BILL NUMBER: AB 1918 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 29, 2010
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Davis
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
An act to amend Sections 8281, 8283, 8284, and 8285 of the Public
Utilities Code, relating to telecommunications.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1918, as amended, Davis. Public utilities: procurement:
minority-, women-, disabled veteran-owned business enterprises.
Under
(1) Under existing law, the
Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public
utilities, including electrical, gas, water, and telephone
corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish
rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the
Legislature.
Existing law directs the commission to require every electrical,
gas, water, and telephone corporation with annual gross revenues
exceeding $25,000,000, and their regulated subsidiaries and
affiliates, to implement a program developed by the commission to
encourage, recruit, and utilize minority-, women-, and disabled
veteran-owned business enterprises, as defined, in the procurement of
contracts from those corporations or from their regulated
subsidiaries and affiliates, and to require the reporting of certain
information. The commission, by rulemaking, has adopted General Order
156, applicable to certain electrical, gas, and telephone
corporations, to effectuate these requirements.
This bill would extend the minority-, women-, and disabled
veteran-owned business enterprises procurement requirements to
wireless telecommunications service providers with gross annual
revenues of more than $25,000,000 and would encourage each
electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider,
and telephone corporation that is not required to submit a plan to
voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, and disabled
veteran business enterprise procurement in all categories.
(2) Existing law requires the commission to recommend a program
and legislation for carrying out the policy of aiding the interests
of women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises in
order to preserve specified objectives.
This bill would require the commission, in regards to disabled
veteran business enterprises, to ensure that those recommended
programs and legislation are consistent with the disabled veteran
business enterprise certification eligibility requirements imposed by
the Department of General Services and that the recommendations
include only those disabled veteran business enterprises certified by
the Department of General Services.
(3) Existing law requires the commission, by rule or order, to
adopt criteria for verifying and determining eligibility of women,
minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises for procurement
contracts.
This bill would instead require the commission to adopt the
Department of General Services' disabled veteran business enterprise
certification eligibility requirements for verifying and determining
eligibility of disabled veteran business enterprises for procurement
contracts and would prohibit the commission from deeming eligible
those disabled veteran business enterprises that are not certified by
the Department of General Services.
(4) Existing law requires any person or corporation that falsely
represents a business as a women, minority, or disabled veteran
business enterprise in the procurement of, or the attempt to procure,
contracts from certain electrical, gas, water, or telephone
corporations to receive a prescribed punishment.
This bill would add wireless telecommunications service providers
to that list of corporations and would instead require the punishment
for falsely representing a business as a disabled veteran enterprise
to conform to penalties imposed pursuant to specified law.
Under
(5) Under existing law, a
violation of any rules or orders of the commission is a crime. In
addition, any person or corporation who falsely represents a business
as a woman, minority, or disabled veteran business enterprise for
the purposes of the programs discussed above is subject to criminal
penalties.
Because a violation of the requirements of the bill would be a
crime under those provisions, this bill would impose a state-mandated
local program.
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 no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 8281 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
8281. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the
essence of the American economic system of private enterprise is free
competition. Only through full and free competition can free
markets, reasonable and just prices, free entry into business, and
opportunities for the expression and growth of personal initiative
and individual judgment be assured ensured
. The preservation and expansion of that competition
is are basic to the economic well-being of this
state and that well-being cannot be realized unless the actual and
potential capacity of women, minority, and disabled veteran business
enterprises is encouraged and developed. Therefore, it is the
declared policy of the state to aid the interests of women, minority,
and disabled veteran business enterprises in order to preserve
reasonable and just prices and a free competitive enterprise, to
ensure that a fair proportion of the total purchases and contracts or
subcontracts for commodities, supplies, technology, property, and
services for regulated public utilities are awarded to women,
minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises, and to maintain
and strengthen the overall economy of the state.
(b) (1) The Legislature finds all of the following:
(A) The opportunity for full participation in our free enterprise
system by women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises
is essential if this state is to attain social and economic equality
for those businesses and improve the functioning of the state
economy.
(B) Public agencies which have established short- and long-range
women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprise goals are
awarding 30 percent or more of their contracts to these business
enterprises.
(C) Women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises
have traditionally received less than a proportionate share of
regulated public utility procurement contracts.
(D) It is in the state's interest to expeditiously improve the
economically disadvantaged position of women, minority, and disabled
veteran business enterprises.
(E) The position of these businesses can be improved by providing
long-range substantial goals for procurement by regulated public
utilities of technology, equipment, supplies, services, materials,
and construction work from women, minority, and disabled veteran
businesses.
