BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
395 (Fuentes)
Hearing Date: 7/13/2009 Amended: 7/6/2009
Consultant: Bob Franzoia Policy Vote: L&IR 5-1
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BILL SUMMARY: AB 395 would provide that an awarding body (of a
public works contract) that implements an approved labor
compliance program (LCP), may, upon mutual agreement with the
Division of Apprenticeship Standards within the Department of
Industrial Relations (DIR), assist in the enforcement of
prevailing rate wage laws and other requirements relating to
apprenticeship standards of that LCP. This bill would allow a
contractor to appeal the result of an apprenticeship related
labor compliance program enforcement action through specified
procedures.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
DIR joint enforcement of Up to $200 Up to $400Up to
$400 General
apprenticeship standards
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STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Authorizing these mutual agreements will either increase the
number of apprenticeship related violations brought or free up
DIR staff for other duties, or both. An increase in the number
of violations may result in additional administrative hearings
to review enforcement actions. DIR has 3.5 staff responding to
approximately 1,000 LCP related complaints annually. If
increased enforcement of apprenticeship standards on a mutual
agreement basis results in a similar number of complaints, DIR
could have up to $400,000 in additional staff costs annually.
This bill would provide that if the involvement of the DIR in an
LCP enforcement action is limited to a review of any assessment
and the matter is resolved without litigation, the awarding body
that implemented the LCP shall enforce any applicable penalties
and shall deposit any penalties and forfeitures collected in its
general fund.
This bill is similar to AB 2369 (Fuentes) 2008 which proposed
that an awarding body of a city with a population over 3,000,000
that implements an LCP may assist DIR in the enforcement of
prevailing wage laws and other requirements that apply to
apprenticeships. AB 2369 was vetoed by the Governor with the
following message:
The historic delay in passing the 2008-09 State Budget has
forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of
the year's legislative session. Given the delay, I am only
signing bills that are the highest priority for California.
This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at
this time.