BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1870
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Date of Hearing: April 23, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Roger Hernández, Chair
AB 1870 (Alejo) - As Introduced: February 19, 2014
SUBJECT : Public works: prevailing wage: multiemployer
apprenticeship program grants.
SUMMARY : Makes changes to existing law related to the
distribution of training contributions by the California
Apprenticeship Council (CAC) to approved apprenticeship
programs. Specifically, this bill provides that if there are
two or more approved multiemployer apprenticeship programs
serving the same craft or trade and geographic area for which
the training contributions were made to CAC, the grant shall be
divided among "all the approved multiemployer apprenticeship
programs serving the same craft or trade in California" based on
the number of apprentices registered in each program.
EXISTING LAW requires the CAC to distribute training
contributions received, less the expenses of the Department of
Industrial Relations for administration, by making grants to
approved apprenticeship programs for the purpose of training
apprentices as follows:
1)If there is an approved multiemployer apprenticeship program
serving the same craft or trade and geographic area for which
the training contributions were made to the CAC, a grant to
that program shall be made.
2)If there are two or more approved multiemployer apprenticeship
programs serving the same craft or trade and geographic area
for which the training contributions were made to the CAC, the
grant shall be divided among "those programs" based on the
number of apprentices registered in each program.
3)All training contributions not distributed as above shall be
used to defray the future expenses of the Department of
Industrial Relations for the administration and enforcement of
apprenticeship standards and requirements under existing law.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill is sponsored by the State Building and
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Construction Trades Council of California, who argues that it
will help ensure that every apprenticeship program in California
receives an equitable share of grants distributed by the CAC.
They contend that the current funding mechanism used to
determine the amount provided to each program has resulted in a
disproportionate distribution of funds to a limited number of
programs.
The sponsor goes on to state:
"Apprenticeship programs can operate in two ways. They can
either operate on a county or other local regional form or
they can operate on a statewide basis. According to DAS
data, the county level or regional based [joint
apprenticeship training committee (JATC)] apprenticeship
programs have a much higher graduation rate than unilateral
programs which operate on a multi-county or statewide
basis. For example, in 2012, for electrical worker
apprenticeship programs, JATCs graduated 712 inside
wiremen/sound and communication installers. This amounts to
over 80% of all graduates statewide for this craft.
Despite the fact that JATC programs graduated the vast
majority of apprentices, the unilateral statewide programs
received 72% ($121,492) of the annual training funds
disbursed by the DAS for this craft. The JATC's received
28% of the annual training funds totaling $48,245. In fact,
only 14 of the 25 eligible JATC's received any funds at
all.
This wide imbalance is reflected throughout other crafts
for which there are statewide and regional apprenticeship
programs."
The sponsor illustrates the need for this bill with the
following example:
"As the formula is currently laid out, one statewide
apprenticeship program that has 200 total enrolled
apprentices receives a higher amount of training funds than
10 separate apprenticeship programs each training 200
apprentices and operating in 10 different counties. This
means that even though all 10 of the separate programs are
training a total of 2,000 apprentices, they receive
significantly less funding than the program with statewide
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jurisdiction that is only training a total of 200
apprentices. [This bill] would fix this discrepancy."
A number of contractor groups, including the National Electrical
Contractors Association (NECA) support this bill, stating,
"Without this change, certain programs, both union and nonunion,
that cover multiple geographic areas will unfairly be allowed to
receive contributions in excess of the number of apprentices
registered in the program. This becomes particularly
problematic when statewide programs draw money from areas that
the program is authorized to serve but doesn't actually serve."
However, other contractors, including the Western Electrical
Contractors Association (WECA) oppose this measure. Among other
things, they state the following:
"[This bill] changes the long-standing method by which the
state allocates apprenticeship training grants without
increasing the level of state funding for this vital
training. [This bill] will created some winners and losers
and it is apparent [our] programs will be at risk of losing
important funding.
Under current law these contractor contributions are sent
to programs that are authorized by the state to train and
dispatch apprentices in the county from which the
contributions originated. This logically supports
apprentices in the same county in which the work is being
performed.
[This bill] takes these contributions and sends them to
programs statewide. Thus work being performed in Del Norte
County supports apprentices in 57 other counties instead of
those in Del Norte. While programs in San Francisco, Los
Angeles and San Diego may realize a very modest benefit,
those programs actually serving Del Norte County could see
their grants reduced substantially - in essence robbing
Peter to pay Paul. In our opinion, it would be preferable
to increase funding for every eligible program, not, as
[this bill] does, take from one and give to many."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
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Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Contractors Association
Air Conditioning Sheet Metal Association
California Chapters of the National Electrical Contractors
Association
California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
California Legislative Conference of Plumbing, Heating and
Piping Industry
California State Association of Electrical Workers
California State Pipe Trades Council
State Building and Construction Trades Council of California
(sponsor)
Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers
Opposition
Air Conditioning Trade Association
Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association of California
Western Electrical Contractors Association
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091