For far too long, the Californians has been missing an important voice on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) – the voice of small business. With that in mind, NFIB/California is proud to sponsor Assembly Bill 2328, introduced by Assembly Member Roger Niello, which requires one of the two public member appointees that currently sit on CARB be an owner of a small business.
The Air Resources Board (Board) consists of 11 members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate and they serve “at the pleasure” of the Governor, meaning that the Governor can replace them at any time. Of the 11 members on the Board, absolutely none represent the interests of California’s largest employer . . . small business.
Why is having a small business owner on CARB so important?
Most small businesses don’t have the same level of staff support as larger businesses to ensure that they are in compliance with the myriad of regulations that come down from CARB. More often than not, the owner of the company takes on the responsibility of making sure that the regulations are met. And that is in addition to playing other roles such as accountant or human resources manager while trying to grow the business. Small business owners aren’t asking to be exempted from regulations – they are just asking to be heard and “at the table” when new ones are being proposed.
Often, the decisions that CARB makes disproportionately affect smaller companies and leave them scrambling to make sure they are in compliance. AB 2328 ensures that the impact of decisions made by CARB and their affect on small businesses is brought forward early in discussions.
Without a small business owner on the Board, we have no reason to believe that the pattern of ignoring small business concerns will cease at the hands of CARB. The Legislature needs to take steps today to curb bureaucratic abuse of California job creators.