BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1354


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          Date of Hearing:  May 6, 2015


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                                 Jimmy Gomez, Chair


          AB  
          1354 (Dodd) - As Introduced February 27, 2015


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill enacts the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act of 2015  
          related to state contracting. Specifically, this bill:  










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          1)Provides that, prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor  
            with the state, an employer with 100 or more employees shall  
            submit an "income equality program" to the Department of Fair  
            Employment and Housing (DFEH) for approval and certification  
            and shall be required to submit periodic reports of its  
            compliance with that program. 


          2)Specifies that the "income equality program" shall include the  
            collection of summary data on the compensation paid to  
            employees, including data sorted by gender and race, and  
            include policies designed to ensure income equality and  
            prevent unlawful discrimination.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          1)Ongoing General Fund administrative costs to DFEH in the  
            millions of dollars to process thousands of contracts  
            annually.


            Based on a review of the Department of General Services state  
            contract database, an average of 95,000 contracts were awarded  
            annually over a four year period.  Assuming this number of  
            contracts, DFEH estimates approximately 80 ongoing positions  
            would be needed to maintain the database, generate reports,  
            provide correspondence and perform other administrative tasks.  
             This estimate does not include review of subcontractors  
            involved in these contracts.  Information on subcontractors is  
            not currently readily available and would likely add  
            additional workload. 


          2)One-time costs to DFEH of approximately $1 million GF to  
            implement a software system to collect and compile data.










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          COMMENTS:


          1)Background. On August 6, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor's  
            Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs issued a Notice  
            of Proposed Rulemaking requiring covered federal contractors  
            and subcontractors with more than 100 employees to submit  
            electronically an annual equal pay report on employee  
            compensation. Information would include total number of  
            workers within a specific job category, total W-2 wages for  
            all workers on the job and total hours worked, broken down by  
            race, ethnicity and sex. 



            The proposal fulfills the Secretary of Labor's responsibility  
            under President Obama's Presidential Memorandum, 'Advancing  
            Pay Equality Through Compensation Data Collection,' to develop  
            a rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to  
            submit to DOL summary data on the compensation paid to their  
            employees, including data by sex and race.





          2)Purpose. According to the author, this bill builds on the same  
            goal as President Obama's actions from last year through the  
            compilation of data on gender wage inequity among state  
            contractors and will ensure state contractors have policies  
            for preventing unlawful discrimination.





          Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081









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