California Caucus
ARA of California's 2008 Legislative Day a success!
Members of the ARA of California met March 11 in Sacramento to participate in the second annual Legislative Day. Thirteen ARACA made 39 visits to state Senate and Assembly members’ offices.
The main issue discussed was S.B. 1539 introduced by Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello. This bill would revise the statutory requirements for the provision of meal periods for hourly employees — meal period disputes currently make up 40 percent of all California class-action lawsuits and approximately half of all employment-related lawsuits filed in California each year. The ARA of California urges you to look for more information on S.B. 1539 and support its passage.
Marti Fisher, California Chamber of Commerce’s policy advocate for labor and employment, health care and small business, briefed the group before legislative meetings. ARA of California members informed legislators about the state and national rental industries’ positive impact on California’s economy. The group had lunch with Mike Prosio, chief deputy for legislative affairs, office of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. ARA members had a roundtable discussion with him on the proposed meal and rest period law along with other issues facing rental businesses in California.
We all had the opportunity to address other rental industry concerns with our representatives and, perhaps most importantly, thank them for their support last year in helping push the Air Resources board staff to expedite registrations under the Portable Equipment Registration Program (PERP). Those expedited rules are a major victory for this association and California’s rental industry.
Don Cruikshank coordinated Legislative Day, in conjunction with Scott Sadler and Emily Pappas of Lehman, Kelly, Sadler & O’Keefe, ARA of California’s lobbying firm in Sacramento. Members attending were Chris Smith, Sherri Creighton, Doug Fleury, Don Cruikshank, Ted and Suzette Cook, Bridget Doherty, Peter Maginnis, Brian Maginnis, Patricia Sarris, Ken de Vries, Chip Arenchild and Steve Anthony. John McClelland from ARA also joined us.
