BILL NUMBER: AB 1650	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2014

   An act to add Section 10186 to the Public Contract Code, relating
to public contracts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1650, as introduced, Jones-Sawyer. Public contracts: bidders:
employment practices.
   The State Contract Act governs contracting between state agencies
and private contractors, and sets forth requirements for the bidding,
awarding, and overseeing of contracts for projects, which it defines
to include the construction or other improvement to a state
structure, building, road, or other state improvement of any kind
that will exceed a total cost limit of $250,000 for the 2010 calendar
year, as adjusted every 2 years.
   Existing law generally prohibits employers from asking an
applicant for employment to disclose information concerning
convictions which have been sealed, expunged, or statutorily
eradicated and certain marijuana-related convictions if the
convictions are more than 2 years old. Existing law, commencing July
1, 2014, prohibits a state or local agency from asking an applicant
to disclose information regarding a criminal conviction, except as
specified, until the agency has determined the applicant meets the
minimum employment qualifications for the position.
   This bill would prohibit a state agency from contracting for a
project with a person that asks an applicant for on site
construction-related employment to disclose information concerning
the conviction history of the applicant. The bill would not apply to
a position for which a person or state agency is otherwise required
by state or federal law to conduct a conviction or criminal history
background check or to any contract position with a criminal justice
agency, as specified. This bill would not apply to a person that has
a collective bargaining agreement with its employees.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 10186 is added to the Public Contract Code, to
read:
   10186.  (a) A state agency shall not accept a bid from a person
that asks an applicant for onsite construction related employment to
disclose information concerning the conviction history of the
applicant. This subdivision applies to both oral and written
disclosures and disclosures made on an initial employment
application.
   (b) This section shall not apply to a position for which the
person or the state agency is otherwise required by state or federal
law to conduct a conviction or criminal history background check or
to any contract position with a criminal justice agency, as that term
is defined in Section 13101 of the Penal Code.
   (c) This section shall not be construed to prevent a state agency
from accepting a bid from a person that conducts a conviction history
background check after complying with the provisions of subdivision
(a).
   (d) This section shall not apply to a person that has a collective
bargaining agreement with its employees.