We hope you enjoy our monthly public edition of CRA's e-newsletter including important information about the retail environment in California.
|
|
As February comes to an end, the CRA is team is sifting through thousands of legislative bills that were introduced last week. February 21st marked the bill introduction deadline for the second year of the 2019-20 legislative term. The next few months will be tough – we are fighting proposals from all fronts. Labor issues, new tax proposals, scheduling, pricing are just a few of the issues we will be dealing with. We welcome the input and involvement of our member companies as we advocate on their behalf. Our members also can join our monthly policy calls, so they have the most up to date information on legislative proposals that affect retail in California. Our member’s voice is an important part of the CRA team; if you are not a member of CRA, we hope you will
join other retail industry leaders
in signing up so you can take advantage of all the opportunities and benefits of association membership.
Rachel
|
|
CRA Member Altria Group was recently recognized as a global leader on both CDP’s Water Security A-List and Supplier Engagement Leaderboard for 2019
Best Buy was added to the 2020 Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies in America, Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies and CDP Climate A List.
Walgreens DonateLife program received nearly 10,000 donor registrations in the last year alone, with a potential to save up to 80,000 lives and heal more than 750,000 lives.
Rite Aid and their customers are giving back to deserving charities helping children in need. Over seven years, The Rite Aid Foundation has contributed a total of more than $34 million to
Kid Cents
charities across the country, thanks to members of Rite Aid’s loyalty program, wellness+ rewards, rounding up their in-store or online purchases to donate to KidCents.
|
|
Throughout the past month CRA has shared member programs and updates celebrating diversity and #BlackHistoryMonth.
Join CRA
to share your company's positive "Retail Stories" and be a part of our advocacy effort. Help us include your company's programs and initiatives in our outreach efforts. Your membership in CRA adds to the overall policy influence the association has at the state and local level. We help tell the "retail story" to consumers and policymakers about the important contributions retail makes to California’s economy and workforce.
Join the growing community of retailers
working to protect California's consumers, jobs and the economy. Don't let your company be left out of the retail narrative. Help us share with policymakers and the public all of the the positive work your company is doing in key issue areas affecting our state including environmental sustainability, protecting consumers, supporting and training employees, creating jobs, helping communities and supporting local economies.
Call our office at 916-443-1975 or send an email to
cra@calretailers.com
to find out how you can join the Association that represents the largest group of private sector employers in the state.
|
|
CRA's advocacy team is reviewing thousands of bills following the Feb. 21st bill introduction deadline for the second year of the 2019-2020 legislative session. A complete list of bills CRA is tracking will be provided to members on Monday,
as we move past bill intro deadline and into the committee hearing phase over the next couple months.
This is an exclusive membership benefit to retail and associate companies who
join CRA
.
Tracking and engaging on legislation is a critical part of CRA's Advocacy efforts, informing retail member companies of potential impacts to the industry and keeping them up to date and involved in all policy and regulatory discussions and developments as they happen. Every action CRA takes in the policymaking process includes a focus on promoting, preserving and enhancing California's retail industry. Below are the latest legislative and regulatory developments CRA has been engaged in. Links to letters CRA has sent in to bill authors along with additional information pertaining to each of the legislative and regulatory issues listed below are exclusive to CRA members. Read more about our advocacy program
here
.
Predictive Scheduling Update
The CRA team is working with members on the newly-introduced SB 850 (Levya), which establishes a statewide predictive scheduling regime for retail, restaurants and grocery store establishments. CRA is part of a broad business coalition opposing SB 850. Additionally, w
e have received word that the City of Los Angeles' Economic Development Committee expects to hear their "Fair Work Week" proposal on March 17 and to anticipate that the City Council will take it up on March 20th. The CRA team is working with members on scheduling meetings with LA City Council members to provide them with critical feedback from the retail industry.
Gender Neutral
Retail Departments
Legislation
Assemblymember Evan Low introduced legislation to require gender neutral product placement on retail sales floors.
The bill would require retailers with 500 or more employees to maintain gender neutral product placement for children’s clothing, toys and other items in their stores or be subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation. The intent of the proposed legislation appears to put an end to aisle-by-aisle of boys and girls toys, clothing, etc. AB 2826 follows the reintroduction of Sen. Jackson's gender pricing measure (SB 873), which we included in our
January newsletter
.
Consumer Goods Tax to Fund Universal Basic Income Proposal
Asm. Low also introduced a bill that would create a value-added tax (VAT) of 10% on goods and services to fund a new California Universal Basic Income (CalUBI) Program. Under AB 2712, the Program would distribute $1,000 per month through the State Department of Social Services to CA residents 18 years of age or older who are not already recipients of the Medi-Cal, County Medical Services, CalFresh, CalWORKs programs, or Unemployment Insurance. The VAT would apply to all CA goods and services with the exception of medicine, medical supplies and equipment, educational materials, including textbooks, tuition or fees for education, food, groceries, and clothing.
