Gov. Gavin Newsom file photo

The California Chamber of Commerce (CalChamber) has announced its first Job Killer bills for 2022.

The CalChamber has tagged AB 1400, the “Guaranteed Health Care for All”, and ACA 11, the taxes to fund the proposed universal health care for California. 

In a letter sent by the CalChamber to the bill’s authors, Assemblymembers Ash Kalra (D-San Jose), Alex Lee (D-San Jose) and Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles), if ACA 11 were enacted, California’s top personal income tax rate for individuals and sole proprietors would increase by 2.5%.

ACA 11 would also implement a payroll tax of 1% of the aggregate amount of wages or other compensation paid by employers in excess of $49,900 and a gross receipts tax of 2.3% on businesses with more than $2 million in gross revenues. 

 “Single payer health care is not free health care,” said CalChamber Policy Advocate Preston Young. “AB 1400 and ACA 11 would not only ruin quality health care delivery in the state but create the largest tax increase in state history. Successfully standing up a new function that would be twice the size of the existing state budget is highly doubtful, given the state’s recent experience with benefit delays and massive fraud in the unemployment system.”

Young said the tax increases would discourage companies from growing, relocating to California, lead to significant layoffs or companies relocating out of the state. 

The costs of the tax increases for the proposed single payer health care is estimated at $160-$170 billion. 

Voters decided twice against a government-run health care system in the voting booth—in 1994 and in 2004. 

Fresno Madera Medical Society President Dr. John Moua said the governor’s call for universal health care in the state would be particularly beneficial to areas like Fresno and Madera, where many residents are uninsured, underinsured, or do not currently qualify for assistance. 

“Physicians and all healthcare providers strongly advocate for access to care for all and commend the Governor for making healthcare a priority in his proposed budget. Perhaps most importantly though, we need to be mindful that a large component of increasing access to quality health care requires that we address the physician shortage in California and particularly in the Central Valley,” Moua said.