Where’s our GO-Biz? Why Gov. Newsom must sign SB 1240 to empower nonprofits.

Capitol Weekly welcomes Opinions on California public policy or politics. Please read our guidelines for opinion pieces before submitting an Op-Ed. Submissions that do not adhere to our guidelines will not be considered for publication. 

OPINION — Every day, California’s private sector has a powerful advocate sitting right inside the Governor’s Cabinet. The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) operates with hundreds of staff positions and over half a billion dollars in funding to ensure the state’s businesses thrive.

So, where is our GO-Biz? Nonprofits want to know.

California’s more than 110,000 nonprofits (501c3 public charities) employ nearly 1.5 million people — roughly 10% of the state’s total workforce — and contribute 15% to our Gross State Product. Nonprofits build affordable housing, staff food banks, deliver community health care, manage disaster relief and protect our environment. They are the boots on the ground keeping California safe, housed and fed.

Yet, when it comes to state government, nonprofits have no centralized voice and no seat at the table. We are the state’s primary partner to provide community-focused solutions and essential services. Why does California help businesses cut red tape, but leave nonprofits tangled in it? While nonprofits are expected to do the heavy lifting of California’s social safety net, we are given zero institutional backing to make that partnership efficient, fair or sustainable.

Senate Bill 1240, authored by Sen. Jerry McNerney and sponsored by the California Association of Nonprofits, offers a simple, elegant, and low-cost solution: creating the Office of Nonprofit Empowerment (ONE). Hundreds of California nonprofits are calling for it.

We are living through an era of profound national volatility. As federal attacks on social justice organizations, tax-exempt statuses and safety-net funding escalate, California must lean into its most essential alliance: its partnership with nonprofits. When federal policies undermine our social infrastructure, California must stand firm against these threats.

Nonprofits are the most trusted voices in local communities, but our state government rarely extends a commensurate level of trust and respect. Between needlessly complex grantmaking, months-long payment delays, and underfunded contracts that rarely cover the full cost of work, the status quo is starving the very organizations keeping our communities safe, strong and healthy.

Imagine a business whose client routinely delays payment for months. It would struggle to cover payroll, keep the lights on or expand services. Yet for California’s nonprofits, that problematic client is frequently state government. Over the past few years, more and more examples of this dysfunctional practice have been called out in hearings, been referenced in reports and occasionally made headlines. Drawing attention to the issue is a small step forward, but the status quo remains. Leaving our primary safety net to battle state bureaucracy and take on high-interest debt while facing federal instability is an oversight California cannot afford. These contracts are not mere paperwork — they are lifelines.

Establishing ONE is an innovative approach with time-tested successful models at a local and regional level. While municipal offices like New York City’s Mayor’s Office of Nonprofit Services exist, no governor in American history has ever established a statewide Office of Nonprofit Empowerment. By signing SB 1240, Gov. Newsom can set a national standard, establishing California as the first state to accord its nonprofit social safety net the same structural importance as the for-profit business community.

And the model works. When New York City established its central office for nonprofits, a lean team unblocked $4.2 billion in backlogged contracts, slashed processing times by nearly 90%, and saved grassroots organizations from crippling debt.

In California, ONE would implement proven reforms — such as the Little Hoover Commission’s 12 recommendations — to streamline multi-billion-dollar grantmaking and contract management. It would stop state agencies from repeatedly “reinventing the wheel” and eliminate administrative delays that starve community organizations of funds they have already earned.

California has always been a laboratory of innovation. Gov. Newsom has a legacy-making opportunity to show the nation how a forward-thinking state supports the organizations that keep its communities safe, strong, and healthy.

California’s businesses have GO-Biz. It is time for California’s social safety net to have ONE. Governor Newsom must sign SB 1240.

Geoff Green is the CEO of CalNonprofits, a statewide policy alliance of thousands of California nonprofits.