Additional Legislative Updates
- False Claims Act Returns: CRA has been working with a coalition in opposition to a bill that would apply liability under the False Claims Act to corporate income tax returns. AB 2570 (Stone) has returned this year after the previous bill was stopped in Senate Appropriations.
- Beverage Container Recycling: California’s faltering beverage container recycling program will be a major focus of this year’s Legislative session, judging by the number of bills introduced.
- Facial Recognition Bills: Asm. Chau has introduced AB 2261, which would require processors of facial recognition services to make available an interface to allow “controllers" or third parties to conduct tests of those facial recognition services for accuracy and unfair performance differences across certain subpopulations. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson also introduced a bill that would impose a five-year moratorium on facial recognition technology and prohibit storage of personal data in government databases for use in biometric surveillance systems.
- Legislation Impacting Retail Transactions: Senator Jerry Hill introduced SB 926, which would require all retail stores to accept cash for transactions. The proposal would allow such surcharges in statute, but capped at the retailer’s reasonable cost of the transaction up to 3.5% along with other requirements. Assemblymember Bill Quirk also introduced AB 2695 (Quirk), a proposal to authorize credit card surcharges. Both could have significant impacts on retail transactions.
- Pet Stores Back Under Fire: Asm. Todd Gloria introduced legislation- AB 2152- that would "end the retail sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in California" following a San Diego Humane Society citations report on local pet store violations of existing state law governing puppy mills. The bill would impose a ban on all pet stores statewide. Asm. Patrick O'Donnell also introduced AB 2117, which would impose a partial ban on pet stores exempting animal shelter and animal rescue groups. The bill would introduce new criminal penalties for pet store retailers who violate the proposed pet store prohibition.
- Lithium-ion Batteries: As currently written, AB 1509 (Mullin) would create extended producer responsibility for lithium-ion batteries, including retailers where there is no in-state manufacturer or distributor.
- Independent Contracting: More than 20 bills have been introduced this session alone to fix or repeal AB 5, CA’s Independent Contractor law. Included in the fixes are a number of exemptions for specific industries and professions. Asm. Gonzalez is also pushing for a one-time tax relief for LLCs, waiving the upfront tax for individuals to incorporate. This potential addition to the 2020 State Budget would be on top of the $20 million Newsom allocated to enforce AB 5.
- Employer Liability for Contract Supervisors: Asm. Gonzalez has re-introduced a bill from last session that would hold employers strictly liable for employee harassment violations by contract supervisors. AB 2043 is similar to AB 3081 from 2018, which CRA opposed and was vetoed by then-Governor Brown.
- Data Sharing Mandate for Food Delivery Apps: Asm. Gonzalez introduced legislation that would require food delivery platforms such as Uber Eats, GrubHub and Postmates to provide restaurants, upon request, with customer information once per year. The data sharing requirement in AB 2149 includes a consumer's email address, phone number and delivery address. Data from consumers who exercised their rights under CCPA would be excluded.
- Sales and use Taxes Exemption for Emergency Preparation Items: CRA sent a letter of support for AB 2379 (Smith), which would create a three-day “sales tax holiday” each year that exempts emergency supplies from state sales and use taxes.
Regulatory Updates
- CCPA: CRA submitted a letter responding to the updated revised CCPA regulations released by AG Becerra earlier this month. Additionally, CA's AG is now pushing Congress to include a Private Right of Action (PRA) for any federal legislation dealing with privacy and consumer protection. A PRA in federal legislation will increase litigation for businesses substantially. There may also be legislation regarding a Private Right of Action in CCPA as well as legislation pertaining to data minimization.
- Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT): CRA and a coalition of business groups have been successful in eliminating a significant reporting requirement proposed by the Air Resources Board (CARB), as part of its truck electrification efforts. The “Fleet Rule” would have included a requirement on retailers and all “Large Entities” to submit detailed reports on the types of trucks currently delivering goods to stores and businesses, including contracts, docks, cold storage, etc. The rest of the Fleet Rule will focus on requiring fleet owners to purchase graduated percentages of electric trucks in the medium- and heavy-duty classes (Classes 4b-8) through 2030. For the heavy-duty classes the requirement would be 50% of all new purchases.
- AB 51 Mandatory Employee Arbitration Permanently Halted: The District Court for the Eastern District of California permanently halted enforcement of AB 51, a provision of California labor law that would have banned mandatory arbitration clauses in employment agreements on and after January 1, 2020. The decision was in response to a lawsuit filed by CRA, along with a coalition of business groups, to stop the new California law from taking effect.
