BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 2272
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          ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
          AB 2272 (Gray)
          As Introduced  February 21, 2014
          Majority vote 

           LABOR & EMPLOYMENT     5-1      APPROPRIATIONS      13-4        
           
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Ayes:|Roger Hernández, Alejo,   |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra,         |
          |     |Chau, Holden,             |     |Bradford,                 |
          |     |Ridley-Thomas             |     |Ian Calderon, Campos,     |
          |     |                          |     |Eggman, Gomez, Holden,    |
          |     |                          |     |Linder, Pan, Quirk,       |
          |     |                          |     |Ridley-Thomas, Weber      |
          |     |                          |     |                          |
          |-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
          |Nays:|Morrell                   |Nays:|Bigelow, Donnelly, Jones, |
          |     |                          |     |Wagner                    |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
           SUMMARY  :  Specifies that "public work" for purposes of  
          prevailing wage law also means projects funded by the California  
          Advanced Services Fund (CASF) pursuant to existing law.
           
           FISCAL EFFECT  :  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
          Committee, this bill will result in estimated costs of $280,000  
          to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement for increased  
          enforcement and investigations.

           COMMENTS  :  The CASF program was established to encourage  
          deployment of high-quality advanced communications services to  
          all Californians that will promote economic growth, job  
          creation, and the substantial social benefits of advanced  
          information and communications technologies.  Existing law  
          establishes the goal of the program as, by no later than  
          December 31, 2015, to approve funding for infrastructure  
          projects that will provide broadband access to no less than 98%  
          of California households.

          The Central Valley Next Generation Broadband Infrastructure  
          Project is a 1,371 mile fiber-optic infrastructure project  
          through 18 counties that will reportedly serve a population of 4  
          million people when completed.  The goal of the project is to  
          provide direct fiber connectivity to 63 anchor institutions,  
          access by another 40 anchor sites, and access to hundreds of  








                                                                  AB 2272
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          thousands of other businesses and residences.  The $66.6 million  
          project is funded through federal, state and local funds, with  
          about 10% of its total funding coming from the CASF discussed  
          above.

          On November 22, 2013, Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)  
          Director Christine Baker issued a determination letter which  
          found that the project, because it is partially funded with  
          state funds, is a public work subject to California's prevailing  
          wage requirements.

          This bill is sponsored by the California-Nevada Conference of  
          Operating Engineers, who argues that this simply codifies the  
          recent DIR determination in statute to avoid confusion and legal  
          questions in the future.  They believe this will give clarity to  
          contractors who are bidding on CASF-funded projects, and to  
          labor standards officers who are responsible for enforcing labor  
          laws on the projects.

          There is no opposition on file.

           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091  
          FN: 0003608