BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1397
Page A
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1397 (Corbett) - As Introduced: February 19, 2010
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 4-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill amends various provisions of law related to the
approval of apprenticeship programs in the building and
construction industry. Specifically, the bill:
1)Eliminates the requirement in existing law that the Division
of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) randomly audit all approved
apprenticeship programs during each five-year period, and
replaces it with more targeted auditing requirements focusing
on programs that are new or newly expanded, as well as
programs that have low graduation rates, prior meritorious
complaints, or have purposefully misstated information to DAS.
2)Provides that no two representatives of the six
representatives from employee organizations on the California
Apprenticeship Council (CAC) may be from the same national or
international labor organization.
3)Requires new or expanding programs to submit a written report
along with their application to The Division of Apprenticeship
Standards (DAS) stating their long-term plans, their ability
to meet those plans, and a recruitment strategy that includes
outreach to women and underrepresented minorities. Requires
DAS to reject the applications in cases where the plans are
deemed inadequate.
4)Requires programs to provide each apprentice, on at least a
semiannual basis, information related to hours of training and
instruction completed, the number of hours required for
graduation, and the apprentice's expected graduation date.
SB 1397
Page B
5)Requires programs to report apprentice registration, change of
address, graduation, and termination data to DAS on a monthly
basis in an electronic format.
FISCAL EFFECT
While the bill would result in a redirection of auditing and
administrative resources within DAS, it would have only limited
impacts on net state costs.
COMMENTS
1)Background . The Division of Apprenticeship Standards within
the California Department of Industrial Relations is
responsible for administering California apprenticeship law
and enforcing apprenticeship standards for wages, hours,
working conditions and the specific skills required for state
certification as a journeyperson in an apprenticeable
occupation. Current law requires DAS to audit apprenticeship
programs every five years to ensure that state standards are
being met and that the apprentices are being safely and
appropriately trained. However, according to DAS's most
recent annual report from 2007, there were 675 state-approved
apprenticeship programs, making it difficult to comply with
audit requirements of existing law.
2)Rationale . The bill is intended to strengthen oversight of
apprenticeship programs. The author and sponsor of the bill
believe the bill will streamline and target the auditing
procedures, going after the new programs and the poorly
performing programs, rather than auditing everyone over a
five-year period.
3)Opponent s (including the Associated Builders and Contractors
Association) argue that the bill creates an unfair process
where new applicants will be placed under heavy scrutiny to
which existing programs were never subjected. Opponents also
state that the bill does not address the impact of a 1999 law
that imposed a "needs test" requirement for the approval of
new apprenticeship programs. This test requires that, in order
for DAS to approve an apprenticeship program, it must find
there is either no existing apprenticeship program serving the
same craft or trade and geographic area, or that existing
programs are insufficient for meeting apprenticeship needs.
SB 1397
Page C
4)Previous legislation . This bill is similar to AB 734 (Evans)
of 2008, which was vetoed. The governor's veto message stated
that, while the auditing provisions were a vast improvement
over existing law, he found no indication that the current
criteria for membership is deficient, and he objected to the
lack of provisions removing the "needs test" requirements of
existing law.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081