BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1012 (Nguyen) - Flags: purchase
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|Version: April 18, 2016 |Policy Vote: G.O. 12 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 2, 2016 |Consultant: Mark McKenzie |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1012 would require flags of the State of California
and the Unites Sates purchased by the state and local agencies
to be made in the United States (US).
Fiscal
Impact:
No new state costs, as all flags currently purchased by the
Department of General Services (DGS) are made in the US.
(General Fund)
Potential reimbursable mandate costs, but only to the extent
local agencies are not currently purchasing US-made flags,
those flags are more expensive than those currently purchased
by local agencies, and the net cost-differential exceeds
$1,000 for each affected agency in a given fiscal year.
(General Fund) Any state-reimbursable costs would be
SB 1012 (Nguyen) Page 1 of
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contingent upon the filing of a successful reimbursement claim
with the Commission on State Mandates, and a determination by
the Commission that specific mandated local costs are deemed
reimbursable.
Background: Existing law requires the Flag of the United States and the
Flag of the State of California to be prominently displayed in
the following locations: courtrooms; in all rooms where any
court or state, county, or municipal commission holds any
sessions; at each state, county, or municipal public building;
at the entrance and exit of all state parks; on each campus of
the University of California; at the administration building of
every university, college, high school, and elementary school
(both public and private) within the state; at every
agricultural station; at every state highway maintenance
station, as specified; and during any and all games and
performances that take place in a coliseum, stadium, bowl, or
other open air sites, and all race tracks where racing is being
conducted.
Existing law requires the public officials charged with
furnishing the place in which the flags of the United States and
State of California must be displayed to provide for the
acquisition of the flags and their installation, display, and
maintenance.
Proposed Law:
SB 1012 would require any Flag of the United States or the
Flag of the State of California purchased by the state or any
local government agency on or after January 1, 2017 to be made
in the United States.
Staff
Comments: DGS currently purchases all US and California flags
flown at state facilities from the California Prison Industry
Authority (PIA). The PIA manufactures those flags, and sold
2,080 flags to the state in 2014-15, noting that the average
cost for a flag is $43 (with a range of costs for flags of
varying sizes). Since all state-purchased flags are currently
made in the US, there would be no direct state costs as a result
SB 1012 (Nguyen) Page 2 of
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of the bill.
SB 1012 would also require all US and California flags purchased
by local agencies to be made in the US. This could be
determined to be a new program or higher level of service by the
Commission on State Mandates (Commission), should a local agency
test claim arise out of this new requirement. Among other
eligibility criteria, an affected local agency must incur at
least $1,000 in costs as a result of a state-mandated
requirement in order to file a claim. The Commission must also
find that these are new costs, so a local agency must show that
it was previously purchasing flags that were not made in the US,
and that available US-made flags are more expensive, with
cumulative net costs in a given year that exceed the $1,000
threshold. Staff assumes that few affected local agencies would
incur costs that exceed this threshold in a given year. In the
unlikely event that a successful mandate claim would is filed,
state-reimbursable costs would be minor.
Staff notes that previously enacted California laws that provide
a preference for American-made or California-made products have
been struck down by the courts as unconstitutional. For
example, the California Buy America Act, which requires public
agencies to buy products made in the US, was found
unconstitutional in Bethlehem Steel Corp. v. Board of
Commissioners, 276 Cal.App.2d 221 (1969). In that case, the
California Court of Appeal found that the statutes were an
encroachment upon the federal government's exclusive power over
foreign affairs because they effectively placed an embargo on
foreign products. If this bill is enacted, the courts may
ultimately decide whether SB 1012's requirements are also
unconstitutional, which could result in additional state
litigation costs.
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