Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno Leaders Voice ‘Full Support’ for Pismo’s Restaurant Manager in ICE Custody

16 hours ago

Poll: Katie Porter Holds Early Edge in California Governor’s Race

18 hours ago

Just 38% of Americans Support Trump’s Use of Troops to Police DC, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

19 hours ago

Families Leave Gaza City After Night of Bombardment, Israelis Protest

21 hours ago

California Farming Couple Seeks $300 Million for Aspen Estate

22 hours ago

Trump Administration Cannot Sue Maryland Federal Judges Over Immigration Order, Judge Rules

23 hours ago

California Republicans Sue to Block Congressional Redistricting Plan

2 days ago

Trump To Sign Executive Order Directing AG To Prosecute Flag Desecration

2 days ago

Fresno County DUI Crash Sends Car Into Embankment Near Highway 99

2 days ago
Legislation Would Hurt Small Businesses That Have Turned to Online Sales
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 5 years ago on
August 20, 2020

Share

Over the past six months, online commerce has exploded, as more and more brick and mortar businesses turn to online venues to sell their goods and services in a safe, socially distanced way.

As consumers shift their purchasing power online, businesses will embrace a new normal with online commerce which is important to keep businesses open and get consumers the goods they need.

State Sen. Anna Caballero
Special to CALmatters

A key driver of online commerce is the growth of small and large business sales through online marketplaces, which create and facilitate millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. Especially for small businesses that do not have the capital to build, own, operate and manage their own website or physical storefront; having access to a marketplace can be the difference between thriving and having to close shop.

Unfortunately, a bill currently moving through the Legislature would jeopardize how these businesses reach consumers and sell their goods online. Assembly Bill 3262,  introduced by Assemblymember Mark Stone, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, will effectively strangle the only pathway that small businesses currently can pursue to sell goods and earn revenues online, by extending strict liability to the online marketplaces where their goods are offered for sale.

AB 3262 could kill online commerce for these businesses at exactly the wrong time – at the start of an economic depression caused by a pandemic that has effectively closed their physical locations and hurt sales revenues. AB 3262 makes it easier to bring frivolous lawsuits against all online marketplaces, driving up expenses that are passed to the businesses and consumers who use them.

Threatening This Long-Standing and Critical Law Is Not the Right Move for Our Golden State

The misconception that online marketplaces are only big businesses, overlooks the fact that all types and sizes exist to support a variety of small business industries – like sites selling used farm equipment and those connecting consumers with handmade, artisan goods. These marketplaces provide a platform for smaller sellers to reach a worldwide market of interested buyers.

Smaller, niche marketplaces will not survive the litigation storm that will follow AB 3262 and will close their virtual doors, shuttered to consumers and unavailable to small businesses as revenue generators. Small businesses that want to continue to sell online will be required to invest thousands of dollars annually on complex online platforms, new staff or costly outside vendors to manage technology. And they will need more money to attract online consumers to their websites.

The proponents of AB 3262 claim the bill will protect consumers against “fly-by-night” sellers from overseas, but this is simply not true. California is a national leader in consumer protections for products and services, and current law already holds businesses accountable for making safe products and marketplaces accountable for allowing responsible businesses on their platforms.

Threatening this long-standing and critical law is not the right move for our Golden State. If AB 3262 becomes law, everyone should expect to pay an increased service charge every time you order a package online or have groceries delivered.

In a time of increasing automation and big-box stores, online marketplaces enable smaller businesses to compete and survive in a competitive economy without having to build and operate an entire e-commerce platform. As a birthplace for innovation, California should promote and encourage this, not stifle it. AB 3262 is bad policy and the Legislature should reject it.

