California Legislature Rolls Out Wave of Good, Bad, and Ugly Bills for Small Business

The California Legislature never ceases to amaze with some of their most creative, imaginative schemes to tax, regulate, and mandate small businesses and taxpayers in new ways. It’s a dangerous game—one minute, we might joke in passing about how California would love to figure out a way to assess property taxes on a satellite orbiting […]

Survey shows what small business owners think about regulations

Running a small business isn’t easy. Being your own boss might sound appealing, but it means putting in lots of hard work to make it happen. Among the many things an owner has to think about are balancing the books, hiring and keeping employees, and pleasing customers. Increasingly, something else weighs on the minds of […]

Half of Small Businesses Say Regulations are a Problem

According to new research by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), small business owners are drowning in regulations imposed by every level of government. It is a major problem affecting millions of businesses, and the federal government is the biggest contributor. For small businesses in California, however, we know that in many areas including labor and […]

NFIB/CA Reveals Initial “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” Bill List

With the Legislature back at work for the 2017-2018 legislative session, NFIB California released a new “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” bill list which identifies new and developing policy issues in the State Capitol affecting small business. Bills included in this list represent those which will have the greatest impact, either negative or […]

Small Business Reacts to Governor Brown’s Budget Announcement

Small business owners have been among the few voices to insist that the State of California is on the verge of an economic downturn, and today Governor Brown only affirmed this sentiment. The compounding pressures of a $15 state minimum wage, protected leave mandates, and mounting environmental regulations have all caused small business owners great […]

Legislative advocacy, member activism priorities for NFIB/Small Business in new year

As we wrap up 2016, NFIB California reflects on what has been an overall successful year for our members and the organization, but not without important legislative and electoral challenges along the way. 2017 will bring new challenges at the State Capitol which we intend to face head-on with our 22,000 members to defend our small business policy priorities […]

Shop Local on Small Business Saturday

The National Federation of Independent Business is America’s leading small business advocate. We are proud to represent 350,000 small, independent business owners, and we are excited to cosponsor the 2016 Small Business Saturdaypromotion with American Express. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, small businesses account for the vast majority of the jobs in this country. […]

Final Legislative Tally for Small Business: Challenges Ahead in 2017

As the leading voice of small business in California, NFIB has been front and center this legislative session advocating for and against bills which would have significant impacts on our struggling small businesses across the state. In my three decades working in politics, I don’t think I’ve seen a legislative session pass such a high […]

Prop 54 Will Enact Significant and Lasting Reform in the State Legislature

One of the oldest political tricks in the book is to claim something does the opposite of what it actually does. But that is precisely what Proposition 54’s small handful of critics do when claiming the measure will give special interests more power. This is the farce Eric Bauman propagated in his commentary, “Prop 54: […]

NFIB Score Card: Legislative Votes on Small Business

The National Federation of Independent Business/California unveiled its annual voting record for our 120 Senators and Assemblymembers in the State Capitol. Each year, NFIB/CA identifies and lobbies on bills which would have the most significant impact, either positive or negative, on small businesses. Based on their vote on these critical pieces of legislation, each member of the Legislature receives a percentage […]