February 29, 2024 | CRA Newsletter: Legislative, Political, Regulatory, Local, Federal & Other Updates | |
Message from the President | | |
The month of February is always a month of prep work ahead of a busy several months of committee hearings, coalition meetings and advocacy letters. This year is no different. If anything, 2024 is exceptionally busier than all of our busy years combined as CRA is in the driver seat with one of the biggest issues of the year: Retail Theft.
The CRA team held our Legislative Committee meeting following the bill introductions deadline and our Retail Theft Committee also met to discuss the myriad of legislative bills introduced on this issue including, and especially, the two Assembly and Senate packages that our team is working with legislative leadership to support and shape.
We will be scheduling additional issue specific committee and workgroup meetings including environmental responsibility, labor/workforce, energy and transportation and Privacy/AI to go through bills pertaining to those specific areas and, by now, everyone on these list serves should have received bills for review and feedback. If you have not received an email and feel you should have OR if you you would like to be added to a specific committee/workgroup/list serve, please reach out and we will get you added. This is a crucial time for our members to weigh in on legislation and, as we outline below in the legislative section of the newsletter, we rely on your feedback so we can best advocate for you.
Additionally, we are off and running with the programming for our Annual Meeting and have opened up registration and the discounted booking link for our members to secure before space fills up (and it will fill up/sell out!). This year we will be in California's beautiful wine country - Napa, CA - and will be planning some fun extras surrounding the event so do not be shy with planning an extended stay! Details on registration and booking for travel plans are provided in the newsletter. We are looking forward to another great event!
Lastly, for now, it's Super Tuesday next week with California's Primary election to be held on March 5. A number of legislative and congressional races are on the ballot that will impact the dynamics in the building so stay tuned for our analysis and updates.
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any concerns or questions you have.
Rachel
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In CRA's February 2024 Newsletter Issue:
- Legislative Advocacy Updates
- Regulatory Advocacy Updates
- Federal and Local Advocacy Updates
- CA Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates
- Upcoming Events
- Other Outreach and Activities
- CRA In The News
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2024 Legislative Advocacy Updates | | |
Regulatory Advocacy Updates | | |
Federal and Local Advocacy Updates | | |
SNAP/CalFresh Food Purchases
There is a rumored deal with a Congressional proposal to restrict SNAP/CalFresh food purchases. Negotiators are considering a deal to approve a pilot program restricting some choices for SNAP beneficiaries in exchange for a boost in funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children and several other nutrition programs as they try to hammer out a spending deal. Read more.
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Federal Maritime Commission
The CRA team joined a coalition representing key maritime supply chain stakeholders in recommending Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel to be renominated for another term at the Commission. Read the letter here.
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Rail Closure / Supply Chain
CRA sent a letter to President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas urging all necessary resources be addressed with a looming supply chain crisis resulting from the cessation of rail service through the land ports at El Paso and Eagle Pass. Read the letter here.
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Los Angeles Regional
Water Quality Control Board
CRA sent a letter to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board with comments in response to the "Notice of Opportunity for Public Comment, Staff Workshop and Public Hearings on a tentative General National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permit and Waste Discharge Requirements for Commercial, Industrial and Institutional Facilities in the Dominguez Channel/Greater Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbor Watershed and the Los Cerritos Channel/Alamitos Bay Watershed (Draft CII Permit). Read the letter here.
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Parcel Delivery Service in
City/County of San Francisco
CRA sent a letter to the City/County of San Francisco's Land Use and Transportation Committee members requesting the File #231223: “Planning Code - Parcel Delivery Service” be duplicated to leave open an opportunity to explore a narrow exemption for deliveries of medical parcels including medications, Covid-19 tests and other vital medical supplies from the requirement to acquire conditional use authorization for same day deliveries. Read the letter here.
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California Community Pharmacy Coalition Updates | | |
Legislative and Regulatory Updates
CCPC will meet tomorrow, Friday, March 1 at 11:00 A.M. PST to review legislation including the bills listed below.
Additionally, Governor Newsom signed SB 399 (Wiener) HIV preexposure prophylaxis and postexposure prophylaxis legislation, which CCPC supported.
CCPC will also get updates on issues pertaining to the Board of Pharmacy including central fill, mail order and SB 362 implementation. Click here to get more info on the next CCPC meeting including zoom info and the full call agenda.
The CRA team sent a letter to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to urge the adoption of the EPA Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals via a Section 100 rule making. Read the letter here.
Medi-Cal Rx Updates
Medi-Cal Rx Electronic Prior Authorization Request Submission System has been restored after a temporary outage. View the update here.
The Planned Maintenance of Medi-Cal Rx Fax Lines alert has been published. Read the alert here.
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Conference on Crime
Thursday, March 21
Sacramento, CA
CRA President Rachel Michelin will be speaking at a "Conference on Crime" that Capitol Weekly is hosting on Thursday, March 21. Other speakers include San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, Asm. Rick Zbur; Lenore Anderson with the Alliance for Safety and Justice; Eric Brown with the Office of Governor Newsom and Cristine Soto DeBerry with Prosecutors Alliance. Learn more about the event here.
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NRF Protect
Tuesday, June 4 - Thursday, June 6
Long Beach, CA
SPECIAL OFFER for NRF PROTECT!
California Retailers Association members will always receive the NRF Member rate when you register for NRF PROTECT using our special offer code!
