BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2537|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2537
Author: Furutani (D)
Amended: 8/29/08 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUS. RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/25/08
AYES: Migden, Kuehl, Padilla
NOES: Wyland, Ackerman
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Not available
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/08 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public works: exemption: volunteers
SOURCE : California Association of Local Conservation
Corps
Sacramento Local Conservation Corps
DIGEST : This bill allows volunteers to continue
contributing their labor to public works projects, and
provides for an evaluation of the impact of such
participation.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1. Defines public works as any construction, alteration,
demolition, installation or repair work done under
CONTINUED
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contract and paid for in whole or in part from public
funds. This includes work performed during the design
and pre-construction phase, including, but not limited
to, inspection and land surveying.
2. Requires, with certain exceptions, contracted public
works projects to be submitted for bids by the public
entity requesting the work, and that the contract is
awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. The awarding
body is required to ensure that the winning contractor
is appropriately licensed with the Contractors' State
Licensing Board, and has not been in barred from bidding
on, accepting, or performing public contracts.
3. Requires all employees who work on public works projects
with a budget of $1,000 or more to be paid the general
prevailing rate of per diem wages and the general
prevailing rate for holiday and overtime work for the
specific location where the public work is to be
performed. This prevailing wage is determined by the
Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).
4. Exempts from public work requirements any project where
the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) contracts with
public agencies, Indian tribes, or nonprofit
organizations for fish and wildlife habitat
preservation, restoration, and enhancement. Existing
law also allows the DFG to contract with public and
private entities for fish and wildlife habitat
preservation, restoration, and enhancement, but these
contracts are only exempt from public work requirements
if they are less than $50,000.
5. Exempts any work performed by volunteers from the public
works requirements, but the exemption allowing
volunteers on public works projects is set to expire on
January 1, 2009.
6. Volunteers are defined as:
A. Individuals who perform works for civic,
charitable, or humanitarian reasons for a public
agency or tax-exempt organization, such as a
501(c)(3), without any compensation.
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B. Volunteer coordinators.
Members of the California Conservation Corps (CCC) or
the Community Conservation Corps are also exempt.
7. Excludes from the definition of a volunteer:
A. Anyone who works on the public works project for
compensation.
B. Anyone who received payment from the contractor
on the public works project for construction,
alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or
maintenance work on the same project.
This bill:
1. Extends the sunset on the exemption for volunteers on
public works project out three years, from January 1,
2009 to January 1, 2012.
2. Requires the Director of the DIR to submit a written
report to the Legislature by January 1, 2011 that does
the following:
A. Describes the number and nature of complaints
received and investigations conducted involving the
use of volunteers on public works projects.
B. Provides an estimate, for specified projects, of
the number of hours per year that volunteers work on
public works projects, the cost per year of public
works projects and the percentage of work performed
by volunteers, and the types of work done by
volunteers on public works projects.
3. Appropriates $100,000 from the Environmental License
Plate Fund for purposes of completing the report.
4. States that the Legislature finds and declares that:
A. It is the intent of the Legislature that public
works projects should never undermine the wage base
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in a community.
B. The requirement that workers on public works
projects be paid the prevailing rate of per diem
wages ensures that the local wage base is not
lowered.
C. This Act shall not apply to the work of state and
local public sector employees.
Background
This bill revisits an issue that arose in 2004 concerning
the use of volunteer labor on certain public works
projects. Much of the attention that arose at that time
was a result of an enforcement action taken by DIR in July
2003 in relation to a stream restoration project in Shasta
County.
In fiscal year 2000-01, the Department of Water Resources
(DWR) provided grant funding to the Sacramento Watersheds
Action Group for a stream restoration project on Sulphur
Creek in the City of Redding. According to media reports,
students from nearby Shasta College were used for various
activities including planting seeds, clearing brush,
repairing culverts, installing rock beds to prevent
erosion, and trash removal. The students reportedly earned
course credit for classes in watershed restoration.
