BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 587|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 587
Author: Gordon (D), et al
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL REL. COMMITTEE : 6-0, 6/8/11
AYES: Lieu, Wyland, DeSaulnier, Leno, Runner, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 5/2/11 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public works: volunteers
SOURCE : California Council of Land Trusts
DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset on the exemption
for volunteers on public works project out five years, from
January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2017, and also makes findings
and declarations on the intent of the Legislature to not
undermine the wage base of a community, as well as several
non-substantive amendments.
ANALYSIS : Existing law public works as any construction,
alteration, demolition, installation or repair work done
under contract and paid for in whole or in part from public
funds. This includes work performed during the design and
pre-construction phase, including, but not limited to,
inspection and land surveying.
Existing law:
CONTINUED
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1. Requires with certain exceptions, contracted public
works projects to be submitted for bids by the public
entity requesting the work, and that the contract is
awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. The awarding
body is required to ensure that the winning contractor
is appropriately licensed with the Contractors' State
Licensing Board, and has not been in barred from bidding
on, accepting, or performing public contracts.
2. Requires all employees who work on public works projects
with a budget of $1,000 or more to be paid the general
prevailing rate of per diem wages and the general
prevailing rate for holiday and overtime work for the
specific location where the public work is to be
performed. This prevailing wage is determined by the
Department of Industrial Relations.
3. Exempts from public work requirements any project where
the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) contracts with
public agencies, Indian tribes, or nonprofit
organizations for fish and wildlife habitat
preservation, restoration, and enhancement. Existing
law also allows the DFG to contract with public and
private entities for fish and wildlife habitat
preservation, restoration, and enhancement, but these
contracts are only exempt from public work requirements
if they are less than $50,000.
4. Exempts any work performed by volunteers from the public
works requirements, but the exemption allowing
volunteers on public works projects is set to expire on
January 1, 2012.
5. Under existing law, volunteers are defined as:
Individuals who perform works for civic,
charitable, or humanitarian reasons for a public
agency or tax-exempt organization, such as a
501(c)(3), without any compensation.
Volunteer coordinators.
Members of the California Conservation Corps or the
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Community Conservation Corps are also exempt.
6. Excludes from the definition of a volunteer:
Anyone who works on the public works project for
compensation.
Anyone who received payment from the contractor on
the public works project for construction, alteration,
demolition, installation, repair, or maintenance work
on the same project.
This bill extends the sunset on the exemption for
volunteers on public works project out five years, from
January 1, 2012 to January 1, 2017.
This bill also makes findings and declarations on the
intent of the Legislature to not undermine the wage base of
a community, as well as several non-substantive amendments.
Comments
In 2004, AB 2690 (Hancock), Chapter 330, Statutes of 2004,
creates an exemption for volunteers from public works
requirements, but also included the sunset of January 1,
2009. This bill came about from a 2003 Department of
Industrial Relations (DIR) decision, which found that a
stream restoration project using student volunteers should
have paid prevailing wages and assessed back wages and
civil penalties.
At the time, the proponents argued that a public works
exemption for volunteers was needed due to the "importance
of volunteers in building community support for local
projects", many of which included environmental projects
such as stream restoration, beach clean-up, wetlands
restoration, and trail building. In 2008, this sunset was
extended until January 1, 2012 by AB 2537 (Furutani),
Statutes of 2008, Chapter 678.
The proponents of this bill argue that this exemption has
proven successful, and therefore it is important to extend
this exemption for additional five-years to allow
volunteers to continue to participate in preservation
activities on public lands, including removing invasive
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species, river and beach clean-ups, and maintaining walking
trails.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/9/11)
California Council of Land Trusts (source)
Amargosa Conservancy
American Land Conservancy
American River Conservancy
Amigos de los Rios
Association of CA Water Agencies
Audubon California
Bay Area Open Space Council
Bay Area Ridge Trail Council
Big Sur Land Trust
Bolsa Chica Land Trust
California Association of Local Conservation Corps
California Association of School Business Officials
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California Park and Recreation Society
California ReLeaf
California State Parks Foundation
California Urban Forests Council
California Watershed Network
Canopy
Catalina Conservancy
Catalina Island Conservancy
Cities of Citrus Heights, Fresno, San Diego, Signal Hill,
Tulare, and Visalia
Eastern Sierra Land Trust
Fallbrook Land Conservancy
Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Goleta Valley Beautiful
Green LA Coalition
Hammond Law Office
Hollywood/LA Beautification Team
Huntington Beach Tree Society
Infineon Raceway
Keep Eureka Beautiful
Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation
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Lake County Land Trust
Land Conservancy of SLO County
Land Trust for Santa Barbara County
Land Trust of Napa County
Land Trust of Santa Cruz County
Lassen Land and Trails Trust
League of California Cities
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust
Marin Agricultural Land Trust
Marin Employment Connection
Marin Municipal Water District
Mendocino Land Trust
Northern California Carpenters Regional Council
Northcoast Regional Land Trust
Ojai Valley Land Conservancy
Our City Forest
Pacific Forest Trust
Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy
Placer Land Trust
Redwood Coast Land Conservancy
Roseville Urban Forest Foundation
Rural Council of Rural Counties
Sacramento County
Sacramento Tree Foundation
Sacramento Valley Conservancy
San Joaquin River Parkway & Trust
San Jose Conservation Corps
Santa Barbara County ReLeaf
Save Mount Diablo
Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Solano Land Trust
Sonoma Land Trust
Southern CA Open Space Council
Southern California Open Space Council
The Nature Conservancy
Transition Habitat Conservancy
Tree Fresno
Tree Musketeers
TreePeople
Trust for Public Land
Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners
Union of Concerned Scientists
Urban Corps- San Diego County
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Wildlife Heritage Foundation
Woodland Tree Foundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Proponents argue that during these
difficult fiscal times, local government need to be able to
call upon volunteers to complete important projects and
maintain local park infrastructure. Proponents also note
that hundreds of restoration projects are taken up by local
governments in partnership with non-profits and local
business, and that project managers work hard to ensure
that there is a clear delineation between tasks for
volunteers and tasks for paid employees and contractors.
Proponents also note that there have been no reported labor
law violations on environmental and restoration projects
since the public works exemption was put in law in 2004.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall,
Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Miller, Mitchell, Monning,
Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Gorell, Mendoza,
Vacancy
PQ:do 6/9/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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