BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1890
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GOVERNOR'S VETO
AB
1890 (Dodd)
As Enrolled September 2, 2016
2/3 vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |55-23 |(June 2, 2016) |SENATE: | | (August 22, |
| | | | |26-12 |2016) |
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|ASSEMBLY: |55-24 |(August 25, | | | |
| | |2016) | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY: Enacts the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act of 2016,
related to state contracting, as specified.
The Senate amendments:
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1)Add co-authors.
2)Provide that the bill applies to an employer with a contract
with the state that amounts to $50,000 or more that either a)
is required by federal regulations to submit a specified
report to the United States Equal Opportunity Commission or b)
has 100 or more employees in the state.
3)Require the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)
to make specified programs and reports available to the
Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
4)Specify that DFEH may also require an employer that is not
described above to submit a nondiscrimination program.
5)Make other related and conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would result in DFEH administrative costs
of approximately $350,000 annually to collect and store
specified workforce data on state contractors, and to process
additional Public Records Act requests for that data. In
addition, this bill would result in major DFEH General Fund cost
pressures, to the extent the department exercises the authority
to require approval and certification of contractors'
nondiscrimination programs. There could be additional
information technology costs of approximately $1 million
one-time and $160,000 ongoing, if DFEH were to collect and sort
data on contractors' workers by job category, race/national
origin, gender, wages, and hours worked.
COMMENTS: According to the author, this bill seeks to compile
AB 1890
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data on gender wage inequity among state contractors and ensure
state contractors have policies for preventing unlawful
discrimination.
Supporters argue that pay secrecy and the lack of robust and
reliable data on employee compensation impede our ability to
effectively enforce our equal pay laws. In 2014, to address
this lack of data, President Barack Obama directed the Secretary
of Labor to require federal contractors to submit data on
employee compensation. Under the terms of the proposed rule,
companies that have more than 100 employees and hold federal
contracts or subcontracts worth $50,000 or more for at least 30
days would have to submit an annual Equal Pay Report on employee
compensation to the Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs (OFCC).
Supporters note that California has a similar nondiscrimination
reporting program under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
The Nondiscrimination and Compliance Employment Program is a set
of specific and result-oriented procedures to which a contractor
or subcontractor commits itself to ensure equal employment
opportunity for all employees or applicants for employment.
Supporters state that this bill aims to achieve the same goal as
the 2014 Presidential Memorandum - to help employers take
proactive measures to ensure fair pay for their employees.
Simply compiling the data will prompt some businesses to make
necessary changes.
This bill is substantially similar to AB 1354 (Dodd) of 2015.
The bill was vetoed by Governor Brown.
GOVERNOR'S VETO MESSAGE:
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I am returning Assembly Bill 1890 without my signature.
This bill requires a firm with a state contract valued at
$50,000 or more that is required to submit an EEO-I report to
the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to also
annually submit that report, or a nondiscrimination program
meeting specified requirements, to the Department of Fair
Employment and Housing.
The Office of Compliance Programs within the Department of
Fair Employment and Housing already has access to EE0-1
reports submitted to the federal government by California
employers. Additionally, and as I stated last year, the
Department currently requires all state contractors to develop
and implement a nondiscrimination program and has broad
authority to investigate, approve, certify, decertify, monitor
and enforce the obligation of state contractors not to
discriminate. For these reasons, I do not believe this bill
is necessary.
Analysis Prepared by:
Benjamin Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091 FN:
0005097
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