CRA Winter Newsletter
First Member Newsletter of 2021
January 22, 2020 | CRA Winter Newsletter: Political, Legislative, Regulatory and CRA Updates
Message from the President
Here we are in the middle of January 2021 - COVID-19 continues to rage across the state and more than half of California remains in lock down. Where there was hope for some relief with the vaccine, the rollout has been slow, and California still lacks the availability of enough vaccine to just get through the first tier, which focuses on our Health Care providers. Yet again, California has moved into a piecemeal approach with each county using their own systems to vaccinate their residents. The new federal guidance has put an additional strain on the system with recommendations that not only long-term care residents be inoculated, but also the hardest hit population- those over 65 years of age- who have the highest numbers in the ICU and lowest recovery rates. CRA continues to advocate for a safe, equitable and efficient rollout of the vaccine and partnership with the Administration on removing regulatory obstacles to ensure California has enough pharmacy professionals to administer the vaccine, especially as new vaccines come to market.

Not only is CRA focused on COVID-19, but the State Legislature resumed session in Sacramento on January 11th, a week later than scheduled, adding to our priorities other policy issues important to our members. Democrats continue to maintain a supermajority in both houses and just this week the Senate GOP ousted the previous leader, Shannon Grove, and replaced her with moderate Scott Wilk. We continue our legislative session like we ended last year – very controlled access to the Capitol with limited staff and even more limits on direct public participation. The policies from last year continue – offices can have one staff person per day, no direct meetings can be held in a legislative office and all other lobbying and advocacy will be done via video conference. 

CRA is sponsoring several bills in the upcoming session that include extending the sunset on the ORC criminal statute that was passed in 2018, ensuring the CHP ORC Task force continues to receive funding in the State Budget and, to help with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, a bill to place in statue to allow pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to continue to administer COVID-19 tests as well as provide the vaccine. We are also looking at other sponsored bill ideas and have had very productive meetings with members of the Legislature. 

As a reminder, the bill introduction deadline is February 19. Things will not really get moving in terms of policy committee hearings until late March. So far, our expectation is that policy committees will have only two hearings and, while leadership in both houses have not limited the number of bills a member can introduce, fewer committee hearings will automatically lead to a reduced number of bills being heard and moving through the process. While California still grapples with COVID-19, a rough vaccine rollout and stay at home orders, we still expect thousands of bills to be introduced.  

Earlier this month, Governor Newsom rolled out his proposed $227 billion budget for 2021-22. We expected the budget to focus heavily on COVID-19 and it does include budget allocations for opening schools, assisting small businesses, and supporting Californians impacted by COVID-19. Surprisingly, however, despite statewide shutdowns and the impact of COVID-19, California reported a budget SURPLUS. While this budget news was a welcome relief after months of business shutdowns in the state, California budget analysts do not expect the windfall to continue and anticipate that the full financial impact of COVID-19 will be felt on the state’s coffers for many years to come. As a reminder, the state budget is passed by a simple majority in both houses by June 15th and must be signed by the Governor before the July 1st start of the new fiscal year.

I would be remiss to mention the exciting political changes effecting California. First, what an honor to see one of California’s own, Kamala Harris, being sworn in as the first woman to serve as Vice-President of the United States. CRA looks forward to working with her as we have in California for many years. Her election started a ripple effect that included California sending to the United States Senate our first Latino Senator Alex Padilla. Upon his appointment, Governor Newsom appointed Assemblywoman Shirley Weber to fill the vacant Secretary of State role. In addition, California will shortly see a new appointment to Attorney General as our current AG, Xavier Becerra, has been nominated by President Biden to head HHS. Not only are we proud of these amazing California leaders who will be leading in the Biden Administration, but we look forward to working with many other Californians who have been appointed by the new President. California is certainly well represented in the new Biden Administration and CRA is ready to work with all of them on issues important to our members. 

Continuing the California political theme – it has been nationally reported that the campaign to recall Governor Newsom is gaining momentum and raising money. Supporters of the recall must collect 1.5 million signatures by March 17th to qualify. Things appear to be heating up, especially with the rocky vaccine rollout and the delay in school openings. Only time will tell if California faces a recall decision in the fall. 

