As California’s only organization solely devoted to promoting and protecting family businesses, FBAC has taken the following positions on four measures that will appear on the November ballot:
YES on Proposition 36, which will reverse the damage done by Prop. 47 in 2014 and address retail theft and homelessness. FBAC is an active part of the coalition working to pass this measure.
NO on Proposition 5, which would lower the threshold to pass local bond measures from 2/3 to 55%.
NO on Proposition 32, which would raise the statewide minimum wage to $18 an hour.
NO on Proposition 33, which would enable local governments to adopt rent control measures.
Prop. 36: California is suffering from a continued explosion in theft and trafficking of deadly hard drugs like fentanyl, often because the people committing these crimes do not face serious consequences. Prop 36 will make our communities safer by creating real accountability for those drug traffickers and criminals who repeatedly steal while also providing meaningful treatment incentives for individuals with mental health and drug addiction issues. For more information, visit https://voteyesprop36.com
Prop.5 is a direct attack on Proposition 13. It makes it easier to raise taxes by eliminating the longstanding two-thirds vote of the electorate required to pass local bonds (borrowed money that must be repaid with interest). All new bond measures for “infrastructure” (nearly everything is “infrastructure”) and for public housing projects would pass with just 55% approval instead of the current 66.7%. Local bonds are paid for with extra charges on property tax bills, adding to the tax burden on homeowners and businesses, leading to higher rents for tenants and higher consumer prices for everyone. For more information, visit https://nonewtaxes.com
Prop. 32 would increase costs on family-owned businesses that can least afford it and force small employers to increase prices for consumers to absorb the higher minimum wage. After the new California fast-food minimum wage law took effect, fast-food prices rose by 7% in six months, the fastest in the nation. Some well-known “value meals” now cost over 40% more in California than the rest of the country. Prop. 32 would bring these record-setting price increases to small restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, small retail shops, farmers, and more, so we’re going to see the same sticker shock everywhere. (Website not yet launched.)
If Prop 33 seems familiar, it’s because nearly 60% of California voters rejected nearly identical anti-housing schemes in 2018 and 2020. The measure is part of a broader anti-housing agenda and would effectively overturn more than 100 state housing laws, including laws making it easier to build affordable housing like ADUs. It would also authorize permanent price controls, even on single-family homes. Non-partisan researchers at MIT estimate extreme measures like Prop. 33 result in an average reduction in home values of up to 25%. For more information, visit https://noonprop33.com.
The Family Business Association of California is deeply disappointed that the California Supreme Court ruled today that the voters will not have the opportunity to decide on the Taxpayer Protection Act, which would have protected taxpayers from local tax increases by giving them the right to decide if they wanted to tax themselves.
“We are deeply disappointed that the CA Supreme Court won’t let voters decide on the Taxpayer Protection Act. This court probably would not have allowed Proposition 13 to be on the ballot in 1978. What a shame for California voters,” said FBAC Political Director Robert Rivinius.
The justices – six of the seven appointed by Democratic governors – agreed with the arguments made by the Governor and Democratic legislative leaders that the measure would have constituted a “revision” of the Constitution because they would “fundamentally restructure the most basic of government powers” and therefore could only be enacted through established protocols for changing the Constitution, not a voter initiative.
The court ordered the initiative – placed on the ballot by the signatures of over 1 million Californians – stricken from the ballot.
It is the first time in decades that the court removed an initiative measure from the ballot.
Undeterred by this setback, proponents of the TPA, including FBAC, are making plans to place a new taxpayer protection measure on the 2026 ballot.
Two more family businesses recently joined FBA – the only organization working solely on behalf of family businesses at the California state capitol. The new businesses are:
Jackson Properties. The Sacramento-based company was founded in 1974 and specializes in construction, commercial building, and facility management.
Bosley Electric Company, a full-service commercial electrical contractor founced in 1991 and serving the greater Sacramento region and northern Nevada.
Thank you to both family businesses for joining the FBA family!
The Family Business Association of California this week awarded Sen. Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, with its Legislator of the Year award for his leadership in efforts to restore the ability of parents to pass along homes and business properties to their children without incurring potentially massive property tax bills.
FBAExecutive Director Robert Rivinius, right, and FBA legislative advocate Dennis Albiani, center, present the Legislator of the Year Award to Sen. Kelly Seyarto.
“Due to rapid inflation in property values, immediately reassessing family ranches, businesses and homes to current market values often forces the younger generations to sell their family homes and businesses to pay the higher property taxes,” said FBA Executive Director Robert Rivinius.
“Family businesses are the foundation of the state’s economy and our communities, and the state should not be making it harder for family businesses to continue from one generation to the next. Senator Seyarto deserves our thanks for taking the lead in this effort to protect family businesses.”
Seyarto introduced a measure this year that would have asked voters to reinstate voter-approved protections that allowed the inheritors to maintain their parents’ or in some cases grandparents’ property valuations and tax levels.
These protections were narrowed or repealed altogether by Proposition 19 in 2020.
Because Prop. 19 took effect just three months after the measure was enacted, many taxpayers were caught unaware and forced to sell their homes and other property. Many affected taxpayers only became aware of Prop. 19’s changes while grieving the death of a parent or grandparent that resulted in an inheritance of property.
Opposed by powerful public employee unions, the measure, SCA 4, failed passage in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee in May.
“I am honored to receive this recognition from the Family Business Association,” said Senator Seyarto. “SCA 4 had one purpose, to restore protections for taxpayers and to keep the intrusive reach of the government away from their family inheritance.
“As we know, Prop 19 resurrected the death tax at a time when we should be making it easier for Californians to inherit property without asking them to absorb the burden of additional taxes. Upward economic mobility cannot be achieved unless we let people own what they create through decades of hard work. I want to thank the FBA for their advocacy and support for California’s families.”
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About Senator Seyarto:
Seyarto is a native Californian who served as a firefighter for 35 years, retiring in 2015 as a battalion chief. He was first elected to the Murrieta City Council in 1997 and served through 2006 when he chose not to seek another term to spend more time with his family. After he retired from the fire service, he was again elected to the City Council in 2016 and served as mayor. He was elected to the Assembly in 2020 and then to the Senate in 2022. He and his wife, Denise, have lived in Murrieta since 1991.
About the Family Business Association:
Founded in 2012, the Family Business Association of California is the only organization working exclusively at the Capitol to educate lawmakers and regulators about the importance of family businesses to the state’s economy and to their communities and to advocate positions on legislation and regulations. FBA has also taken the lead to defeat numerous proposals that would have made it much more difficult to keep businesses family-owned from generation to generation. For more information about FBA, visit www.myfba.org.
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.
As California’s only organization solely devoted to promoting and protecting family businesses, FBAC has taken the following positions on four measures that will appear on the November ballot: