FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) — California’s Fast Food Council has not met since February, missing its legally mandated biannual schedule, and some lawmakers say the delay highlights a broader problem with unaccountable state boards.
By law, the council is required to meet every six months under AB 1228, legislation intended to give fast food workers and franchise owners a voice in wage and working conditions.
However after a recent report revealed the missed meetings, State Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach) voiced concerns about leadership and accountability at the highest levels of state government.
“The legislature is giving more and more authority to these unaccountable boards and agencies, and I think it goes against our representative government.,” Sen. Strickland says.
He says many Californians’ complaints about regulations come from agencies that don’t fully consider the economic impact on everyday people.
“Every bill that comes before the legislature, I think about how it affects my neighborhood, my district and the state of California, and we need more representative government,” Sen. Strickland says.
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When asked about enforcement, he pointed to Governor Gavin Newsom, who appoints members of most state boards.
“He’s the CEO of California, and we have agencies that are appointed by him that are not meeting,” Sen. Strickland says. “He needs to make sure he injects himself and make sure that they do and follow the law.”
Looking forward, Sen. Strickland says he’s exploring ways to rein in what he calls “unaccountable boards,” including streamlining overlapping agencies and creating a “bureaucracy realignment and closure commission” modeled on federal efforts.
The senator also highlighted California’s economic challenges, linking them to state policy decisions.
“California did supersize the minimum wage dramatically, and what ended up happening is what I said was going to happen,” Sen. Strickland says. “We lost thousands of jobs for young people just trying to get in the workforce and now the food prices have, and fast food prices have now more than doubled.”
He says California is now at a crossroads.
“It’s the first time in California history since the Gold Rush that more people are leaving this oasis of California and going to the middle of the desert of Arizona or the humidity of Florida or the cold weather up in Montana,” he says. “We have so much going for us in California, but we need that leader to shup up.”
The Fast Food Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment.