliminary planning and discussion should begin to enable businesses to reopen while still following social distancing guidelines. This is critical to getting our economy moving again and making sure that millions of southern Californians have a way to work and support themselves.

For more information, here’s the full letter sent to the Board of Supervisors.

And here’s an article on the task force approval by the Board of Supervisors.

Partnership Opposes LA County Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, Legislation to Reduce Statewide Rents by 25%

IRWINDALE - This week, the Legislative Action Committee of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership met via Zoom and voted to oppose the proposed LA County Inclusionary Housing Ordinance. It also voted to oppose AB 828 (Ting), a bill that was intended to address the issues of the coronavirus but also would have mandated a 25% statewide reduction in rents, harming property owners and introducing yet another top-down order on an already distressed housing sector.

"The proposed Inclusionary Housing Ordinance for LA County will not address our housing crisis," said Partnership President and CEO Bill Manis. "Ultimately, this ordinance will increase the cost of housing and discourage new construction in the unincorporated areas. It does not positively contribute to solving our fundamental housing issues."

The LA County Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is to be heard by the Board of Supervisors next week.

The Partnership also voted to support AB 2030 (Rubio), a bill that updates the formula calculating how much students are awarded in Cal Grants when they attend independent non-profit colleges and universities in the state. The formula has not been updated for these institutions since 2001. The Committee also voted to oppose AB 2843 (Chu), a bill that would enact an additional per-employee fee as part of local business licensing renewals.

For more information, contact Brad Jensen, Director of Public Policy, by email at bjensen@sgvpartnership.org.

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