A satire magazine once quipped that the state of California was the “world’s leading exporter of terrible government policies,” which some observers of labor policy would argue is more true than not. After all, the legislature there did pass a famously—or infamously—bad piece of legislation a few years ago known as AB 5 that upended the livelihoods of countless independent contractors throughout the Golden State. Perhaps not satisfied with that destructive legislation, now California lawmakers are considering another terribly flawed idea.
The proposal comes in the form of another bill known as AB 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act or FAST Recovery Act, which is a radical proposal to micromanage the fast food industry. The FAST Recovery Act would create a council of 11 unelected political appointees—regardless of whether they have any business experience whatsoever—to run California’s fast food restaurant industry from Sacramento.
Of those 11, five would be representatives from different agencies in the state government, four would be representatives of restaurant employees and their “advocates,” and there would be one each to represent franchisors and franchisees, respectively.
This Fast Food Sector Council would be empowered to establish wage rates, set working hours, and issue other rules and regulations for all fast-food restaurants whose brands have more than 30 locations nationwide, of which there are many, even though most such restaurants...
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