Each year the California Chamber of Commerce releases a list of job killer bills to identify legislation that it claims will decimate economic and job growth in California. The CalChamber tracks the bills throughout the rest of the legislative session and works to educate legislators about the serious consequences it says these bills will have on the state. The program tracks more than 3,000 legislative proposals every year, sounding the alarm when a bill will hurt employers and the economy.

The organization released its preliminary list of job killer bills on March 29 to call attention to the negative impact that 18 proposed measures would have on California’s job climate and economic recovery if they were to become law. Another job killer has since been identified, bringing the total to 19.

Several of the pending bills characterized as job killers limit the use of arbitration in certain cases. The Chamber says that AB 2667 (Thurmond; D-Richmond) unfairly discriminates against arbitration agreements and therefore is likely preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act, which will lead to confusion and litigation, by prohibiting arbitration of Unruh Civil Rights violations made as a condition of a contract for goods or services.

And AB 2879 (M. Stone; D-Scotts Valley) unfairly discriminates against arbitration agreements and is likely preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act, which will lead to confusion and litigation, by prohibiting an employer from requiring an individual who is a member of the military to sign a mandatory arbitration agreement as a condition of employment.

Job Killer No. 20 stalled on Assembly Floor A day after being added to the California Chamber of Commerce job killer list, a bill dealing with release clauses fell short of votes needed to pass the Assembly. AB 2748 (Gatto; D-Glendale) is deemed a job killer because it would eliminate incentives to settle lawsuits and would instead expose businesses to multiple rounds of litigation by creating statutory prohibitions on “release” clauses in settlements pertaining to “environmental disasters.”

Thus far there are no worker’ compensation bills pending that have been identified by the CalChamber as a job killer.

“These job killer bills represent the worst of the worst legislative proposals currently under consideration by lawmakers,” said CalChamber President and CEO Allan Zaremberg. “As everyone knows, California has areas that are booming economically and other areas that are stagnating. Each part of California has unique problems and these job killers will negatively impact future economic growth. Whether they create barriers to providing affordable housing for workers, or increase costs for companies trying to grow or stay in business, these job killer bills should not become law.”

The CalChamber 2015 job killer list grew to 19 bills during the legislative session. By the end of the year, 18 of the 19 proposed laws were defeated.