(F) That procurement also benefits the regulated public utilities
and consumers of the state by encouraging the expansion of the number
of suppliers for procurements, thereby encouraging competition among
the suppliers and promoting economic efficiency in the process.
(2) It is the purpose of this article to do all of the following:
(A) Encourage greater economic opportunity for women, minority,
and disabled veteran business enterprises.
(B) Promote competition among regulated public utility suppliers
in order to enhance economic efficiency in the procurement of
electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider,
and telephone corporation contracts and contracts of their
commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates.
(C) Clarify and expand the program for the procurement by
regulated public utilities of technology, equipment, supplies,
services, materials, and construction work from women, minority, and
disabled veteran business enterprises.
SEC. 2. Section 8283 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
8283. (a) The commission shall require each electrical, gas,
water, wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone
corporation with gross annual revenues exceeding twenty-five million
dollars ($25,000,000) and their commission-regulated subsidiaries and
affiliates, to submit annually, a detailed and verifiable plan for
increasing women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprise
procurement in all categories.
(b) These annual plans shall include short- and long-term goals
and timetables, but not quotas, and shall include methods for
encouraging both prime contractors and grantees to engage women,
minority, and disabled veteran business enterprises in subcontracts
in all categories which provide subcontracting opportunities.
(c) The commission shall establish guidelines for all electrical,
gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider, and
telephone corporations with gross annual revenues exceeding
twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) and their
commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to be utilized in
establishing programs pursuant to this article.
(d) Every electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications
service provider, and telephone corporation with gross annual
revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) shall
furnish an annual report to the commission regarding the
implementation of programs established pursuant to this article in a
form that the commission shall require, and at the time that the
commission shall annually designate.
(e) (1) The commission shall provide a
report to the Legislature on September 1 of each year, on the
progress of activities undertaken by each electrical, gas, water,
wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone
corporation with gross annual revenues exceeding twenty-five million
dollars ($25,000,000) pursuant to this article in the implementation
of women, minority, and disabled veterans business enterprise
development programs. The commission shall recommend a program for
carrying out the policy declared in this article, together with
recommendations for legislation that it deems necessary or desirable
to further that policy.
(2) In regards to disabled veteran business enterprises, the
commission shall ensure that the programs and legislation recommended
pursuant to paragraph (1) are consistent with the disabled veteran
business enterprise certification eligibility requirements imposed by
the Department of General Services and that the recommendations
include only those disabled veteran business enterprises certified by
the Department of General Services.
(f) The Legislature declares that each electrical, gas, water,
wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone
corporation that is not required to submit a plan pursuant to
subdivision (a) is encouraged to voluntarily adopt a plan for
increasing women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprise
procurement in all categories.
SEC. 3. Section 8284 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
8284. (a) (1) The commission shall, by rule
or order, adopt criteria for verifying and determining the
eligibility of women, minority, and disabled veteran
women and minority business enterprises for
procurement contracts.
(2) The commission shall adopt the Department of General Services'
disabled veteran business enterprise certification eligibility
requirements for verifying and determining the eligibility of
disabled veteran business enterprises for procurement contracts, and
shall not deem eligible those disabled veteran business enterprises
that are not certified by the Department of General Services.
(b) The commission shall develop, and require every electrical,
gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider, and
telephone corporation with gross annual revenues exceeding
twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) and their
commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates to implement, an
outreach program to inform and recruit women, minority, and disabled
veteran business enterprises to apply for procurement contracts under
this article.
SEC. 4. Section 8285 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to
read:
8285. (a) Any person or corporation,
through its directors, officers, or agents, which falsely represents
a business as a women, minority, or disabled veteran
women or minority business enterprise in the
procurement of, or the attempt to procure, contracts from
an electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications service
provider, or telephone corporation with gross annual revenues
exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), or a
commission-regulated subsidiary or affiliate subject to this article,
shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars
($5,000), by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year
or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment. In
the case of a corporation, the fine or imprisonment, or both, shall
be imposed on every director, officer, or agent responsible for the
false statements.
(b) Any person or corporation, through its directors, officers, or
agents, which falsely represents a business as a disabled veteran
business enterprise in the procurement of, or attempt to procure,
contracts from an electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications
service provider, or telephone corporation with gross annual
revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), or a
commission-regulated subsidiary or affiliate subject to this article,
shall be punished according to the penalties established pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 999.9 of the Military and Veterans Code.
In the case of a corporation, the fine or imprisonment, or both,
shall be imposed on every director, officer, or agent responsible for
the false statements.
SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
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