- Pharmaceutical and Sharps Stewardship Program Update: CalRecycle is currently considering draft regulations to implement SB 212, which established a statewide framework for drug and sharps take back in California. CRA submitted a letter to CalRecycle providing comments on the draft regulations.
- Medi-Cal Rx: CRA received links to the Medi-Cal Rx Carve Out Website and to the power point presentation that was included in the most recent Medi-Cal Rx Stakeholder Presentation. The presentation centered around describing the timeline for establishing the carve-out and reiterating the scope of the change.
|
|
State of the State
Governor Gavin Newsom gave his State of the State address last week, which focused on housing and homelessness. The CRA team continues to look for opportunities to engage the Governor's office and lawmakers on the subject of homelessness and housing, and to share positive retail stories about our companies’ engagement with their communities.
Join CRA today
and add your company's voice to the policymaking conversation. CRA's advocacy team is constantly working on getting our members'
positive programs and stories into the public discourse including those that provide solutions to the homelessness crisis such as local partnerships, job creation, job training and achieving stable employment.
|
|
CRA Events and Activities
|
|
CRA is hosting a two day event March 10 and 11 in Sacramento to advocate for retail in California!
On Tuesday, March 10, 2020 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm, CRA will host our Legislative Reception, honoring our 2020 Retail Champion Legislators of the Year. Mingle with policy makers, Capitol insiders and CRA members as we recognize our Retail Legislative Champions in the State Capitol.
On March 11, we will host an
exclusive member-only
Retail Day at the Capitol, CRA's lobby day. The day will start with a policy briefing to discuss important legislation and regulations impacting CRA members. Following the policy briefing, CRA members will meet with state legislators, their staff and members of the Administration to advocate on important issues affecting our industry.
Join CRA today
and get access to the exclusive member benefit.
|
|
CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin attended the National Grocers Association (NGA) Show in San Diego this week and participated in a panel focused on California regulations surrounding in-store refrigeration for produce, dairy and other storage and display uses. Michelin also attended a dinner with state retail and grocery executives.
The NGA Show is the only event designed for independent supermarket retailers, by independent supermarket retailers, created to position companies to drive sales, increase consumer satisfaction and focus on insights and innovation. The show included 300+ Exhibitors, 60+ Education Offerings and Unlimited Networking.
|
|
CRA President and Executive Director
Rachel Michelin
also participated on a panel focused on women leadership, hosted by the
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
as part of their 2020 Chamber delegation to Sacramento.
The panel was moderated by the new chair of the chamber board
Caroline Winn with San Diego Gas & Electric
and included
Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins
and
State Treasurer Fiona Ma.
Discussion on the panel included, “The CA Retailers Association is working on being part of the solution for many of CA’s issues including homelessness which also affects retail. Our member companies are hiring people coming out of prison and helping reduce recidivism. Retail is also often times the first job many people have. We need to tell these stories. And CRA is working with electeds and others to balance the need for consumer protection with supporting the business community and CA’s economy.”
|
|
CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin and CRA member The Home Depot participated in the
CalORCA conference
on retail crime- a very important issue facing California and the nation. Many CRA members sponsored the event including Target, Albertsons, Safeway and Gap Inc.
Rachel and CRA Board Member Francisco Uribe sat on an 'Organizing Against Retail Crime' panel and discussed CRA's outreach with state legislators and offered recommendations for additional companies to get involved in CRA's advocacy efforts. Rachel and Francisco also shared information about disaggregated data of ORC numbers by State Assembly and Senate districts and encouraged retailers to share their stories on combatting organized retail crime in their stores.
|
|
Flourish Conference
The Growth of Branded Currency
CRA Event Partner
March 16-18
Chicago, Illinois
Now in its fourth year, the Flourish Conference offers everyone within the gift card/ certificate, loyalty, promotional value and branded currency industry the opportunity to network with industry leaders and learn about everything from program management basics to the newest technologies, regulations, and advanced strategies.
Join us!
North America’s fastest growing conference focused on gift card, loyalty, and promotional value. Use code CRA15 to save 15% off registration
|
|
Exclusive CRA Member Benefits
|
|
CRA Committees, Task Forces and Work Groups
|
|
CRA Member Portal
CRA members get access to CRA's exclusive
online member portal
, which contains coalition letters, floor alerts, regulatory comments and testimony that California Retailers Association authored or signed on to during the 2019-2020 Legislative session. The portal also contains important association governance documents for members' reference.
|
|
Rachel Michelin
President
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
