BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 829
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Date of Hearing: March 28, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 829 (Rubio) - As Amended: March 14, 2012
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 6-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill:
1)Stipulates that state funding or financial assistance shall
not be used to support any construction projects of a charter
city if a charter provision, initiative, or ordinance in that
city prohibits the governing board from considering use of a
project labor agreement (PLA) meeting specified statutory
requirements.
2)Stipulates that (1) shall not be applicable until January 1,
2015 for cities where a charter provision, initiative, or
ordinance in effect prior to November 1, 2011 would disqualify
a city project from receiving state funding.
FISCAL EFFECT
The bill could result in a reallocation of state infrastructure
funding, such as annual transportation funding for local streets
and roads, to the extent a charter city has an ordinance banning
PLAs in general and thus is no longer eligible for state funding
after January 1, 2015.
Charter cities that ban PLAs, in order to remain eligible for
state funding after January 1, 2015, could incur costs to amend
their charters to overturn such bans. For PLA bans adopted by
ordinance, these costs would be minor. For PLA bans adopted by
charter amendment or initiative, a city seeking to overturn the
ban would incur the one-time costs of submitting the proposal to
the voters for approval. These costs would not be state
reimbursable.
SB 829
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COMMENTS
1)Background . A PLA is a pre-hire agreement establishing the
terms and conditions of employment for a specific construction
project. PLAs are completed before any workers are hired, to
establish the wage rates and benefits of all employees working
on the project and to prevent strikes, lockouts, or other work
stoppages for the length of the project. The terms of the
agreement apply to all contractors and subcontractors, whether
union or non-union, who successfully bid on the project, and
supersede any existing collective bargaining agreements.
SB 922 (Steinberg)/Chapter 431 of 2011, required a PLA on a
public works project of any state or local government entity
to incorporate specified provisions. With respect to charter
cities, SB 922 also stipulated that, effective January 1,
2015, a charter city that has banned a PLA on a project could
not receive state funding for that project. (A charter city
has the power to regulate "municipal affairs," while a general
law city is subject to the general laws passed by the
Legislature.)
2)Purpose . This bill, sponsored by the State Building and
Construction Trades Council, extends the provisions of SB 922
to prohibit charter cities that ban PLAs from receiving state
funding for any city project. As with SB 922, the author and
sponsor indicate that SB 829 is needed because "anti-union
groups/associations continue their campaign to eliminate the
option for local governments to utilize PLAs." The bill is
supported by numerous labor and specialty contractor
organizations.
3)Opposition . The Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC)
identifies several legal issues regarding SB 829, arguing in
part that the bill interferes with the Constitutional rights
of charter cities "to control their own local affairs except
in matters of statewide concern." The bill is also opposed by
the California Chamber of Commerce.
4)PLA Prohibitions in Charter Cities . The City of Oceanside
adopted a general PLA prohibition by charter amendment, and
the City of Fresno did likewise through an ordinance. The City
of Chula Vista's ordinance, enacted by the voters, limits the
city's ability to impose certain provisions in PLAs, and
SB 829
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distinguishes between the types of applicable projects based
on their funding source. The City of San Diego has a proposed
initiative for the June 2012 ballot that prohibits the city
from imposing PLAs on certain projects, but allows the city to
consider a PLA on a project as a condition of receiving state
funding.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081