BILL NUMBER: AB 2426 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Galgiani
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 211 of the Military and Veterans
Code, relating to the National Guard. An act to add
Article 6.5 (commencing with Section 999.30) to Chapter 6 of Division
4 of the Military and Veterans Code, relating to public contracts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2426, as amended, Galgiani. National Guard:
reorganization. Public contracts: 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 Helmets to
Hardhats program administered by the Center for Military Recruitment,
Assessment, and Veterans Employment, 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 provides that the Governor may alter, divide, annex,
consolidate, disband, reorganize, or create any organization,
department, or corps when required by law or whenever, in the
Governor's judgment, efficiency of the State forces would increase.
This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical 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 soldier 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 211 of the Military and
Veterans Code is amended to read:
211. The Governor may alter, divide, annex, consolidate, disband,
or reorganize any organization, department, or corps and create new
organizations, departments, or corps when required by the provisions
of this division or whenever, in his or her judgment, the efficiency
of the state forces will be thereby increased.
The Governor may also change the organization of any organization,
department, or corps so as to conform to any system of drill or
instruction prescribed by the laws of the United States for the
National Guard and for that purpose the number of the officers and
noncommissioned officers of any grade may be increased or diminished
and the grades of these officers and noncommissioned officers may be
altered to the extent necessary to secure this conformity.