BILL NUMBER: SB 443 CHAPTERED 10/09/03 CHAPTER 706 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 9, 2003 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 8, 2003 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2003 PASSED THE SENATE MAY 12, 2003 INTRODUCED BY Senator Figueroa FEBRUARY 20, 2003 An act to amend Section 7028 of the Business and Professions Code relating to contractors. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 443, Figueroa. Contracting without a license: repeat offenders. Existing law, the Contractors' State License Law, creates the Contractors' State License Board within the Department of Consumer Affairs and provides for the licensure and regulation of contractors. Existing law makes it a misdemeanor for any person to engage in the business or act in the capacity of a contractor without having a license. Existing law requires the court, in the instance of a repeat offender, to impose a specified fine or to imprison the repeat offender in the county jail for not less than 10 days nor more than 6 months, or both. This bill would instead require, except in unusual cases, that a repeat offender be confined in the county jail for not less than 90 days. The bill would require the court to state on the record its reasons if the court imposed a jail sentence of less than 90 days or only a fine. Because the bill would change the existing misdemeanor penalty concerning repeat offender violations, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 7028 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 7028. (a) It is a misdemeanor for any person to engage in the business or act in the capacity of a contractor within this state without having a license therefor, unless the person is particularly exempted from the provisions of this chapter. (b) If the a person has been previously convicted of the offense described in this section, the court shall impose a fine of 20 percent of the price of the contract under which the unlicensed person performed contracting work, or four thousand five hundred dollars ($4,500), whichever is greater, and the person shall be confined in a county jail for not less than 90 days, except in an unusual case where the interests of justice would be served by imposition of a lesser sentence or a fine. If the court imposes only a fine or a jail sentence of less than 90 days for second or subsequent convictions under this section, the court shall state the reasons for its sentencing choice on the record. (c) In the event the person performing the contracting work has agreed to furnish materials and labor on an hourly basis, "the price of the contract" for the purposes of this section means the aggregate sum of the cost of materials and labor furnished and the cost of completing the work to be performed. (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an indictment for any violation of this section by the unlicensed contractor shall be found or an information or complaint filed within four years from the date of the contract proposal, contract, completion, or abandonment of the work, whichever occurs last. SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.