As part of the cap-and-trade deal that was ironed out shortly before the Legislature went on its summer recess, two bills were enacted. AB 617 (Cristina Garcia) dealt with air emissions, while AB 398 (Eduardo Garcia) dealt with the program itself. Contained in AB 398 was an elimination of an existing fee, as well as […]

With pending legislation this Session that attempts to limit the use of arbitration in civil litigation, including SB 33 (Dodd) and SB 238 (Monning), there are at least five instances in which prior efforts results in a veto, including the following ones from three separate governors: 2000 – SB 1570 (Dunn) – Gov. Davis vetoed […]

Despite several statutory changes enacted over the past several years, including one by the former Democratic Senate Leader, there continues to be numerous filings of state lawsuits for construction-related violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). There has to be significant reforms to limit these lawsuits to only the legitimate ADA violations that actually […]

The California State Senate passed Senate Bill 66, which would disallow a deduction for the payment of punitive damages. SB 66 was introduced on January 5 of this year and passed the Senate last week along party lines, garnering the bare minimum 2/3 vote of 27 senators, with all Democrats voting aye and all Republicans voting no. […]

Californians have voted to add $2 per pack on cigarettes by adopting Prop. 56 on November 8. This ballot measure increases the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack, with equivalent increases on other tobacco products and electronic cigarettes containing nicotine. The ballot measure allocates revenues primarily to existing healthcare programs. In addition, funds generated by […]

Assembly Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark Stone (D-Santa Cruz) has introduced AB 889, reigniting a debate that first began just over 25 years ago in this state. First proposed by then Senator Bill Lockyer in 1991, SB 711 would have banned the use of protective orders in civil litigation. Governor Wilson vetoed the measure. Other legislative […]

Despite multiple tax increases being adopted by voters just last November, SB 567 (Lara) was introduced that, if enacted, will result in another multi-billion dollar tax increase on businesses and individuals. And, the bill could once again raise the ire of major international trading partners, including Great Britain and Japan. With the newly-acquired super-majority status […]

The 2017 California Legislative Session, which began last December 5, is officially “off to the races” now that the bill introduction deadline of February 17 has passed. This year, there was an almost 25% increase in the number of bill introductions compared to last year’s total, although there are historically more bills introduced in the […]

As the 2017 California Legislative Session gets underway, and with the newly-acquired super-majority status of Democrats in both the State Assembly and State Senate, the business community is concerned about potential tax increases brewing in the Legislature, despite the massive tax increases adopted by voters in early November. Similar to when Democrats captured their super-majority […]

California’s Legislature should give consideration to playing a greater role in regulations that are used to implement and interpret the statutes that the Assembly and Senate write. This would also be appropriate in light of their efforts to expand oversight of administrative agencies. The State of California has over 200 agencies, departments, boards, and commissions […]