Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Walters: California’s Top Business Leader Retires on High Note
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 4 years ago on
August 18, 2021

Share

Over the last four decades, hundreds of politicians have come and gone from the Capitol and its political ambience has undergone a dramatic transformation. Allan Zaremberg has not only seen it all, but has hugely influenced what did or didn’t happen.

This week, Zaremberg announced that he will soon retire after more than two decades as CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce and previous stints as a chamber lobbyist and high-ranking aide to two Republican governors, George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson.

Donna Lucas, a public relations executive who chairs the chamber’s board and herself has been a prominent Capitol figure during those decades, wasn’t blowing smoke when she said, “CalChamber and Allan Zaremberg have been one and the same for more than two decades. His effectiveness in representing California’s business community is legendary and he created models for success that are now common practice.”

Over Two Decades of Leadership

Dan Walters

Opinion

When Zaremberg, then a young attorney in the Department of Justice, followed his boss, Deukmejian, into the governor’s office in 1983, California and its Capitol were bastions of pro-business conservatism. However, by the time he assumed leadership of the chamber in 1998, California was turning blue and the Legislature was drifting leftward.

Zaremberg’s job was to maintain relevance for business in a Capitol increasingly dominated by liberal Democrats and allied interests such as labor unions, environmental and consumer advocacy groups, and personal injury lawyers. He succeeded brilliantly, as even his foes would acknowledge.

The circumstances dictated that Zaremberg and his staff would be mostly playing defense, staving off efforts by rival interests to impose new regulations and new taxes on business, or increasing opportunities for litigation.

A major tool was the chamber’s “job killer” list, an annual compilation of legislation deemed to be onerous, initiated by Zaremberg’s predecessor, Kirk West, in 1997. Over the ensuing two-plus decades, hundreds of bills have received the “job killer” epithet and roughly 90% have either died in the Legislature, mostly without votes, been amended enough to escape the list, or been vetoed by governors.

Zaremberg Picked Fights Wisely, Played Major Role in Ballot Measures

Zaremberg picked the chamber’s fights carefully, which is one reason why it has been so successful. Except on matters of taxation, for example, the chamber rarely quarreled with the Capitol’s dominant public employees unions, whose priorities of higher salaries and benefits did not affect business. The chamber, however, spars constantly with private sector unions, which have less political clout than their public sector cousins.

Outside of the Capitol, Zaremberg and the chamber have also played major roles in creating coalitions to both advocate and oppose major ballot measures — a process that also emerged as a powerful policy tool during the last four decades. They were, for example, instrumental in passing a ballot measure that changed how California nominates candidates for political offices to a “top-two” system over opposition from both major parties.

The two top primary election finishers, regardless of party, face each in the November general election every two years and business saw it as leading to fewer ideologues and more moderates winning legislative seats. While the precise impact of the top-two system is still debated, it clearly has helped make the “job killer” campaign a success as legislative leaders count noses and decide which bills fly and which die.

The Capitol is continuing to slide leftward, so Zaremberg’s successor will have no shortage of battles as longtime foes propose new measures that employers will see as excessive and expensive — especially since Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former businessman himself, is evidently more inclined than his predecessors to sign such measures.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

[activecampaign form=31]

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

DON'T MISS

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

DON'T MISS

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

DON'T MISS

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

DON'T MISS

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

DON'T MISS

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

DON'T MISS

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

DON'T MISS

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

UP NEXT

California’s Aging Population Will Test Whether Its Demography Is Destiny

UP NEXT

CA Schools Still Fall Behind Despite Big Increases in Spending

UP NEXT

Editorials of The Times: Now Is Not the Time to Tune Out

UP NEXT

Look Past Elon Musk’s Chaos. There’s Something More Sinister at Work.

UP NEXT

The Deadly Truth: Record Number of Journalists Killed in 2024

UP NEXT

Will ‘Too Many Cooks’ Complicate LA’s Recovery From Deadly Fires?

UP NEXT

I Miss the Old Kanye, Not This Antisemitic Crashout

UP NEXT

This Isn’t the Donald Trump America Elected

UP NEXT

Trump Targets Troubled CA Bullet Train Project. Will He Kill It, Too?

UP NEXT

CA School Test Scores Trail Those of States Newsom Considers Culturally Backward

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

12 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

12 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

12 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

13 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

13 hours ago

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

13 hours ago

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

13 hours ago

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon Talks ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel With Tom Cruise

13 hours ago

Adames Joins Giants, Excited to Team Up With Gold Glover Chapman

13 hours ago

Leonard Peltier Released After Biden Commuted Sentence in FBI Agents’ Killings

14 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

Signs hung throughout fast-fashion clothing store Forever 21 show discounts ranging from 10% to 40% off the “entire store.” And,...

9 hours ago

9 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

11 hours ago

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

11 hours ago

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

Fentanyl M30 Pills
12 hours ago

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

12 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

FILE — Steve Bannon speaks to reporters outside State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Feb. 11, 2025. Stephen Bannon, a top adviser during President Trump’s first term and a key figure among his supporters, said Elon Musk wants to “play-act as God” as part of his push to overhaul the federal government. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)
12 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

13 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

13 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

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

Search

Send this to a friend