Politics & Government

'Kill Walmart Act' Dies At Governor's Hands

SB 469, which would have required developers of big-box superstores to file reports on potential economic impacts to surrounding neighborhoods, was vetoed, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday.

Big-box retailers, including Walmart, will still find warm welcomes in California.

A bill by Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, that would have required developers of big-box superstores to file reports on potential economic impacts to surrounding neighborhoods was vetoed, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday.

SB 469, otherwise known as the "Kill Walmart Act, and Walmart itself.

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In a veto message, Brown wrote that laws that compel assessments of large-scale construction projects were already on the books.

“This bill would add yet another layer of review to an already cumbersome process,'' Brown wrote.

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Bill Dombrowski, president and CEO of the California Retailers Association, said the veto sent a message that the state was open for business.

“This veto clearly preserves local authority to decide what businesses they want in their communities and empowers them to bring in more jobs, economic activity and revenue,'' Dombrowski said.

The bill was one of two major pieces of legislation authored by Vargas to be vetoed by the governor. The other would have prevented the building of a new landfill off Interstate 15 in rural North County.

"Research continues to show that supercenters cause business districts to suffer, significantly decrease the net number of jobs and often rely on taxpayer-funded government services, like Medicaid, to provide health care for their employees,'' Vargas said.

"I will continue to work to make sure that our communities know the truth about these supercenters and how they claim to be creating jobs when actually they are destroying them.'' --City News Service and Patch staff contributed to this report.


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