POV: California a Nanny State?

Los Angeles - FOX 11 Vice President & General Manager Kevin Hale asks the question: Several bills awaiting a vote in the State Capitol have good intentions -- but are they too costly to Californians?

You can watch the full video of the editorial in the media player... and share your comments on the topic below the editorial transcript.

Full Editorial Text:

Right now, the most important issue on most people’s minds is jobs.

But politicians in our state government must think the economy is doing great, because if they have their way, California businesses will be forced to make crippling changes that definitely will cost even more jobs. Our politicians are turning California into a Nanny State.

Among the latest proposals: the bedsheet bill, SB 432, authored by Senator Kevin De Leon. This bill would force all hotels to switch from flat sheets to fitted sheets. Estimated cost to the hotel industry: fifty million dollars.

Then there’s AB 350, “The Displaced Service Workers Bill.” Authored by Assemblyman Jose Solorio, this bill requires businesses that win new contracts for janitorial and other services must keep the previous contractor’s employees for three months—the same employees who failed the job the first time. Why hire if you can’t fire? This bill is a job killer.

There’s also the Styrofoam bill, SB 568. Introduced by Senator Alan Lowenthal, this bill would make California the first state to ban the use of polystyrene foam from being used in takeout containers. We get it: Styrofoam is bad for the environment and particularly the ocean, but one study estimates it’ll kill 4,800 jobs, close down numerous factories and the state will lose millions in tax revenue.

Some estimate the cost of all these bills if passed could total hundreds of millions dollars. And that means, more jobs on the cutting block, more empty storefronts.

The truth is, we can’t pass legislation that costs us jobs right now.

I’m calling on De Leon, Solorio and Lowenthal to come back to the real world and take their bills off the table. I’m urging our viewers to write these politicians and tell them "NO." Maybe in the future, we can rethink some of these bills. But for businesses and the unemployed: the future is now.

Thanks for listening.

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The views expressed are not necessarily those of the station or its employees.