BILL NUMBER: AB 297 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani
FEBRUARY 9, 2011
An act to amend Section 10115 of the Public Contract
Code, relating to public contracts. An act to add
Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 999.30) to Chapter 6 of Division
4 of the Military and Veterans Code, rela ting to public
contracts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 297, as amended, Galgiani. Public contracts:
participation goals. veterans preference.
Existing law requires state departments that award specified types
of contracts to establish a 3% participation goal for certified
disabled veteran business enterprises, as defined. Existing law makes
it a crime to, among other things, willfully make false statements
or to fraudulently obtain certification as a disabled veteran
business enterprise, as specified.
This bill would allow a bid preference, as provided, to a bidder
of a public works contract if that bidder utilizes the Center for
Military Recruitment, Assessment, and Veterans Employment's Helmets
to Hardhats program, as specified. This bill would require that the
bidder and each listed subcontractor submit a certified statement, as
specified, and would impose a civil penalty, as provided, for
knowingly providing false information in that statement. This bill
would also make various legislative findings and declarations.
Existing law sets forth the policy of the state to aid the
interests of specified business enterprises and establishes statewide
participation goals with respect to state-awarded contracts for
business enterprises meeting certain criteria.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to those
provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all
of the following:
(a) There are a tremendous number of returning veterans who have
served the United States honorably in the different branches of the
United States military.
(b) Facilitating the reentry of these returning veterans into the
private sector job market makes economic sense for these veterans,
their families, and for the economy of California as a whole.
(c) Many of these returning veterans have procured skills that
translate very well into the varied trades and crafts of the
construction industry.
(d) The Building and Construction Trades Department in Washington,
D.C. runs a program called Helmets to Hardhats, whose sole purpose
is to help returning veterans who are interested in careers in the
construction industry with the transition from solider to private
sector employee.
(e) The Helmets to Hardhats program has been recognized by
employers as an excellent resource for returning veterans to enter
the private sector job market as construction workers.
(f) Employers and unions throughout the United States have agreed
to utilize the Helmets to Hardhats program, and have agreed to
coordinate with the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment, and
Veterans Employment to create and maintain an integrated veterans
database of veterans interested in working in the construction
industry.
SEC. 2. Article 6.5 (commencing with Section
999.30) is added to Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the
Military and Veterans Code , to read:
Article 6.5. Helmets to Hardhats
999.30. For purposes of this article, "Helmets to Hardhats" means
the Center for Military Recruitment, Assessment, and Veterans
Employment program funded out of the grant program administered by
the Department of Defense and initiated in the 2003 Department of
Defense Appropriations Act (Public Law 107-248).
999.31. (a) When a state agency awards a public works contract to
the lowest bidder or lowest responsible bidder, the state agency
shall provide a 5-percent bid preference to a bidder that utilizes
Helmets to Hardhats, which assists veterans with entry into the
construction industry by providing preliminary orientation, assessing
construction aptitude for referral to apprenticeship programs and
hiring halls, and offering counseling, mentoring, and employment
opportunities, pursuant to Section 999.32.
(b) A bidder shall be entitled to claim the bid preference only if
the bidder and each listed subcontractor qualifies for the bid
preference.
(c) The preference shall be calculated by reducing the bid by 5
percent of the bid of the lowest responsible bidder, for purposes of
comparing the bid with competing bids.
999.32. A bidder or subcontractor qualifies for the bid
preference under this article only if, during the 12-month period
immediately preceding submission of the bid, the bidder or
subcontractor utilized Helmets to Hardhats.
999.33. A bidder or subcontractor receiving a bid preference
under this article shall utilize Helmets to Hardhats for not less
than one year following acceptance of the bid.
999.34. A bidder shall claim the bid preference under this
article by submitting a separate statement certifying that the bidder
qualifies for the bid preference, and by submitting a separate
statement from each listed subcontractor certifying that the
subcontractor qualifies for the bid preference.
999.35. (a) A person or entity that knowingly provides false
information in the certification required by this article shall be
subject to a civil penalty for each violation in the minimum amount
of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) and the maximum amount
of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000).
(b) An action for a civil penalty under this section may be
brought by any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the
State of California.
999.36. (a) If the winning bidder has claimed a bid preference
under this article, then, at the request of the state agency, the
bidder and each listed subcontractor shall supply to the state agency
records sufficient to show that the bidder is entitled to the
preference. The failure to supply the records within a reasonable
time shall result in denial of the bid preference.
(b) If the winning bidder is denied the bid preference because of
the failure of a listed subcontractor to establish entitlement to the
bid preference, the winning bidder shall be granted 14 days to
substitute a new subcontractor that is entitled to the bid
preference, and the original subcontractor shall be liable to the
winning bidder for any reasonable increase in the cost of a new
subcontract.
SECTION 1. Section 10115 of the Public Contract
Code is amended to read:
10115. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) 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. The
preservation and expansion of that competition is basic to the
economic well-being of this state and that well-being cannot be
realized unless the actual and potential capacity of minority, women,
and disabled veteran business enterprises is encouraged and
developed. Therefore, it is the declared policy of the state to aid
the interests of minority, women, and disabled veteran business
enterprises in order to preserve reasonable and just prices and a
free competitive enterprise, ensure that a fair proportion of the
total number of contracts or subcontracts for commodities, supplies,
technology, property, and services are awarded to minority, women,
and disabled veteran business enterprises, and maintain and
strengthen the overall economy of the state.
(2) The opportunity for full participation in our free enterprise
system by minority, women, 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.
(3) State agencies which have established short- and long-range
minority, women, and disabled veteran participation goals are
awarding 23 percent or more of their contracts to these business
enterprises.
(4) It is in the state's interest to expeditiously improve the
economically disadvantaged position of minority, women, and disabled
veteran business enterprises.
(5) The economic position of these businesses can be improved by
providing long-range substantial goals for procurement by state
agencies of commodities, professional services, and construction work
from minority, women, and disabled veteran businesses.
(6) Procurement by state agencies of goods and services from these
businesses also benefits state agencies and the citizens of the
state by encouraging the expansion of the number of vendors for
procurements, thereby encouraging competition among the vendors and
promoting economic efficiency in the process.
(b) It is the purpose of this article to do all of the following:
(1) Encourage greater economic opportunity for minority, women,
and disabled veteran business enterprises.
(2) Promote competition among state agencies in order to enhance
long-term economic efficiency in the procurement of construction,
commodities, and professional services contracts.
(3) Clarify and expand the program for the procurement by state
agencies of commodities, professional services, and construction work
from minority, women, and disabled veteran business enterprises.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, contracts awarded
by any state agency, department, officer, or other state governmental
entity for construction, professional services (except those subject
to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 16850) of Part 3 of Division 4
of Title 2 of the Government Code), materials, supplies, equipment,
alteration, repair, or improvement shall have statewide participation
goals of not less than 15 percent for minority business enterprises,
not less than 5 percent for women business enterprises and 3 percent
for disabled veteran business enterprises. These goals apply to the
overall dollar amount expended each year by the awarding department,
as defined by Section 10115.1, pursuant to this article.