Responding to a complaint from a local labor organization,
DIR investigated and determined that, based on the
submitted job descriptions of the work performed by
students and volunteers, prevailing wages were required for
the following work: willow staking, spreading seeds and
mulch, planting shrubs, operating heavy equipment, site
cleanup, off-hauling garbage, and planting vegetation. The
subsequent DIR enforcement action assessed back wages and
civil penalties.
In September 2003, DWR issued a memorandum that stated,
"Due to the serious implications to our programs that would
arise from being unable to support volunteerism, DWR is
taking a conservative approach until these issues can be
clarified. We will not enter into any new contracts
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possibly affected by these issues until we have a clearer
picture of the obligations of DWR and the grantees under
the Labor Code." Following the July 2003 enforcement
action, there was an outcry among many in the environmental
community that the prior Labor Code Section 1720.4, as
interpreted by DIR, effectively prohibited the mixed use of
volunteer and paid labor on public works projects.
After lengthy negotiations between the environmental
community and representatives of organized labor, the
Legislature enacted AB 2690 (Hancock), Chapter 330,
Statutes of 2004. AB 2690 amended Labor Code Section
1720.4 into its current form. In order to address concerns
that there may be abuses of any "volunteer" exemption to
California's prevailing wage laws, AB2690 contained a
January 1, 2009 sunset date.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2008-09 2009-10
2010-11 Fund
Sunset extension of no new costs
through 1/1/2011 Various
limited exemption from
public works definition
DIR study $100 Special*
*Environmental License Plate Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/29/08)
California Association of Local Conservation Corps
(co-source)
Sacramento Local Conservation Corps (co-source)
Board of Supervisors of Sacramento County
California Council of Land Trusts
California Invasive Plant Council
California Native Plant Society
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California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California Park and Recreation Society
California Regional Council of Rural Counties
California ReLeaf
California Special Districts Association
City of El Cerrito
City of Long Beach
City of Redding
Coalition to Protect Watershed Volunteers and California's
Prevailing Wages
Community Services Employment Training
Friends of Harbors, Beaches, and Parks
Glenn County Resource Conservation District
Marin Conservation Corps
Maritime Museum of San Diego
Newport Beach Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation
Ocean Institute
Planning and Conservation League
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Regional Open Space
Sacramento Valley Rugby Foundation
Salmonid Restoration Federation
San Diego Association of Nonprofits
San Francisco Conservation Corps
San Francisco Maritime National park Association
Save The Bay
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Solano County Water Agency
The Nature Conservancy
The Trust for Public Land
Urban Corps of San Diego County
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office argues that
volunteer use maximizes available and limited grant funds
that are designated for important community purposes. In
2006, California volunteers contributed approximately 860
million hours of community service. Volunteers continue to
support California every day as they build Little League
fields, create school gardens, plant trees, beautify
neighborhoods, and engage in numerous other important
activities. There have been no complaints of exemption
abuse to the State Labor Commissioner or to the Department
of Industrial Relations, say supporters, and California
volunteers should remain exempted from the prevailing wage
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requirement. This bill extends the sunset on the exemption
and allow for an evaluation of any problems.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Beall,
Benoit, Berg, Berryhill, Blakeslee, Brownley, Caballero,
Charles Calderon, Carter, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre,
De Leon, DeSaulnier, DeVore, Duvall, Dymally, Emmerson,
Evans, Feuer, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines,
Galgiani, Garcia, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Horton,
Houston, Huff, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Karnette, Keene,
Krekorian, La Malfa, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu,
Maze, Mendoza, Mullin, Nakanishi, Niello, Nunez, Parra,
Plescia, Portantino, Price, Sharon Runner, Ruskin, Salas,
Saldana, Silva, Smyth, Solorio, Spitzer, Strickland,
Swanson, Torrico, Tran, Villines, Walters, Wolk, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eng, Garrick, Ma, Nava, Soto
NC:do 8/28/08 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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