BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1409
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1409 (John A. Perez)
As Amended May 19, 2009
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 6-1 TRANSPORTATION 14-0
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|Ayes:|Caballero, Knight, Davis, |Ayes:|Eng, Jeffries, |
| |Duvall, Krekorian, | |Blumenfield, Buchanan, |
| |Skinner | |Conway, Furutani, |
| | | |Galgiani, Garrick, Bonnie |
| | | |Lowenthal, Miller, |
| | | |Niello, John A. Perez, |
| | | |Solorio, Torlakson |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Arambula | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Changes the authorization for a county board of
supervisors to direct a road commissioner or a registered civil
engineer under the direction of the county director of
transportation to enter into contracts for work upon county
highways when the work:
1)Involves the purchasing of material and having the work done
by day labor if the board of supervisors does both of the
following:
a) Advertises and request bids; and,
b) Passes a resolution making a finding that either no bids
were received or all of the bids received exceeded the cost
of having the work done by day labor or force account.
2)Involves the purchasing of material and having the work done
by day labor for any work classified as maintenance work,
including, but not limited to, work required to keep county
roads open during inclement weather.
EXISTING LAW specifies that a county board of supervisors is
authorized to direct a road commissioner or a registered civil
engineer under the direction of the county director of
AB 1409
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transportation to have any work upon county highways done in one
of five ways:
1)By letting a contract covering both work and material, with
the contract let to the lowest responsible bidder.
2)By purchasing the material and letting a contract for the
performance of the work, with the material bought at the
lowest possible cost and the contract let to the lowest
responsible bidder.
3)By purchasing the material and having the work done by day
labor, in which case advertising for bids is not required.
4)By authorizing the county road commissioner or a registered
civil engineer under the direction of the county director of
transportation to execute changes for any contract in an
amount not to exceed $5,000 for contracts of $50,000 or less,
or 10% for contracts over $50,000 but not to exceed $250,000.
For contracts whose original cost exceeds $250,000, the extra
cost for any change or addition to the work so ordered cannot
exceed $25,000, plus 5% of the amount of the original contract
costs in excess of $250,000.
5)By purchasing the material and letting a contract for the work
or by letting a contract covering both work and material
without advertising for bids when the estimated cost of
emergency work necessitated by the imminence or occurrence of
a landslide, flood, storm damage, or other emergency exceeds
$25,000 and the public interest and necessity demand immediate
action to safeguard life, health, or property.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : The author states that, when Public Contract Code
Section 20395 was enacted in 1982, rural counties had fewer
contractors capable of making repairs through the traditional
open bidding process. However, now the construction field has
changed due to new technologies, and contractors are able to
complete repairs that would have been difficult or impossible to
do with the technology available in 1982. Some of the new
technologies allow the production of asphalt to be done by
moving mobile plants into an area. Furthermore, the author
states that some large, urban counties are taking advantage of
this authorization in order to not bid out certain highway
AB 1409
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construction projects.
The California State Association of Counties and the Regional
Council of Rural Counties counter saying there is still a
shortage of contractors for these jobs in rural counties. For
instance, the County of Tuolumne reports that for several years
of contracts there was only one bid from one large contractor in
the area. Because of this shortage of contractors, there is not
a competitive environment, which is necessary to drive down
project costs to a level that rural counties can afford.
While it may superficially appear that Public Contract Code
Section 20395 subdivision (c) was added only in 1982, the
legislative history shows that, prior to 1982, those provisions
were in Streets and Highways Code Section 1075 subdivision (c),
which was enacted in 1935. The California Court of Appeal, in
Copeland v. Kern County (1951) (105 Cal.App.2d 821), ruled that
the words "day labor" in Streets and Highways Code Section 1075
did not preclude regular trained road crews of a county from
engaging in work pursuant to its provisions and did not
contemplate that only inexperienced and casual day laborers were
to be hired. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal ruled, a county
could use regular road crews and prisoners from county road
camps, as well as casual employees that were available for this
work.
This bill will still allow counties to purchase the material and
have the work done by day labor, and by force account because of
the 1951 Court of Appeal ruling, with one condition: Counties
would be required to first advertise and request bids and then
pass a resolution making a finding that either no bids were
received or all of the bids received exceeded the cost of having
the work done by day labor or force account. Additionally, this
bill also adds an authorization for counties to purchase the
material and have the work done by day labor in circumstances
involving maintenance work on county highways.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer R. Klein / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0000819