Coalition Bands Together to Get Voice Heard : The group lobbies politicians on issues that concern small businesses and hopes to increase the number of small companies in the state.

By CRISTINA LEE

Aug. 31, 1992 12 AM PT

IRVINE — At precisely 7 a.m. every Wednesday, four women appear at Hof’s Hut restaurant across from John Wayne Airport.

They meet to discuss and debate for two hours the state of small business in California.

Between sips of coffee, the women--all Orange County small-business owners in their 30s and 40s--debate pending legislation that could hamper their companies and others like them.

Concerned about the high failure rate among small businesses, they have formed the Small Business Legislative Coalition in Irvine to look out for the interest of small businesses across the state. The coalition hopes to raise the political awareness of small-business owners, increase the number of small businesses in California and lobby politicians in Sacramento on legislative issues.

While small business is one of the largest sectors of Southern California’s economy, the coalition maintains legislators are not responding sufficiently to their needs.

“My client base is a variety of small businesses. I see many of them hurt by government regulations. They complain but they can’t do anything about it,” said Judee Slack, a Westminster tax consultant, who’s also president of the coalition.

“Small-business owners need to band together to accomplish an effective representation similar to that of large corporations and other special interest groups,” she said.

Slack formed the coalition in late April, together with Debora S. Hintz, owner of a Santa Ana industrial supply company; Autumn Zamzow, a Dana Point investment consultant, and Rachel Owens, an independent insurance broker.

The group was formed a week after Slack testified April 21 before a state insurance committee on increasing taxes for small businesses. The members of the committee were, as she described it, “so anti-small business” that it led her to start the coalition.

While large corporations retain professional lobbyists to look after their interests, “we, small businesses, don’t have anyone,” said Hintz, president of Allotec Inc.

“Most small-business owners are not aware of pending legislation because they tend to be wrapped up in the day-to-day running of their companies,” she explained.

An issue that particularly worries many small-business owners is a law that would require small businesses to provide health insurance for all employees. This could devastate many mom-and-pop operations, said Zamzow, president of Autumn Capital Investment Services.

Coalition members have learned their political persuasion skills by observing professional lobbyists in Sacramento. Hintz, however, has had some political experience. She’s chairwoman of the political action committee of Orange County’s National Women’s Political Caucus and chairwoman of the government and international affairs committee of the National Assn. of Women Business Owners’ chapter in the county.

Still, Hintz and Slack said they experienced a period of trial and error before they got it right. They clinched their first legislative victory in July when they successfully lobbied to defeat a bill that would have strictly defined independent contractors--including tax and marketing consultants and insurance brokers--as employees.

If passed, this would have meant that a self-employed independent contractor could be reclassified as an employee of a hiring company. This would result in an independent contractor losing significant tax breaks. It would also place a burden on the clients by adding to their payroll costs.

“This legislation (AB 3059) goes against the very grain of our free enterprise system,” Slack said. “The passage of this bill would be unpopular and would make it more expensive for people to start their own business.”

Even while the group helped defeat the bill, Slack said the war’s not over. There are other bills pending that would raise taxes and expenses, such as health insurance, and make it tougher to operate a small business in California.

“Our goal is to introduce legislation in the next session (in January, 1993) that would clarify the status of independent contractors,” Slack said. “As of now, there’s no definition of these people, and for all we know, legislators in the future can tax them out of their businesses.”

Small-business owners interested in reaching the coalition can call (714) 373-6911.