BILL NUMBER: AB 2844 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 28, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bloom
FEBRUARY 19, 2016
An act to amend Section 116385 of the Health and Safety
Code, relating to environmental health. add
Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 2100) to Part 1 of Division 2
of the Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2844, as amended, Bloom. Environmental health:
drinking water. Public contracts:
California Combating the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions of Israel
Act of 2016.
Existing law governs the procurement process for contracts of
specified public entities. Existing law prohibits a person that, at
the time of bid or proposal for a new contract or renewal of an
existing contract, engages in investment activities in Iran from
bidding on, submitting a proposal for, or entering into, a contract
with a public entity for goods or services of $1,000,000 or more.
This bill, with certain exceptions, would prohibit a public
entity, which includes state and local entities, from entering into a
contract, on or after January 1, 2017, with a company that is
participating in the boycott of Israel, as provided. The bill would
find and declare that these provisions of this bill are a matter of
statewide concern due to the political nature of contracting with a
company that is participating in the boycott of Israel, and
therefore, these provisions apply to charter cities, charter
counties, and a charter city and county and supersede any
inconsistent charter provision.
By imposing additional duties with respect to local public
contracting, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill also would require the Governor's Office of Business and
Economic Development to incentivize specified activities between
Israel and California and to disincentivize barriers hindering those
activities.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
The California Safe Drinking Water Act requires a person operating
a public water system to obtain and provide an analysis of the water
to the State Water Resources Control Board (state board), as
provided.
This bill would require the person to include in the analysis
samples from schools, day care facilities, and health care
facilities, to the extent those locations are within the public water
system. The bill would require the person to report to the state
board other information regarding the samples taken. The bill would
require the state board to post this information on its Internet Web
site, as provided.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be
cited as the California Combating the Boycott, Divestment, and
Sanctions of Israel Act of 2016.
SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) The United States and Israel have a unique bond based on their
shared, enduring values, which are reflected in the virtues and
principles of freedom and democracy, and have stood together as
allies since Israel was first formed as a nation.
(b) California and Israel have established business partnerships
and trade relations with each other, and those partnerships have
helped enhance the agricultural, educational, energy, entertainment,
health, medical, scientific, and water policies in California,
Israel, and the United States.
(c) On March 5, 2014, as the culmination of an effort started as
Assembly Bill 1032 of the 2009-10 Regular Session, the Governor of
California and the Prime Minister of Israel signed a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) for strategic partnerships for joint innovation,
exchanges, and cooperation between California and Israel.
(d) In July 2015, the Legislature affirmed its support for the MOU
by passing Senate Concurrent Resolution 25, noting that participants
in the MOU had already expanded cooperation between Israel and
California in areas such as alternative energy, agriculture, business
innovation, and academia, and declaring that collaboration with
Israel will foster peace and democracy in the Middle East.
(e) Boycotts of Israel by companies doing business in California
undermine the aforesaid express policy and purpose of encouraging
trade, business, and academic cooperation between California and
Israel. Therefore, it is in the best interests of the State of
California that it not contract with any company participating in a
boycott of Israel.
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, including, but not limited to,
Section 1100.7 of the Public Contract Code, the provisions of this
measure address the political nature of contracting with a company
that is participating in the boycott of Israel and the need for the
government of this state to respond to the policies of Israel in a
uniform fashion, a matter of statewide concern, and therefore, shall
apply to charter cities, charter counties, and a charter city and
county.
SEC. 3. Chapter 2.6 (commencing with Section 2100)
is added to Part 1 of Division 2 of the Public Contract
Code , to read:
CHAPTER 2.6. CALIFORNIA COMBATING THE BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND
SANCTIONS OF ISRAEL ACT OF 2016
2100. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, and except as provided
in subdivision (d), a public entity shall not enter into a contract
on or after January 1, 2017, to acquire or dispose of goods,
services, information technology, or for construction if the
contracting company is participating in a boycott of Israel.
(b) A public entity shall notify any company determined to be
participating in a boycott of Israel that the public entity is
prohibited from contracting with the company and permit that company
to respond to the notification. The public entity shall request that
the company take substantial action to cease its boycott of Israel no
later than 90 days from the date the public entity notified the
company under this subdivision. If the public entity determines that
a company has taken substantial action to cease its boycott of Israel
before the expiration of that 90-day period, that company shall not
be subject to subdivision (a).
(c) For the purposes of this section, the following definitions
shall apply:
(1) (A) "Boycott Israel" or "boycott of Israel" means refusing to
deal with, terminating business activities with, or taking other
actions that are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm, or
otherwise limit commercial relations with Israel or persons or
entities incorporated in Israel or doing business in Israel for
reasons other than business, investment, or commercial reasons. A
statement by a company that it is participating in a boycott of
Israel, or that it has initiated a boycott in response to a request
for a boycott of Israel or in compliance with, or in furtherance of,
calls for a boycott of Israel, may be considered by a public entity
to be evidence that a company is participating in a boycott of
Israel.
(B) "Boycott" does not include any of the following:
(i) A decision based on business or economic reasons.
(ii) Termination or prohibition of commercial activity within a
particular jurisdiction that is required by federal or state law.
(2) "Company" means a sole proprietorship, organization,
association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited
partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability
company, or other entity or business association, including all
wholly owned subsidiaries, majority-owned subsidiaries, and parent
companies, that exists for the purpose of making profit.
(3) "Public entity" shall have the same meaning as defined in
subdivision (a) of Section 5100.
(d) This section shall not apply to a contract if either of the
following apply:
(1) The total value of the contract is less than ten thousand
dollars ($10,000).
(2) The public entity makes a formal, written determination that
the goods, services, information technology, or other matters that
are the subject of the contract are necessary for the public entity
to perform its functions and that, absent this exemption, the public
entity would be unable to obtain said goods, services, information
technology, or other matters for which the contract is offered.
2101. The provisions of this chapter shall supersede any
inconsistent provisions in the charter of a charter city, charter
county, or charter city and county.
2102. The Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development
shall recommend tools to incentivize business and academic
collaboration, trade, and partnership between Israel and California
and to disincentivize any and all barriers hindering that
collaboration, trade, and partnership, pursuant to Senate Concurrent
Resolution 121 of the 2014 Regular Session and Senate Concurrent
Resolution 25 of the 2015 Regular Session. These incentives may
include, but not be limited to, tax credits, partnership subsidies,
innovative grant programs, job creation initiatives, and contracting
preferences.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SECTION 1. Section 116385 of the Health and
Safety Code is amended to read:
116385. (a) Any person operating a public water system shall
obtain and provide to the state board, at the person's expense, an
analysis of the water, in the form, covering those matters, and at
intervals as the state board prescribes by regulation. The analysis
shall be performed by a laboratory duly certified by the state board.
(b) (1) An analysis provided pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
include, but need not be limited to, samples from schools, day care
facilities, and health care facilities, to the extent that these
locations are within the public water system.
(2) This subdivision does not require an increase in the number of
samples a person collects.
(c) (1) The person shall report to the state board the date and
results of any sampling at a school, day care facility, and health
care facility, and where relevant, the contents of any notice issued
to the school or day care facility, students, or parents, and any
notices to the health care facility, and any followup action taken to
mitigate contamination.
(2) The state board shall post the information contained in
paragraph (1) to its Internet Web site in a manner that is searchable
by schools and school districts. The state board's Internet Web site
shall also include a link to the public water system's most recent
consumer confidence report.