Support the California Employee Ownership Act
SIGN ON TODAY!
TAKE ACTION: Sign-On to Support the California Employee Ownership Act
California Senate Bill 1407, the California Employee Ownership Act, introduced by Senator Josh Becker in February 2022, will educate business owners and other stakeholders about employee ownership, provide funding for business outreach and technical assistance, and streamline and reduce barriers to the transition process. The bill’s co-sponsors are the Worker-Owned Recovery California (WORC) Coalition, Project Equity, and Ownership America.
This bill was approved by the state Senate in May and by a committee in the Assembly on June 21st. It now requires allocation of funding through the budget process and approval by the full assembly. ASBN submitted a letter of support to the committees in both houses and encourages ASBN members to register their support as well by signing on to our joint Sign On Letter.
This effort is part of our broader work around employee ownership through ASBN’s Transforming Business Ownership for Social Justice Project.
Broad-based employee ownership is an effective bipartisan strategy that provides economic security for workers, small businesses, and the local community. Helping businesses consider and execute transitions to employee ownership is now more critical than ever for two primary reasons: the COVID-19 crisis and the pressure of the Silver Tsunami. Baby boomers own approximately 359,000 businesses in California, employing 3.9 million workers, and the lack of succession plans for 85 percent of these businesses will result in many of these companies closing altogether or selling to non-local buyers. ASBN strongly supports this innovative, worker-led model as it would pave the way toward an inclusive and sustainable economy in California, our nation’s largest state, and create a model that other states can follow.
SB 1407 will establish:
A dedicated hub within the Office of Small Business Advocate with a designated program manager to support and align the work of various state agencies in support of broad-based employee ownership
The Employee Ownership Education and Outreach Grant Program to fund education and outreach services that increase awareness for employee ownership transitions
The Employee Ownership Conversion Technical Assistance Program to help qualified businesses considering a transition to employee ownership with the costs of conversion
ASBN urges all members to join our Sign On Letter to support the passage and funding of the California Employee Ownership Act.