Last year, Governor Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 1407, the California Employee Ownership Act, which mandates the establishment of the Employee Ownership Hub within the Governor’s Office of Business & Economic Development (GO-Biz). The Hub is designed to increase access and reduce barriers to employee ownership, allowing many more workers and small businesses across California to reap the benefits of employee ownership. However, the State of California has not allocated money to fund the Employee Ownership Hub. We are asking the State of California to allocate $5 million to fund the Employee Ownership Hub.

Employee ownership is a well-proven strategy for business resilience, and creates wealth-building opportunities, workplace control, quality jobs for workers. There is compelling evidence that employee ownership saves the government money, as employee-owned businesses are more resilient during economic downturns and far less likely to lay off workers. With a potential budget shortfall looming, there is no better time for California to invest in worker ownership to preserve small businesses, protect good jobs, and save the State money. Please take a few minutes to complete these 2 easy advocacy asks to urge the State of California to fund the Employee Ownership Hub: 

 1. Tweet at CA Senate Budget Leadership to ask them to fund the Employee Ownership Hub:

Take a moment to tweet at California Legislative Budget Leaders to ask them to fund the Employee Ownership Hub! Here is how:

• Sample Tweet: “Please fund the Employee Ownership Hub within @CAGoBiz! Employee ownership creates wealth-building opportunities and good jobs for workers, preserves small businesses, and strengthens local economies! All while saving the State money! #WeOwnIt #CaLeg #CaBudget”
• Reply to Sample Tweet“@RendonAnthony @AsmPhilTing @alex_lee @JimPatterson559 @EGReyesCA @BuffyWicks @SenToniAtkins @NancySkinnerCA @SenAlexPadilla @CASenCaballero @SenRogerNiello”
• Here is a graphic you can use in the tweet. 

2. Take one minute to sign this letter asking the State of California to invest in employee ownership:

• It only takes a moment! It is most impactful for us to have organizations sign on, so please sign on behalf of your organization if you are able to.

Can you take one minute to sign this letter asking the State of California to invest in employee ownership?

Please sign the letter by Thursday, March 30th!

Last year, Governor Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 1407, the California Employee Ownership Act, which creates the Employee Ownership Hub within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). The Hub is designed to establish the infrastructure necessary to increase employee ownership throughout California. We are asking the State of California to invest $5 million to fund the newly-created Hub.

Employee ownership is a well-proven strategy for business resilience, wealth-building and job quality for workers, and strong local economies. With a potential budget shortfall looming, there is no better time for California to invest in worker ownership to preserve small businesses, protect jobs, and save the State money.

Please take a moment by Thursday, March 30th to sign this letter asking the State of California to invest in worker ownership to the benefit of workers, small businesses, and local economies!

Legislation builds upon California’s leadership in supporting small businesses & workers

Worker-Owned Recovery California (WORC), Project Equity, and Ownership America applaud Governor Newsom for signing Senate Bill 1407 (Becker D-Menlo Park), the California Employee Ownership Act, into law. The Act equips  California’s small business owners with options for succession and employee engagement and gives workers across the state a chance to become co-owners of the companies where they work. 

The bipartisan-supported measure establishes an Employee Ownership Hub within the Governor’s Office for Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) to provide business owners and workers with resources on employee ownership transitions, as well as support for existing worker-owned businesses. As California continues to recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State now has the invaluable tool of employee ownership in its recovery toolbox.

Broad-based employee ownership, primarily in worker cooperatives and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), is an effective strategy to build a more inclusive and resilient economy. In one study, employee-owners earned 33% more, stayed in their jobs 50% longer, and had twice the household net worth of their peers in traditional businesses. “With its proven track record, employee ownership will now have a bigger role in California’s economy,” said Hilary Abell, a Co-founder of Project Equity and WORC. “This could not come at a better time for business owners and workers.”

Approximately 359,000 businesses in California, employing 3.9 million people, have owners that are nearing retirement age. A majority of these owners have no formal succession plan, and most small business owners who try to sell their businesses will not find a buyer. These challenges are compounded by the continuing economic fallout of the pandemic, inflation, and the changing expectations of the workforce, as shown by the Great Resignation.

“Employee ownership enables working people to build wealth while sustaining businesses for the long haul in their communities,” said Senator Josh Becker. “Data shows that employee-owned businesses outperform their peers in profitability, productivity and resilience. Unfortunately, how to make these transitions and seize these opportunities is not widely understood. The new hub within GO-Biz will address that.”

With more than 100 worker-owned cooperatives  and close to 800 companies with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), California is already home to thriving worker-owned businesses covering every region of the state. Employee-owned companies were four times less likely to lay off workers during the pandemic and have weathered the storm successfully. With institutional support for worker ownership provided by the California Employee Ownership Act, bill sponsors hope to see worker-owned success stories like these multiply across our state. 

“The California Employee Ownership Act is a momentous step toward expanding employee ownership in our state and creating a resilient economy that works for working people,” said Bernadette King Fitzsimons, WORC’s coordinator. “Clearly, employee ownership is a true win-win.”

The WORC Coalition has exciting news to share: SB 1407, the CA Employee Ownership Act, passed out of the CA Assembly with unanimous support! 

We expect SB 1407 to head to Governor Newsom’s desk early next week. We need your help to urge Governor Newsom to sign the CA Employee Ownership Act into law! Please take a moment to submit an SB 1407 signature request letter to Governor Newsom by Thursday, September 1st. 

Here is how to submit a letter: 

1. Make a copy of the template letter. Fill in your organization’s information and sign the letter (electronic signatures work).
2. Email your support letter to the WORC Coalition Coordinator Bernadette at bkingfitzsimons@seiu-uhw.org and she’ll send it to Governor Newsom on your behalf.

We are so thankful to all of you who previously submitted a support letter to a legislative committee, and we ask that you submit a new one address to Governor Newsom. Your people power has gotten the bill passed out of the Senate and Assembly with unanimous support, and we need your help one last time to ensure this bill becomes law!

Again, many thanks for all your continued support. Feel free to reach out to the WORC Coalition Coordinator Bernadette at bkingfitzsimons@seiu-uhw.org if you have any questions.

The WORC Coalition is excited to share that SB 1407, the CA Employee Ownership Act, passed out of the CA Assembly Appropriations Committee last week! This means the bill will be heard on the Assembly Floor in the coming weeks.

We are so thankful to each of you who took action to support the CA Employee Ownership Act over the past months. Your letters of support, tweets, and calls to legislators were instrumental in demonstrating strong public support for this bill and passing this hurdle.

Again, many thanks to all who have supported SB 1407. We will share action items to support the bill through the final stages of the legislative process soon!