BILL NUMBER: AB 1783	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Perea

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2012

   An act to amend Section 14839.1 of  , and to add Section
14839.2 to,  the Government Code, and to amend Section 2002
of the Public Contract Code, relating to public contracts.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1783, as amended, Perea. Public contracts: small business
preferences.
   Existing law requires state agencies to give small businesses a 5%
preference in contracts for construction, the procurement of goods,
or the delivery of  services and   services,
 establishes a procedure by which a business can be certified as
a small business by the Department of General Services for the
purposes of these preferences  , and specifies that a business
that has been certified by, or on behalf of, another governmental
entity may be eligible for certification as a small business if the
certifying entity uses substantially the same or more stringent
definitions as those set forth in existing law, as provided  .
   This bill would  provide that a small business shall be
certified as a small business, for purposes of those preferences,
without the submission of supporting documentation and would require
the certified small business to produce that documentation upon
request of the Department of General Services or the awarding state
agency   revise the small business certification
procedure to provide that the Department of General Services has the
sole responsibility for certifying and determining eligibility of
small businesses and would provide that local agencies have access to
the department's list of certified small businesses  .
   Existing law also authorizes a local agency to provide for a small
business preference in construction, the procurement of goods, or
the delivery of services, and to establish a subcontracting
participation goal for small businesses on contracts with a
preference for those bidders who meet the goal. Existing law
authorizes each local agency to define a small business for the
purposes of these preferences and goals.
   This bill would  require the local agency to 
include a certified small business, certified at the state level, as
a small business for local preference and goal purposes  and
would authorize a local agency to set additional  
guidelines for local preference  purposes.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 14839.1 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   14839.1.  (a)  Except as provided in subdivision (b), the
  The  department shall have sole responsibility
for certifying and determining the eligibility of small businesses
and microbusinesses under this chapter. 
   (b) Local agencies shall have access to the department's list of
certified small businesses on the department's Internet Web site,
which is available to the public, for use as a reference guide to
confirm a small business certification.  
   (b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a business that has been
certified by, or on behalf of, another governmental entity may be
eligible for certification as a small business if the certifying
entity uses substantially the same or more stringent definitions as
those set forth in Section 14837 and substantially the same or a more
stringent certification analysis than that used by the department
pursuant to this chapter.  
   (c) Notwithstanding any other provision, a small business shall be
certified by the department as a certified small business upon
application to the department and shall not be required to submit the
supporting documentation at that time. The certified small business,
upon request of the department, shall provide the eligibility
documentation to the department for the purposes of this article.
 
  SEC. 2.    Section 14839.2 is added to the
Government Code, to read:
   14839.2.  (a) A certified small business that is bidding on, or
has been awarded, a state agency contract shall, upon the request of
the awarding state agency, provide the documentation supporting its
eligibility as a certified small business.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "awarding state agency" means a
state agency or other state governmental agency that awarded the
contract, if it was not awarded by the department. 
   SEC. 3.   SEC. 2.   Section 2002 of the
Public Contract Code is amended to read:
   2002.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law requiring a
local agency to award contracts to the lowest responsible bidder, any
local agency may do any of the following in facilitating contract
awards to small businesses:
   (1) Provide for a small business preference in construction, the
procurement of goods, or the delivery of services where
responsibility and quality are equal. The preference to a small
business shall be up to 5 percent of the lowest responsible bidder
meeting specifications.
   (2) Establish a subcontracting participation goal for small
businesses on contracts and grant a preference, up to a maximum of 5
percent, to those bidders who meet the goal.
   (3) Require bidders to make good faith efforts to meet a
subcontracting participation goal for small business contracts.
Bidders that fail to meet the goal shall demonstrate that they made
good faith efforts to utilize small business contractors. 
   (4) Set additional guidelines for local preference purposes. 

   (b) The term "small business," as used in this section, shall be
defined by each local agency.
   (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), "small business" shall
include a small business enterprise certified pursuant to Article 1
(commencing with Section 14835) of Chapter 6.5 of Part 5.5 of
Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.