A Sacramento County Superior Court judge recently rejected a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a law prohibiting local elected officials from voting on matters involving the people and companies who contribute to their campaigns. FBA is the lead plaintiff in the case.
In his ruling, Judge Richard K. Sueyoshi determined the law, which went into effect in January, does not violate either the state or federal constitutions. FBA and the other plaintiffs issued the following statement in response to the ruling:
The Coalition of Business Associations and Elected Officials is disappointed by the ruling against its challenge of SB 1439’s constitutionality.
This law will effectively bar small business owners from participating in the local political process. This is an infringement upon the first amendment right to freedom of speech and to petition the government. This right has historically been protected both federally and by the California Supreme Court.
Although Senator Glazer argues that this law will end ‘pay-to-play’ corruption by special interests, the only interests affected by SB 1439 are those of businesses. SB 1439 hypocritically does not apply to labor or union special interests, as they both have been carved out an exemption in the law’s language and therefore will be allowed to donate up to $5,500 without forcing the recusal of a vote from a local elected official.
Also of note is that SB 1439 does not apply to elected officials at the state level. Senator Glazer says he was motivated to author this legislation out of concern that $250 in aggregated contributions from representatives of a company threatens the ability of locally elected leaders to make fair and independent decisions that are in the best interest of their communities. We challenge Senator Glazer and others to lead by example and abide by the campaign contribution limits detailed in SB 1439 to similarly avoid any question or suggestion of ‘pay-to-play’ related to decisions they make which may impact small business or other so-called interest groups. As Senator Glazer said at his press conference today, his advice to local elected officials is simply, ‘Just don’t take the money.’
We remain concerned about the weaponization of this law by NIMBY organizations seeking to block new housing or competing business interests looking to prevent competitor business growth. While we consider future legal options to protect the important constitutional right to freedom of speech, we call upon the FPPC to monitor and report to the public on nefarious abuse of this law.
Minuteman Transport is the latest family business to join FBA. Located in the City of Industry east of Los Angeles, the company was founded by Peter Amundson in 1985. Minuteman is a refrigerated over-the-road freight carrier and warehousing company, serving customers in California, Nevada, and Arizona. It employs 45 people. The second generation is now involved in managing the company.
Two new companies recently joined FBA, the only organization exclusively focused on protecting the interests of family businesses in California
Cobex Construction Company was founded in 2017 by Vazgen Dallakyan, whose family emigrated from Armenia when he was a toddler seeking safety and freedom. The Roseville-based company does residential and commercial roofing, siding, solar, and windows in a 50-mile radius around Roseville. It has 30 employees and is based on the cornerstones of stress-free customer experiences, long-term customer relationships, quality workmanship, and transparency.
TABBA, LLC, is a commercial real estate brokerage in the City of Orange, specializing in Orange County properties. Founded by Allen and Carla Buchanan in 2022, the company has four employees.
FBA is the lead plaintiff in a major court case designed to ensure that our members’ free speech rights and ability to support good government in their communities is protected.
The suit seeks to overturn SB 1439, a bill passed with little debate last year that has major implications. Under SB 1439, receiving a $251 campaign contribution would disqualify a local elected official from voting on any issue relating to whomever they received the contribution from - be it an individual or company. This would even apply to newly hired individuals that did not previously work for, or have any affiliation with, the company at the time of their individual contribution.
Making and receiving campaign contributions is an exercise of a constitutional right of free speech.
This law will also have a direct effect on many of our members’ ability to operate and expand their businesses. For example, if a business wants to expand its operations, they often seek zoning changes or conditional use permits that must be approved by the city council or the board of supervisors. Many restaurants operate under conditional use permits. And farmers and ranchers almost always require special use permits for activities such as agricultural processing facilities. These can be controversial even though the zoning permits them, so elected officials often have to make the final decision.
Accordingly, it would be risky for any family business owner to ever contribute to candidates for local office because it’s always possible that six or eight months down the road an issue will come up that would require elected officials to be involved.
It would also have a chilling effect on many family businesses that you wouldn’t think would be affected. Businesses that do engineering, accounting, legal and other work in the development sector may find themselves cut off from future work if they make contributions to local elected officials. Because their contributions, no matter how small, would be considered part of a prime contractor’s aggregated contributions, the contractor might have to bar them from future work simply because they exercised their constitutional rights.
FBA is pleased to announce that Breault Asphalt Maintenance has joined the Association. The company was founded in 2004 in Sacramento by siblings Jim Breault and Katie Little and operates in Northern California and Nevada with 13 employees. The company specializes in asphalt repair, sealcoating, parking lot striping, ADA upgrades, and concrete repair for commercial properties.
UCD is a premier retail, grocery, commercial, and residential manufacturer for some of the largest organizations in the world. From turning creative retail concepts into prototypes, to cost-effectively executing full-scale retail rollouts, UCD delivers flexible solutions at every stage of the process. The company was founded in 1999 by Daniel Hayes and his son is now very involved in the management of the company. They are located in Elk Grove and have 105 employees.
