Small businesses keep California humming. They make up an impressive 99.2 percent of California’s employers and employ more than 6 million Californians. But small businesses can’t thrive and grow – or even get off the ground – if they can’t access loans or credit.

In just nine months, the bulk of the federal Affordable Care Act will go into effect. Many of its provisions will have a real impact on the majority of small-business owners. Still, less than 1 percent of America’s small businesses are currently in a position to face penalties under the law. Here’s what you need to know:

Late last year, California held the nation’s inaugural cap-and-trade auction, where greenhouse gas emission permits were sold in an effort to monetize and reduce carbon pollution. And just last month, new cap-and-trade regulations on large power and industrial plants officially went into effect.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June to uphold the Affordable Care Act briefly tempered some of the political brouhaha surrounding the new health care law. But partisan rhetoric flared again during election season, creating more confusion about the law than clarity.