BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair


          AB 976 (Hall) - Public contracts: consulting services: community 
          choice aggregators.
          
          Amended: June 25, 2012          Policy Vote: EU&C 8-1
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: Yes
          Hearing Date: July 2, 2012      Consultant: Marie Liu
          
          This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the 
          Suspense File.
          
          
          Bill Summary: AB 976 would prohibit any person or firm that 
          contacted with a public entity on the feasibility of creating a 
          community choice aggregator (CCA) from subsequently bidding or 
          being awarded a contract for any work required or suggested in 
          that feasibility study. 

          Fiscal Impact: Minor costs to local entities for extra review of 
          contract bids. 

          Background: CCAs are governmental entities formed by cities and 
          counties to purchase power electricity on behalf of their local 
          residents and businesses. To date, only one CCA has been formed 
          among only several Marin County cities in a joint powers 
          authority, named the "Marin Energy Authority." 

          "Consulting services contracts," as defined in existing law, 
          provide advisory services and a recommended course of action to 
          a state agency. A person or firm which has been awarded a 
          consulting service contract is prohibited from also bidding or 
          being awarded a contract for services for which it recommended 
          (Public Contract Code �� 10365.5 and 10515). There are no 
          similar restrictions for non-state agencies, including CCAs.
          
          Proposed Law: This bill would prohibit any person or firm that 
          contracted with a public entity on the feasibility of creating a 
          community choice aggregator (CCA) from subsequently bidding or 
          being awarded a contract for any work, including the procurement 
          of electric supply and renewable energy credits that it 
          recommended in the feasibility study.

          Staff Comments: This bill constitutes a state-mandated local 








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          program as it creates requirements on a public entity. 
          Presumably a public entity could apply for a test case to the 
          Commission on State Mandates to recover the costs of reviewing 
          contract bids for violations of the requirements of this bill. 
          Staff finds that reimbursement, if granted, is likely to be 
          negligible as the minimal extra review would be needed by this 
          bill.

          Recommended Amendments: This bill adds language in the 
          Government Code in an area dealing with conflicts of interest 
          for public servants. Staff believes these provisions are more 
          appropriately located in the Public Utilities Code near sections 
          dealing with CCAs, perhaps creating a new Section 366.3.