WHY CALIFORNIA IS TROUBLE
If you've got a problem, however minor, the California legislature has a new regulation to address it and a credulous press to report on the bill. The latest crisis demanding government intervention? Banks that charge non-customers fees for cashing their paychecks. Here's the Fresno Bee's account, which reads like a press release from the bill's sponsors:
Workers who don't have bank accounts often sacrifice about an hour's wage to cash their paychecks.
State Sen. Dean Florez and Controller Steve Westly on Tuesday announced new legislation that would allow such employees to cash their checks for free.
Senate Bill 1917 would clarify state law to prohibit banks from charging cashing fees on paychecks issued by the bank's clients. SB 1916 would allow state employees without accounts or direct deposit to cash their paychecks without charge at any bank that has a payroll contract with the state.
The predictable result of this legislation would be to hide the cost of cashing non-customers' checks in the fees paid by customers, including payroll account holders. The bill is nothing more than a cumbersome transfer of money from one group of Californians to another. Both the problem and the "solution" are relatively trivial, but the constant accretion of such regulations in California isn't. It's just not a good place to do business. Someone--the Governator, perhaps--needs to stop this nonsense.