Promises Executive Action, Following the Law, and a Return to Fairness for California’s Job Creators
SACRAMENTO, CA — California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton today announced his policy plan to dismantle what he calls the “Trial Lawyer Business Extortion Racket” created by the state’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA). His plan is a direct challenge to the Democrat trial lawyer lobby and the politicians who protect them at the expense of working families and small business owners.
“PAGA was meant to protect workers,” Hilton said. “But in practice, it’s become a legalized extortion racket that punishes small, family-run businesses over paperwork mistakes, while enriching trial lawyers and pumping millions into the political machine that props up the status quo. That ends when I’m governor.”
Passed in 2004, PAGA outsourced labor enforcement to private trial lawyers, allowing them to file lawsuits for minor infractions, like a typo on a pay stub or the wrong font size, and collect massive settlements. Average settlements exceed $1 million, with more than a third going directly into lawyers’ pockets. The vast majority of what’s left goes back to the state government, with just a pittance left for the workers who this is all supposed to help. Meanwhile, small businesses without legal teams are forced to settle just to survive.
“This is not labor enforcement. It’s a stealth tax. It’s a state-sanctioned shakedown. And it’s crushing the very people we need to rebuild our economy — the risk-takers, the builders, the backbone of California,” Hilton said.
Steve Hilton’s PAGA Reform Plan:
- Appoint pro-reform leadership at the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, including a new Secretary of Labor and State Labor Commissioner committed to fairness, compliance, and timely resolution.
- Issuing executive action to restore enforcement authority to the Labor Commissioner’s office, ensuring that neutral state officials, not profit-driven trial lawyers, decide which claims move forward and how they’re resolved.
- Modernizing enforcement tools by leveraging artificial intelligence and improved case management systems to identify abusive claims, prioritize credible ones, and deliver faster, fairer outcomes for both workers and employers.
- Passing legislation to overhaul PAGA by replacing the lawsuit-first model with an administrative system where neutral public officials investigate claims and issue citations, not jackpot payouts for attorneys.
“Democrats in Sacramento talk a big game about helping working families,” Hilton said. “But when it comes to standing up to the trial lawyers who bankroll their campaigns, they fold. The result? Thousands of small business owners, especially women-owned, immigrant-owned, and minority-run shops, are crushed under the weight of these lawsuits. It’s outrageous, and it’s going to stop.”
Under Hilton’s plan, California will no longer exempt itself from the rules it imposes on others. State agencies are protected from PAGA lawsuits, but private businesses remain vulnerable. Hilton describes this as a “double standard that proves this law was never about fairness.”
Read The Reforming The Private Attorneys General Act Plan
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For more information about Steve Hilton’s campaign and vision for California, visit www.stevehiltonforgovernor.com.