With a focus on solving complex security challenges like organized retail crime, data breaches, crisis management and ecommerce fraud, NRF PROTECT is where you will find the experts and insights to help mitigate risks, safeguard your assets and reduce potential loss. Explore our session topics and discover opportunities to dive further into certain topics with our expanded number of featured sessions focusing on role-specific and cross-functional engagement during moderated group table talks and special add-on programs during the registration process.
California Retailers Association promo code: CRASAVE
Steps to Register:
- Enter company credentials
- Select All-Access Pass
- Fill in your information
- Select any additional add-on experiences you would like to add
- Enter Unique Promo code CRASAVE. If you are not already a member of NRF, once the code is entered you will see the price drop to the member rate.
- Complete payment
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Contact registration@nrf.com for any registration related questions
Learn more at https://nrfprotect.nrf.com/
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Registration and Room Booking Link Now Live!
Rooms must be booked by August 16 to secure discounted group rate
CRA Annual Meeting
Sunday, September 15 - Tuesday, September 17
Napa, CA
The California Retailers Association will host this year's Annual Membership Meeting on Sunday, September 15 through Tuesday, September 17 at the Napa Marriott. CRA members will hear from industry leaders and policymakers on a variety of issues impacting the retail industry including EPR, Retail Theft, Labor & Employment Issues, PAGA Reform, Artificial Intelligence and more. We will also have the latest Legislative, Regulatory and Political Updates. Registration and the hotel room booking link are now live. Be sure to book your room by Friday, August 16, to secure our discounted group rate. Additional details including sponsorship opportunities, special guests and other programming will be released soon.
Cost to attend: $375 members / $450 nonmember rate
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The discounted hotel room booking link will be provided following payment of event registration | |
Cal Retailers' Annual Meeting will include the
Second Annual California Retail Law Summit
Tuesday, September 16
Napa, CA
The California Retailers Association and National Retail Federation is hosting the second annual California Retail Law Summit on Monday, September 16 at the Napa Marriott. CRA and NRF members as well as nonmembers will gather with legal experts to discuss and deep dive on a variety of issues impacting the retail industry in California including litigation threats, privacy, labor and employment matters, Cal/OSHA, and more. Attendees will also receive exclusive updates on California’s legislative and regulatory environment. Details including registration, sponsorship opportunities and programming will be released soon.
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Other Outreach and Activities | | |
Women of Impact
CRA President Rachel Michelin spoke at the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce's Women of Impact luncheon, which celebrates the groundbreaking achievements of women in various fields and emphasizes their valuable contributions to society. This year's event featured inspirational stories of women who achieved remarkable firsts and have made a significant impact in their respective fields. Additional speakers included Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CPA, President of UCLA Health Faculty Practice Group Dr. Eve Glazier and CEO of LA Metro Stephanie Wiggins.
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"Through the Looking Glass" Tour
CRA President Rachel Michelin attended the "Through the Looking Glass" Tour hosted by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy (CFEE), which included a tour of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF). CFEE is working with the Resource Recovery Coalition of California to educate legislators on waste issues by taking them on in-state visits and Michelin joined CFEE last year on a recycling tour in Canada to learn about sustainability practices. Participating in CFEE outreach activities ties into the CRA team's advocacy efforts around environmental responsibility-related legislation and regulatory rulemaking including SB 707 (Newman, Textiles EPR) and SB 54 (CalRecycle, packaging EPR). Read more about the tour here.
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Cal Retailers Advocacy Week Recap
The CRA Team is proud of the work our members did during our 2024 Advocacy Week, which included meeting with over 90 members of the state legislature (a record number of advocacy meetings for the association) and honoring Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas as our 2024 Retail Champion. All of the events that made up our Advocacy Week - Cal Retailers and Cal-ORCA joint board dinner, two days of advocacy meetings, annual legislative reception, Cal-ORCA networking reception and Cal Retailers and Cal-ORCA board meetings - included a lot of engagement from our member companies, which is important for telling the retail story to policymakers. There will be many more opportunities for engagement with our team and fellow CRA members as we head into a multi-months sprint to the end of the second year of the 2023-2024 legislative session, which kicks off with bill introduction deadline this Friday. View Advocacy Week photos here.
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Additional CRA team Outreach and Activities
CRA President Michelin spoke at the FuturePorts Annual Membership Meeting during a special fireside chat with Assemblymember Mike Gipson, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Ports and Goods Movement and Chris Shimoda, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at the California Trucking Association. The discussion centered around insight on the shifting dynamics of global trade and retail and was moderated by FuturePoprts Chairwoman Kat Janowicz.
The CRA team joined a coalition representing key maritime supply chain stakeholders in recommending Federal Maritime Commissioner Carl Bentzel to be renominated for another term at the Commission.
The CRA team met with San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and the San Diego County District Attorney's Office on Retail Theft issues.
The CRA team participated in Loss Prevention Magazine's ORCA's in Action Leadership Meeting, which included ORCAs from across the country (the CRA team represented Cal-ORCA) to discuss needs, opportunities, concerns and the agenda for this year's Western States ORCA conference.
CRA's Government Affairs Director Ryan Allain spoke at a City and County of San Francisco Retail Theft Town Hall alongside San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins and San Francisco Police Department Mission Office Captain Tom Harvey. The forum included discussion on what is being done on the local and state levels to combat retail crime.
CRA sponsored Equality California's 25th anniversary awards event. The team attended and enjoyed networking with myriad of state and local leaders along with many members of the Capitol community.
CRA is supporting Proposition 1 on California's Primary ballot. Prop. 1, if passed by voters, will modernize the state’s mental health laws and provide mental health treatment and housing for those who need it most. View the Yes on Proposition 1 campaign’s new ads here and here.
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