Assembly Bill 649 and Senate Bill 84 aim at curbing lawsuit abuse against small business owners. Designed by Magnific

SACRAMENTO REGION, CA (MPG) - The state’s largest small business association is calling attention to two measures that did leap out of their house of origin only to meet a slow death in opposite-chamber committees that haven’t so much as given them a first hearing.

“Someone or some very powerful group wants Assembly Bill 649 and Senate Bill 84 killed, and the way the Legislature does that openly, as opposed to burying them in suspense files, is to never give them a hearing,” said John Kabateck, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in California. “We won’t speculate who wants them dead. Both would curb lawsuit abuse, so we’ll leave it to everyone’s imagination to guess who might benefit from seeing AB 649 and SB 84 thrown into the black holes of the legislative universe never to be seen again.”

AB 649, creating a Small Business Right to Cure program, passed the Assembly on a remarkable 78-0 vote. Upon its arrival in the Senate, it was assigned to that body’s Judiciary Committee and has not been acted on since July 14 of last year.

Similarly, SB 84, allowing 120 days to correct a violation of certain state laws, sailed out of its house of origin on a big bipartisan 34-2 vote. Upon its arrival in the Assembly, it was assigned to that body’s Judiciary Committee and has not been acted on since June 18 of last year.

“The treatment of these two bills are two screaming examples of what’s wrong with Sacramento,” said Kabateck. “They are not a committee’s bills; they are the peoples’ bills. Shame on legislators more beholden to lobbyists than to small business owners back home.”

Keep up with the latest California small business news at www.nfib.com. Follow us on X @NFIB_CA and on Facebook @NFIB.CA.

For over 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.