As always, never a dull moment in California, but rest assured the CRA team is plugged in to provide our members the most effective insight and representation in the state. 

Rachel 
Legislative and Political Updates
Regulatory Updates
CRA News and Activities
CRA Bi-Annual Report and Member Survey- Feedback Requested
The CRA team released a Bi-Annual Report covering 2019 and 2020. Since welcoming new President and CEO, Rachel Michelin, CRA has seen exponential growth in membership, media coverage, legislative and regulatory outreach and activation as well as new branding, education and advocacy efforts. 

Click on the image below to be taken to the report. The report is also available on the CRA member portal.
The CRA Team is requesting feedback to help the association continue to best serve our members and California's retail industry. Click on the button below to be taken to a short list of questions that will take five minutes or less to answer. We appreciate your time and attention!
CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin in Front Page of LA Times Defending Retail
Malls muddle stay-at-home order

Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association said the organization has asked the state for information that would help determine whether infections are coming from shopping centers, but the requests have gone unanswered.

Without that clarity, retailers are moving forward with their best efforts to keep shoppers and employees safe, she said.

“We’ve openly said if retail is a major problem in transmission of COVID-19, show us the data,” Michelin said. “We can’t just blame businesses for behavior of people who are going out and having parties or going to other households.”
The 21st Annual Economic Forecast Conference
Hosted by the North State Planning & Development Collective

CRA President and CEO Rachel Michelin was a featured speaker at the 21st Annual Economic Forecast Conference held on Thursday. Each year, this conference brings together decision-makers from industry, government and education to tackle the issues at the forefront of economic development in the North State. These conferences serve as launching points for year-round discussion, collaboration and action. This year's virtual event included best practices and changing realities in education, workforce and commerce from leaders across the North State. Panelis included:

  • Educating for a Changing Workforce: Learn Best Practices in Innovative Educational Programs During this Unprecedented Time
  • Commerce/Retail Revolution: Winning Strategies that Combine Digital and Brick-and-Mortar Solutions for a Changing Consumer
  • The Future is Now: How Communities are Planning for a Changing Retail/Commercial Climate Including Impacts on Real Estate, Planning, Downtowns and More.
CRA 2021 Policy Calls 

The CRA team held its first monthly policy call last Friday with the association's policy call committee. The following includes the planned 2021 monthly policy call calendar covering this year's legislative session (dates are subject to change). For CRA members' designated contacts who are not regularly receiving these policy call reminders and calendar invites, please email cra@calretailers.com to be added moving forward. Policy calls are held on Fridays at 10:00am PT.

  • February 19
  • March 12
  • April 16
  • May 21
  • June 18
  • July 9
  • August 20
  • September 10
CRA Member Highlights
CVS and Walgreens Partners with Governor Newsom Admin to Distribute Vaccine

CA Retailers Association members CVS Health and Walgreens are leading the way to get the COVID-19 vaccine out as quickly and safely as possible working with California Governor Gavin Newsom on reducing government barriers to ensure all Californians have access to the vaccine as soon as possible so we can get our small businesses open again.
CVS also hires 200-plus for its Sacramento CA COVID-19 effort

CRA member CVS Health is also hiring in the Sacramento area! Great news for an economy that continues to struggle from this pandemic. Our CA Retailer members have really stepped up for their employees and communities they serve during the public health crisis. Read more.
COVID-19 Resources and Updates
The CRA team continues to send updates to our members with the latest information and resources related to COVID-19 including city, county and statewide executive orders and guidance, status of the regional stay at home orders and color-coded county tier system, latest sector updates and more. This information is also compiled on CRA's COVID-19 Resources and Updates web page. To receive this proprietary information, members can send an email to cra@calretailers.com.
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 previous Legislative sessions as well as the latest updates on the new 2021-2022 legislative session. The portal also contains newsletter and news alert archives and important association governance documents for your reference. If you have not yet received your login credentials and access instructions please email cra@calretailers.com. We are also available to answer any questions you may have regarding portal navigation.