Quotes

The Cry Wolf Quote Bank chronicles the false predictions and hyperbole by opponents of these laws and protections.  While the issues and specific policies change over time, the rhetoric and themes remained the same.  You can search the Quote Bank for what opponents said to prevent these laws from passing. Using the drop down menus on the right their statements by issue, by specific law, by who said it and by the core themes they evoke.   Elsewhere on the site, you can find articles, studies, and other material that debunks their claims. 

E.g., 2024-07-02
E.g., 2024-07-02

The provisions of this bill are extremely open-ended, and encumber both employers and Cal/OSHA with many unreasonable administrative burdens and costs.

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Western States Petroleum Association letter to Assemblyman Mike Honda, Chairman, Public Safety Committee.
05/07/1999 | Full Details

… the construction industry is involved in Voluntary Protection Programs with their employees to help encourage safety precautions and identify possible dangers before an injury occurs. AB 1127 does nothing to encourage this type of cooperation between employers and employees to promote worksite safety.

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Associated General Contractors of San Diego letter to Public Safety Committee.
05/06/1999 | Full Details

We are also concerned by the provision that would prohibit a citation from being stayed pending an appeal. This provision would require that alleged violations be corrected before they are proven to exist, making an employer guilty until proven innocent.

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Denise Jones, Executive Director, California Mining Association.
05/06/1999 | Full Details

Serves to drive independent contractors out of business and inhibit the ability of small business to survive by making the business liable for actions of a contractor. Small business and contractors who become small businesses are taking up the slack from corporate downsizing and contribute greatly to the prosperity of the state.

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Letter from Ronald D. Long, Director of Human Resources, M.C. Gill Corporation.
05/05/1999 | Full Details

CRA has enabled special interest groups to collect billions of dollars from banks under agreements that are kept secret. Even the citizens that these groups purport to represent have no way of knowing how the groups spend the money they get from banks. That s why I hope the Senate will approve a sunshine amendment that will add accountability to this process and bring these agreements into, the light of day.

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Senator Phil Gramm , Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.
05/04/1999 | Full Details

It is our belief that while AB 1127 will not guarantee the prevention of even one injury, it has the potential to cost our members hundreds of thousands of dollars in new programs based on unsound science and face potential increases in workers’ compensation costs.

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Western Growers Association, Memo to Assembly Public Safety Committee.
05/04/1999 | Full Details

This bill would have a negative impact on California’s economy by creating an overly rigid regulatory structure that would discourage new businesses from locating here and existing businesses from expanding, therefore, slowing the economy.

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Roofing Contractors Association of California letter to Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg.
05/04/1999 | Full Details

By mandating an even higher minimum, the living wage prices even more people out of work. The people who push these cockamamie ideas never seem to ask why any employer would hire someone at $8.23 if that person's services are only valued in the marketplace at, say, $5.00.

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Lawrence W. Reed. Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
05/03/1999 | Full Details

...this is a very dangerous measure that will seriously affect virtually every employer in the state. The only outcome form this measure’s approval would be the closing of many businesses which, in-turn, would throw thousands of employees out of their jobs.

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Philip M. Vermeulen on behalf of the Engineering Contractors’ Association, the California Fence Contractors Association, the Sacramento Builders’ Exchange, the Marin Builders’ Exchange and the California Chapter of the American Fence Contractors’ Association.
05/03/1999 | Full Details

For the last few years, Cal/OSHA has attempted to create a partnership with employers to create safe workplaces for all employees. This partnership has been focused on working together to solve problems rather than merely serve as an enforcement driven agency. The agency’s consultation service is evidence of the efforts. AB 1127 would, with the stroke of a pen, erase years of hard work and co-operation between business and the agency by focusing on the prescription of regulations rather than the creation of workable answers to true workplace safety issues.

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Terry L. Tyson, Regional Director of Safety, Hansen Aggregates, letter to Assembly Public Safety Committee.
04/29/1999 | Full Details

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