About the Author

State Sen. Anna Caballero, a Democrat from Salinas, represents the 12th State Senate District, Senator.Caballero@sen.ca.gov. She wrote this commentary for CalMatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California Searchers Pull Off High-Altitude Rescue of Missing Hiker

DON'T MISS

Judge Grants Fresno Temporary Win in Federal Grant DEI Dispute

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Asks US Supreme Court to Halt Foreign Aid Payments

DON'T MISS

Hamas Challenges Israeli Account of Gaza Hospital Casualties

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified Set to Hire Deputy Superintendent With Impressive Credentials

DON'T MISS

Meta to Launch California Super PAC Backing Pro-AI Candidates

DON'T MISS

Poll: Californians Overwhelmingly Reject Trump’s Immigration Policies

DON'T MISS

Fresno Leaders Voice ‘Full Support’ for Pismo’s Restaurant Manager in ICE Custody

DON'T MISS

Leaked Audio Reveals Ex-Israeli Intelligence Chief Calling Gaza Deaths ‘Necessary’

DON'T MISS

Texas GOP Congressional Candidate Burns Quran With Flamethrower

UP NEXT

Renewal of CA Cap and Trade Program to Cut Emissions Fraught With Issues

UP NEXT

Joe Castro: A Life Cut Far Too Short, but His Legacy Marches On

UP NEXT

Why Epstein’s Furious Grip on Washington Holds

UP NEXT

I Was Preyed On for My VA Benefits. California Can Stop It

UP NEXT

My Friend Joseph Castro, Former Fresno State President and CSU Chancellor, Is Receiving Hospice Care

UP NEXT

California’s Finances Face a Perfect Storm. It Could Eventually Lead to Another Tax Hike

UP NEXT

What Trump Is Really Up to With the Military Occupation of DC

UP NEXT

Immigrant Students Shape California’s Future. Don’t Close the Door on Them

UP NEXT

Trump’s Domestic Deployments Are Dangerous. For the Military

UP NEXT

How Do We Bridge America’s New Segregation?

Hamas Challenges Israeli Account of Gaza Hospital Casualties

15 hours ago

Fresno Unified Set to Hire Deputy Superintendent With Impressive Credentials

15 hours ago

Meta to Launch California Super PAC Backing Pro-AI Candidates

15 hours ago

Poll: Californians Overwhelmingly Reject Trump’s Immigration Policies

16 hours ago

Fresno Leaders Voice ‘Full Support’ for Pismo’s Restaurant Manager in ICE Custody

16 hours ago

Leaked Audio Reveals Ex-Israeli Intelligence Chief Calling Gaza Deaths ‘Necessary’

17 hours ago

Texas GOP Congressional Candidate Burns Quran With Flamethrower

17 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Arrest Army Sergeant in Child Sexual Abuse Material Investigation

17 hours ago

California High-Speed Rail Project Hit With New $175 Million Cut

17 hours ago

Poll: Katie Porter Holds Early Edge in California Governor’s Race

18 hours ago

California Searchers Pull Off High-Altitude Rescue of Missing Hiker

A hiker missing since Aug. 16 was located and evacuated Tuesday, Aug. 19, during a multi-agency search-and-rescue operation near Cottonwood ...

13 hours ago

On Tuesday, August 19, 2025, a hiker missing since August 16 was safely located and evacuated near Cottonwood Lakes during a multi-agency search and rescue operation. (Kern County SO)
13 hours ago

California Searchers Pull Off High-Altitude Rescue of Missing Hiker

Fresno City Gavel Lawsuit
14 hours ago

Judge Grants Fresno Temporary Win in Federal Grant DEI Dispute

People walk across the plaza of the U.S. Supreme Court building on the first day of the court's new term in Washington, U.S. October 3, 2022. (Reuters File)
14 hours ago

Trump Administration Asks US Supreme Court to Halt Foreign Aid Payments

People walk at the site of Israeli strikes on Nasser hospital where Palestinian cameraman Hussam al-Masri, who was a contractor for Reuters, was killed along with other journalists and people, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in this still image taken from video, August 25, 2025. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

Hamas Challenges Israeli Account of Gaza Hospital Casualties

FUSD Fresno Unified employment agreement Ben Drati
15 hours ago

Fresno Unified Set to Hire Deputy Superintendent With Impressive Credentials

15 hours ago

Meta to Launch California Super PAC Backing Pro-AI Candidates

16 hours ago

Poll: Californians Overwhelmingly Reject Trump’s Immigration Policies

16 hours ago

Fresno Leaders Voice ‘Full Support’ for Pismo’s Restaurant Manager in ICE Custody

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend