California Adopts Worker Cooperative Legislation

On August 12, Governer Jerry Brown signed into law the California Worker Cooperative Act, designed to facilitate the creation and financing of worker cooperatives. State Assembly member Rob Bonta, who introduced the bill, said, "Worker-owned businesses are central to a full economic recovery and to closing the income inequality gap." Before this bill, worker cooperatives in California did not have their own legal status and often filed as consumer cooperatives.