BILL NUMBER: AB 1565	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 25, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 26, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Fuentes
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Alquist
  ) 

                        JANUARY 30, 2012

   An act to amend, repeal, and add Section 20111.5 of, and to add
and repeal Section 20111.6 of, the Public Contract Code, relating to
public contracts.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1565, as amended, Fuentes. Public contracts: school districts:
bidding requirements.
   Under existing law, the governing board of a school district may
require each prospective bidder for specified contracts to submit a
standardized questionnaire and financial statement, including
information relating to financial ability and experience in
performing public works, which is required to be verified under oath.
Existing law further requires a school district requiring the above
information to adopt and apply a uniform system of rating bidders on
the basis of the completed questionnaires and financial statements,
as specified.
   This bill, until January 1, 2019, would require the questionnaire
and uniform system of rating bidders described above to cover, at a
minimum, the issues covered by the standardized questionnaire and
model guidelines for rating bidders developed by the Department of
Industrial Relations, as specified. This bill would provide that the
questionnaire and uniform system of rating bidders described above
shall not preclude the governing board of the district from
prequalifying or disqualifying a subcontractor. This bill would
provide that these provisions shall not apply to school districts
with an average daily attendance of less than 2,500.
   This bill, for contracts awarded on and after January 1, 2014, and
until January 1, 2019, would also require the governing board of the
district, except for school districts with an average daily
attendance of less than 2,500, for certain public projects, if the
governing board of the district chooses not to follow the uniform
system of rating bidders described above, to use other procedures,
which require a standardized questionnaire and financial statement to
be verified under oath, for bidding applicable to public entities,
as prescribed. The bill would also require the Director of Industrial
Relations, on or before January 1, 2018, to submit a report to the
Legislature evaluating whether labor violations have decreased, as
specified, and to recommend improvements to the system for
prequalifying contractors and subcontractors on school district
projects. By expanding the scope of an existing crime and by imposing
new duties on local officials, this 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 with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
   With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 20111.5 of the Public Contract Code is amended
to read:
   20111.5.  (a) The governing board of the district may require that
each prospective bidder for a contract, as described under Section
20111, complete and submit to the district a standardized
questionnaire and financial statement in a form specified by the
district, including a complete statement of the prospective bidder's
financial ability and experience in performing public works. The
questionnaire and financial statement shall be verified under oath by
the bidder in the manner in which civil pleadings in civil actions
are verified. The questionnaires and financial statements shall not
be public records and shall not be open to public inspection.
   (b) Any school district requiring prospective bidders to complete
and submit questionnaires and financial statements, as described in
subdivision (a), shall adopt and apply a uniform system of rating
bidders on the basis of the completed questionnaires and financial
statements, in order to determine the size of the contracts upon
which each bidder shall be deemed qualified to bid.
   (c) The questionnaire described in subdivision (a), and the
uniform system of rating bidders described in subdivision (b), shall
cover, at a minimum, the issues covered by the standardized
questionnaire and model guidelines for rating bidders developed by
the Department of Industrial Relations pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 20101.
   (d) Each prospective bidder on any contract described under
Section 20111 shall be furnished by the school district letting the
contract with a standardized proposal form that, when completed and
executed, shall be submitted as his or her bid. Bids not presented on
the forms so furnished shall be disregarded.
   (e) A proposal form required pursuant to subdivision (d) shall not
be accepted from any person or other entity that is required to
submit a completed questionnaire and financial statement for
prequalification pursuant to subdivision (a), but has not done so at
least five days prior to the date fixed for the public opening of
sealed bids or has not been prequalified, pursuant to subdivision
(b), for at least one day prior to that date.
   (f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), any school district may
establish a process for prequalifying prospective bidders pursuant to
this section on a quarterly basis and may authorize that
prequalification to be considered valid for up to one calendar year
following the date of initial prequalification.
   (g) This section shall not preclude the governing board of the
district from prequalifying or disqualifying a subcontractor. The
disqualification of a subcontractor by the governing board of the
district does not disqualify an otherwise prequalified contractor.
   (h) The amendments made by the act adding this subdivision shall
not apply to a school district with an average daily attendance of
less than 2,500.
   (i) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2019, and,
as of July 1, 2019, is repealed.
  SEC. 2.  Section 20111.5 is added to the Public Contract Code, to
read:
   20111.5.  (a) The governing board of the district may require that
each prospective bidder for a contract, as described under Section
20111, complete and submit to the district a standardized
questionnaire and financial statement in a form specified by the
district, including a complete statement of the prospective bidder's
financial ability and experience in performing public works. The
questionnaire and financial statement shall be verified under oath by
the bidder in the manner in which civil pleadings in civil actions
are verified. The questionnaires and financial statements shall not
be public records and shall not be open to public inspection.
   (b) Any school district requiring prospective bidders to complete
and submit questionnaires and financial statements, as described in
subdivision (a), shall adopt and apply a uniform system of rating
bidders on the basis of the completed questionnaires and financial
statements, in order to determine the size of the contracts upon
which each bidder shall be deemed qualified to bid.
   (c) Each prospective bidder on any contract described under
Section 20111 shall be furnished by the school district letting the
contract with a standardized proposal form that, when completed and
executed, shall be submitted as his or her bid. Bids not presented on
the forms so furnished shall be disregarded.
   (d) A proposal form required pursuant to subdivision (c) shall not
be accepted from any person or other entity that is required to
submit a completed questionnaire and financial statement for
prequalification pursuant to subdivision (a), but has not done so at
least five days prior to the date fixed for the public opening of
sealed bids or has not been prequalified, pursuant to subdivision
(b), for at least one day prior to that date.
   (e) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), any school district may
establish a process for prequalifying prospective bidders pursuant to
this section on a quarterly basis and may authorize that
prequalification to be considered valid for up to one calendar year
following the date of initial prequalification.
   (f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2019.
  SEC. 3.  Section 20111.6 is added to the Public Contract Code, to
read:
   20111.6.  (a) This section shall apply only to public projects, as
defined in subdivision (c) of Section 22002, for which the governing
board of the district uses funds received pursuant to the Leroy F.
Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 (Chapter 12.5 (commencing with
Section 17070.10) of Part 10 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code) for a public project  , when the expenditure
exceeds one million dollars ($1,000,000)  .
   (b) If the governing board of the district does not utilize the
procedures set forth in Section 20111.5 for a contract meeting the
criteria of subdivision (a), then the governing board of the district
shall use the procedures for qualification of bidders set forth in
Section 20101.
   (c) For purposes of this section, bidders shall include all
subcontractors performing work in excess of 3 percent of the total
cost.
   (d) This section shall not apply to a school district with an
average daily attendance of less than 2,500.
   (e) This section shall apply only to contracts awarded on or after
January 1, 2014.
   (f) (1) On or before January 1, 2018, the Director of Industrial
Relations shall (A) submit a report to the Legislature evaluating
whether, during the years this section has applied to contracts,
violations of the Labor Code on school district projects have
decreased as compared to the same number of years immediately
preceding the enactment of this section, and (B) recommend
improvements to the system for prequalifying contractors and
subcontractors on school district projects.
   (2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be
submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
   (g) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2019, and,
as of July 1, 2019, is repealed.
  SEC. 4.   No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution for
certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district because, in that regard, 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.
   However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.