California has more than 15,000 franchised restaurants throughout the state. The overwhelming majority are locally owned and operated by small business owners. Assembly Bill 1228 (Holden) attacks the rights of local restaurant owners by forcing national fast-food corporations to exert more control over franchised restaurants.

After moving to the United States from India, I started washing dishes at a local franchised restaurant. I worked my way up and eventually earned a spot as a general manager. After 16 years, I finally saved up enough money to buy a local franchise restaurant of my own. AB 1228 would bring this lifechanging opportunity to an abrupt stop.

When my husband and I bought our first local franchised restaurant in 2016, we set out with the hope of building a family business that would provide for our family and our children for generations to come. AB 1228 unfairly targets the livelihoods we’ve staked in owning and operating our small business.

The restaurant industry in California has been my life ever since my father immigrated here 31 years ago and saved every penny to open his first local Burger King restaurant. Since then, we’ve worked hard to grow our family business, providing opportunities for our 500 employees. AB 1228 is an attack on local restaurant owners like us.

As a franchisee, I pride myself on being a strong community partner. That’s because the vast majority of local franchised restaurants are owned and operated by people like me: parents, families and neighbors committed to serving the communities we live in and love. But AB 1228 would destroy the franchise model and turn my locally owned restaurant into a corporate restaurant. That’s not good for my family or my community.

As a transgender businesswoman, creating a safe and inclusive workspace for my employees is my top priority. But AB 1228 would break this bond I have with my employees by eliminating my ability to be a thoughtful, responsive employer. I am in my restaurants and accountable to my employees daily. It’s unimaginable why anyone would want to strip me of this relationship and instead transfer control of local restaurants to large corporations.

For so many women, the barriers to small business ownership can be burdensome. But franchised businesses provide a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs like me. Now, AB 1228 would create burdensome red tape that would limit my ability to make strategic decisions that best serve my customers and my employees. As a result, AB 1228 would make franchising a less viable option for women to obtain business ownership.

Being an entrepreneur and owning my own business is something I love. I’m in my restaurant every day. I take pride in hiring my Team Members and helping them develop skills needed to one day own their own business or succeed in a different career. Unfortunately, the California Legislature is considering a bill that would take away my rights to operate my own restaurant and give those rights to people at an out of state corporate headquarters. That’s not what I signed up for, more importantly, it’s not what my employees signed up for either.

I own four restaurants and have both of my sons working with me on the day-to-day operation of the restaurants. My sons plan to continue the legacy of the restaurants as a third generation. I strongly oppose AB 1228 because this would be devastating to our business and what we have built for over 43 years. If this bill were to pass, we would lose control of everything we have worked so hard for.