BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 946
Page 1
Date of Hearing: September 8, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 946 (Bonnie Lowenthal) - As Amended: August 31, 2011
SUBJECT : Public contracts: Los Angeles County: regional
interoperable communications system.
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable
Communications System Authority (LA-RICS), a joint powers
agency, to procure a regional interoperable communications
system by utilizing a solicitation process to award a contract
for the design and build out of a regional interoperable
communications system and related infrastructure.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
1)Authorize the County of Los Angeles or the LA-RICS to solicit
proposals and enter into agreements with private entities for
the delivery of a regional interoperable communications system
and all related infrastructure to be used by public safety
agencies and emergency responders located in the County of Los
Angeles, including, but not limited to the :
a) Studying, planning, design, developing, and financing of
the system, the delivery and installation of equipment;
b) Architectural and engineering design of the improvements
to real property;
c) Construction of the improvements to real property; and,
d) Maintenance, rebuilding, repair, or operation, or any
combination thereof, of the regional interoperable
communications system.
2)Require the solicitation process to ensure that the contractor
is selected in compliance with the "procurement by competitive
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proposals" process specified in applicable federal regulations
governing federal grants and cooperative agreements to state
and local governments.
3)Find and declare that a special law is necessary because of
the unique requirements for a regional interoperable
communications system in the County of Los Angeles.
4)State that an urgency statute is necessary in order to allow
the County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Regional
Interoperable Communication System Authority to contract for a
regional interoperable communications system as soon as
possible.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the governmental agency soliciting proposals and
entering into agreements with private entities for the
studying, planning, design, developing, financing,
construction, maintenance, rebuilding, improvement, repair, or
operation, or any combination thereof, by private entities for
fee-producing infrastructure projects to ensure that the
contractor is selected pursuant to a competitive negotiation
process.
2)Requires the competitive negotiation process to utilize, as
the primary selection criteria, the demonstrated competence
and qualifications for the studying, planning, design,
developing, financing, construction, maintenance, rebuilding,
improvement, repair, or operation, or any combination thereof,
of the facility.
3)Requires the selection criteria to also ensure that the
facility be operated at fair and reasonable prices to the user
of the infrastructure facility services.
4)Specifies that powers which may be exercised by a joint powers
agency (JPA) can be no greater than the powers shared by each
of the agency's constituent members.
5)Provided that for a JPA it shall not be necessary that any
power common to the contracting parties be exercisable by each
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such contracting party with respect to the geographical area
in which such power is to be jointly exercised.
6)Provides for a state strategic plan for establishing a
statewide integrated, interoperable public safety
communications network.
7)Governs, through the State Contract Act, contract practices
between state departments and private contractors.
8)Establishes, under the Local Agency Public Construction Act,
the procedures local agencies are required to use when
soliciting and evaluating bids or proposals for the
construction of a public work or improvement.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill consolidated into Revenue
and Taxation Code
Section 279 reference to the effective dates for eligibility of
the disabled veterans' exemption for specified situations.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)In 2009, the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications
System Authority was established as a joint powers authority
specifically to create the Los Angeles Regional Tactical
Communications Subsystem - a network that would unite the
region's 34,000 first responders through voice and data
communications.
2)The need for emergency communications interoperability is
especially great in the Los Angeles region with over 50 law
enforcement agencies and 31 fire departments serving a 4,084
square mile region and 10 million County residents. After
several years of work and a contract that was about to be
awarded to the technology company Raytheon, the LA-RICS
Authority was advised by counsel of several issues that would
require canceling its existing procurement process and
beginning a new one. County counsel recently raised concerns
that the nearly completed contract violated state rules on how
contracts for publicly funded projects must be structured and
awarded. In light of this, negotiations with Raytheon were
suspended. It was found that not all of the entities
comprising the LA-RICS JPA have the statutory authority to
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enter into a contract using a solicitation process, yet the
project had been procured through one, all-encompassing
solicitation meant to lead to a single contract. AB 946 would
authorize the JPA to proceed with the solicitation process on
this project without running afoul of state contracting laws
and the limitations set forth in the Joint Exercise of Powers
Act.
3)Under existing infrastructure financing laws, governmental
agencies, including counties, cities, school districts, public
districts, and joint powers authorities, are authorized to
solicit proposals and enter into contracts for the design,
financing, construction, maintenance, operation, or any
combination thereof, for fee-producing infrastructure
projects. AB 946 would allow the use of a similar
solicitation process for the LA-RICS project.
4)According to the sponsor, the County of Los Angeles, the need
for urgency legislation is due in large measure to hundreds of
millions of dollars in Federal grant funding that has already
been allocated for the LA-RICS Authority project. To date,
over $270.0 million in Federal grants have been budgeted for
the project that are subject to time limits. Last year, the
U.S. Department of Commerce awarded the Authority a Broadband
Technology Opportunities Program grant of $154.6 million to
cover the infrastructure costs in deploying a broadband public
safety network for the project which alone is estimated to
generate 2,181 jobs, including jobs produced indirectly from
the project. In addition, the project would create a large,
new market for public safety broadband software applications,
which could result in substantial innovation and additional
jobs that have not been quantified.
5)Support arguments: According to the County of Los Angeles,
this urgency legislation is needed because over $270 million
in federal grant funding allocated for the LA-RICS Authority
project must be utilized within a specified time.
Opposition arguments: Opposition could argue that traditional
procurement processes that all members of the JPA share should
be used instead of creating a separate procurement process
just for LA-RICS.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 946
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Support
County of Los Angeles �SPONSOR]
California Contract Cities Association
California Police Chiefs Association, Inc.
California State Firefighters' Association
Cities of Bell Gardens, Cerritos, Culver City, Gardena, Long
Beach, Torrance and Whittier
Los Angeles County District Attorney, Steve Cooley
Los Angeles County Sheriff, Leroy Baca
Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System
Authority
Los Angeles Unified School District
Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, City of Los Angeles
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958