OP-ED: AB 701 will crush a blossoming economic opportunity in California
Our country’s economy is in the midst of a historic recovery. Sparked by consumers with trillions in excess savings and the pandemic-induced necessity of online shopping, these consumers are driving e-commerce to new heights and pushing retailers to expand fulfillment capabilities. According to recent forecasts, e-commerce will account for over 25 percent of all retail sales in this country by 2025. And California could be poised to reap the rewards.
In Southern California’s Inland Empire, known for its warehouses, the first two quarters of this year were among the busiest in history, and commercial property vacancy rates last quarter hit record lows. As our state continues to expand our GDP, create new jobs, and prioritize economic growth, ensuring that we do not chase away this booming sector should be a priority.
Our state is fortunate to be home to two of our nation’s busiest ports; the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach. This advantage, combined with the growing demand for industrial real estate in Southern California’s Inland Empire, creates countless economic opportunities for the state. However, there are lawmakers in Sacramento who are currently working to crush these economic opportunities, opportunities that would provide working-class Californians with stable, good-paying jobs.
Currently, there is a bill making its way through the state legislature, which would effectively gut the warehouse and fulfillment industry in our state. While this bill, Assembly Bill 701 (AB 701), was created with the intention of protecting warehouse workers, it fails to create a single new protection. Drafted to ensure that employers no longer implement harmful quotas that disregard the health and safety of an employee, the bill’s sponsors fail to acknowledge that if an employer were to implement dangerous quotas today, they would already be violating existing California law.
While AB 701 is redundant and ineffective at what it was designed to do, it would be extremely effective at pushing California’s existing businesses out of the state and simultaneously discouraging new businesses from entering. Given the economic opportunities associated with warehouses and fulfillment centers that currently exist, and the even greater ones that are projected to develop due to e-commerce in the coming years, passing this bill would be a serious mistake.
By putting an unnecessary burden on our warehouse employers, which will encourage many businesses to leave the state, AB 701 would also lead to job loss for many working-class Californians. By chasing away employers that provide blue-collar jobs, our state’s lawmakers will be responsible for further marginalizing under-represented and lower-income communities that depend on these vocations. Trading good-paying, reliable jobs that do not require a degree, for rules and regulations that create no new protections for warehouse workers, is a poor decision no matter how you frame it.
Our state’s lawmakers must look to the future and prioritize creating laws that are effective, non-redundant, and set our state up for economic success in the future. Warehouses and fulfillment centers are a blossoming industry and one that can provide stable and good-paying jobs for years to come. For this reason, I urge our elected officials in Sacramento to seriously consider the long-term consequences of AB 701 and work to ensure that this flawed bill does not become law.
Elba Guerrero is the former mayor of Huntington Park, California.