Goods Movement Leaders Demand AB 98 Fixes Immediately

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2024
Contact: Brooke Armour
[email protected] 

Co-Chairs of the Goods Movement Alliance, Rob Lapsley, President of the California Business Roundtable, Matthew Hargrove, President and CEO of the California Business Properties Association, and Paul Granillo, President and CEO, Inland Empire Economic Partnership, issued the following statement today in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s signing of AB 98, which has become even more critical as East Cost labor negotiations may divert more cargo to California’s world-class ports:   

“Despite opposition from local governments, environmentalists, and the broad and unified business community, the governor has signed AB 98, which will drastically hurt the state’s supply chain economy. AB 98 was a backroom, closed-door political deal that only passed with back-of-the-napkin deals and a promise that it will be ‘fixed’ next year.

"We demand those that wrote and lobbied for AB 98’s passage knowing it was deeply flawed, affects existing warehouses, and is so broadly written it impacts manufacturing and agricultural facilities as well, fix these issues immediately through an open and transparent early action budget bill as soon as the new Legislature convenes. 

"Those who depend on the supply chain for well-paying jobs and economic security, and the entire nation that relies on our supply chain for goods on store shelves, demand this bad bill be fixed immediately.”

-30-