The National Federation of Independent Business Save America's Free Enterprise Trust endorses Carly Fiorina for U.S. Senate.  On behalf of nearly 20,000 NFIB members in California, and even more small business employees and supporters across the state, this is a significant endorsement in an important election year.  Never have the stakes been so high for our job creators - small business owners.

The differences in this race could not be clearer. Carly Fiorina is a business leader who advocates for reasonable regulations, lower taxes, and more incentives and opportunities for Main Street. Senator Barbara Boxer is an advocate for higher taxes and more government intrusion into the lives of small business owners with a decades-long record of anti-small business votes.

Carly has signed the front of a paycheck and understands the day-to-day struggles of small business owners. Sen. Boxer has spent the last four decades as a professional politician with a record that shows she fails to understand the challenges of Main Street businesses.

It seems that every election year, several key phrases start to emanate from the Capitol - "small business" and "job creation".  A note to press secretaries and communications directors everywhere: just because a press release claims that a particular legislator is "small business" friendly or favors "job creation", doesn't make it so.

It's time for our state leaders to get serious about small business and pay attention to what job creators genuinely need from Sacramento.

First, legislators must ask themselves, "Who is responsible for creating jobs?"  The answer should be obvious when you learn that small business creates approximately three quarters of all new jobs.  They also create 14 times more patents per employee than large businesses and include more than 98 percent of business establishments.

While the legislature is in session, the National Federation of Independent Business/California will be profiling anti-small business bills and the adverse effect they would have on California's job creators.  This is the second column of the 2010 series.

That spot between the rock and the hard place is a bad place to be.

In fact, it's a very tight fit.

And the California Legislature is about to make it a bit tighter.

THE ROCK

When you visit your local bookstore, restaurant or dry cleaner, you may have noticed the kindly-worded sign letting you know that the business charges a small fee for you to use a debit card. Well, the debit card surcharge imposed by the mom-and-pop store is not there to squeeze you for a little more profit; a small business charges this fee to cover the ever-increasing cost imposed by the big electronic payment networks such as VISA, Mastercard and Interlink, and those mandatory fees may be 2.5 percent of the purchase price or higher.

In their ongoing quest to avoid accountability, many California politicians have thrown their support behind a measure that will gut the 2008 Proposition 11 redistricting reforms which took the job of drawing legislative districts out of the control of legislators and gave it to an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. And if they have their way, their measure will derail a November congressional redistricting reform ballot measure, the Voters FIRST Act for Congress that transfers the drawing of congressional districts to the citizens’ commission and away from self-serving, career politicians, as well. Although these politicians try to frame their effort as being in the interest of voters, one only need take a look at the history of this issue to understand their true motives: self-interest.

During the 2001 redistricting, California congressional representatives from both parties cut deals to protect the seats of incumbents. In the process, several members of Congress gave $20,000 to a consultant to help ensure their seats were safe. They got what they paid for; only one congressional seat has changed parties in the last decade. That wiz of a redistricting consultant, Michael Berman, also happens to be the brother of Rep. Howard Berman, whose seat was spared from what many agree should have been a challenge from a Latino candidate – considering the changing demographics of his district.

While the legislature is in session, the National Federation of Independent Business/California will be profiling anti-small business bills and the adverse effect they would have on California’s job creators. This is the first column of the 2010 series.

We’ve all got them in our wallets, purses and desk drawers. They hide from us and we forget that we have them until we “discover’ them again. What are we referring to? Gift certificates – the best one-size-size-fits-all present for those family members or friends that are the hardest to shop for. But as usual, the California legislature can’t leave anything alone…now they’re proposing a change to gift certificates that is no gift for small business, especially mom-and-pop retailers.

Senate Bill 885 doubles the gift certificate redemption provision from a value of $10 to a value of “less than $20” and requires a printed disclosure statement be included on each card or certificate. Doubling the value of the cash-out provision increases the burden already facing small business owners by expanding potential financial liabilities with outstanding gift certificates.

For far too long, the Californians has been missing an important voice on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) – the voice of small business. With that in mind, NFIB/California is proud to sponsor Assembly Bill 2328, introduced by Assembly Member Roger Niello, which requires one of the two public member appointees that currently sit on CARB be an owner of a small business.

The Air Resources Board (Board) consists of 11 members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate and they serve "at the pleasure" of the Governor, meaning that the Governor can replace them at any time. Of the 11 members on the Board, absolutely none represent the interests of California’s largest employer . . . small business.

Why is having a small business owner on CARB so important?

From time to time, small business owners must wonder about those whom they have elected to serve in the Capitol. Do our legislators understand the effect their actions have on small businesses around the state? Are they able to put themselves in the shoes of small business owners when voting on legislation that increases taxes, creates new regulations or adds mandates? Most small business owners would be honest and say that not enough legislators have those thoughts when voting.

On a regular basis, NFIB/California tracks the voting records of each member of the state Assembly and Senate. The Voting Record provides a critically important evaluation of a legislator’s attitude toward small business. The NFIB/California Voting Record is developed by selecting key bills proposed by the legislature that affect small businesses. The votes on those bills are then recorded and a percentage is determined for each member of the Assembly and Senate.

One need not be a pollster or political scientist to conclude that with each passing day, California voters have become increasingly wary and frustrated with government's (in)ability to get it right.  Once again, our state faces a multibillion dollar deficit and the news will not get better for many years to come.

How are taxpayers expected to have any faith that the very politicians and bureaucrats that have mismanaged government agencies, departments and budgets time after time would be any more competent assuming and managing something as critically important as healthcare? 

The sad but proven truth is that government-run healthcare will add more bureaucracy and a hefty price tag to California taxpayers, small businesses and jobs.  That is why the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) so strongly opposed a recent single-payer proposal in the form of Senate Bill 810 (Leno).

Our elected leaders have been back in session for just over two weeks and once again it is clear that the majority of their time will be - must be - dominated by the budget. Our recession still runs deep, scores of Californians are still waiting in the unemployment line, and businesses - mostly small businesses - from Del Norte to Del Mar are still shutting their doors at a clip.  As we face another crushing multibillion dollar state deficit, who can blame them?

Well, California voters can, and they'd be justified.

Voters actually have an opportunity to make a positive change for the Golden State this November. We can make the bold decision to remove those officials who continue to force us to bail them out for their reckless partying, and instead we can support individuals who demonstrate that they genuinely care about Main Street, jobs and the livelihood of our state.

Recently, the Commission on the 21st Century Economy held hearings around the state to determine the best way to reform California’s tax system, which many believe is outdated. There were hours of testimony from economic experts, tax groups and businesses of every size, including small business owners and representatives of the National Federation of Independent Business. We all agree – the system needs to be reformed in order to get us out of a feast-or-famine revenue stream.

The efforts of the Commission have brought to the forefront a major challenge to business growth in California and deserve a critical analysis by all parties including legislators and other state officials, the small business community, organized labor groups and taxpayer organizations. The fact that most of these groups have already expressed concern over some of the recommendations put forth by the Commission should be enough reason to pause before implementation of any of the recommendations. But certainly it does not shut down all discussion of ways in which the Governor and Legislature can reform our state tax structure to improve our economic and fiscal situation.