BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1346
Author: Atkins (D)
Amended: 3/31/11 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL REL. COMMITTEE : 5-1, 6/29/11
AYES: Lieu, DeSaulnier, Leno, Padilla, Yee
NOES: Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-24, 5/23/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Division of Apprenticeship Standards:
certification of electricians
SOURCE : International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
DIGEST : This bill requires individuals desiring to be
certified as an electrician must submit an application for
certification and examination that includes an employment
history report from the Social Security Administration.
The individual may redact his/her social security number
from the employment history report before it is submitted.
This bill also makes several non-substantive changes to
clarify existing law.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires that the Division of
Apprenticeship Standards establish and validate minimum
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standards for the competency and training of electricians
through a system of testing and certification. This
includes the establishment of fees and regulations
necessary to implement and enforce this requirement.
Existing law requires that, as of January 1, 2009, any
individual who performs work as an electrician, as defined,
must be certified by the Division of Apprenticeship
Standards. Existing law provides for certain exemptions
from this requirement.
This bill requires individuals desiring to be certified as
an electrician must submit an application for certification
and examination that includes an employment history report
from the Social Security Administration (SSA). The
individual may redact his/her social security number from
the employment history report before it is submitted.
This bill also makes several non-substantive changes to
clarify existing law.
Comments
Existing Regulations for Electrician Certification :
Currently, the California Code of Regulations (CCR) Title
8, Sections 290 to 296.4 establishes the application
process and criteria for being certified as an electrician,
as well as some of the penalties for conducting electrical
work improperly licensed.
There are four categories of electrician an individual can
be certified for: General Electrician, a Residential
Electrician, a Voice Data Video Technician, a Fire/Life
Safety Technician or a Nonresidential Lighting Technician.
A certification category describes the type of work that is
performed by that category of electrician, but
certification may not be required for all the work within
the category. Being certified as a general electrician
allows you to do all of the certified electrical work
categories.
In order to apply to be certified as an electrician, the
applicant must have work experience and also pass the
electrical exam provided by the Division of Apprenticeship
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Standards. There are two ways of certifying that you have
appropriate work experience:
1. Successful completion of an apprenticeship program
approved by the California Apprenticeship Council or the
federal Bureau of Apprenticeship Training in the
classification for which certification is sought;
2. Work experience. The amount of experience necessary is
between 2,000 hours and 8,000 hours, depending on the
electrical certification the applicant is trying to
achieve.
In order to take the examination to be certified as an
electrician, the applicant must submit proof of experience
as described above. However, existing regulations and
statute are currently silent on how the proof is to be
provided. While the application is signed under the
penalty of perjury, the hours are filled in by the
applicant without further documentation.
This bill requires that, along with the application, the
applicant would provide an employment history report from
the SSA in order further certify the veracity of the
applicant's work experience.
Availability of a SSA Employment History Report :
According to the SSA, an individual can obtain certified or
non-certified detailed earnings information by completing
Form SSA-7050-F4, which is available online. There is a
$15 fee for one year of certified earnings records, and an
addition $2.50 for each additional year. Non-certified
copies are free. This bill is silent on if a certified
copy of an individual's employment history would be
necessary to be certified as an electrician.
The SSA Web site states that it may take four months for an
individual to receive his or her employment history report.
However, the Assembly Labor Committee reports that that if
an individual visits a SSA office in person and submits a
request, the records are provided immediately.
Prior Legislation
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AB 931 (Calderon), Chapter 781, Statutes of 1999,
establishes a certification program for electricians to be
implemented by the Division of Apprenticeship Standards.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/15/11)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : This bill is sponsored by the
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
The sponsor notes that under the existing certification
process, an applicant must have at least four years of
experience in the class he/she is applying for to qualify
to take the electrical certification examination. In most
cases, applicants will have to attest to having worked in
the relevant construction class within the past five years.
Although DIR advises potential applicants to be prepared to
verify claims of experience, no explicit requirement for
documentation is required. The sponsor notes that the list
of "qualified and responsible persons" authorized to verify
experience claims includes "a homeowner, an employer,
fellow employee, other journeyman, contractor, union
representative, building inspector, architect, or
engineer." The sponsor states that it is hard to imagine
that DIR can verify four years of job experience by relying
on a hodgepodge of individuals and organizations.
However, most employers are required to withhold a
percentage of an employee's paycheck and remit that amount
to the Social Security Administration. As a result, an
accurate and complete job history and verification system
is already in place. Therefore, the sponsor believes that,
at a minimal cost to the applicant and no cost to the
state, this bill represents a cost effective way of
protecting the public against unqualified and inexperienced
contractors.
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-24, 5/23/11
AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall,
Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman,
Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning,
Nestande, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Conway, Donnelly, Fletcher, Beth Gaines,
Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nielsen,
Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Gorell
PQ:kc 8/15/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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