BILL NUMBER: AB 2508 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 25, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 19, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bonilla
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Beall)
( Coauthor: Senator Rubio
)
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to add Chapter 3.7 (commencing with Section 12140) to Part
2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, relating to public
contracts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2508, as amended, Bonilla. Public contracts: public health
agencies.
Existing law requires a state agency to comply with specified
procedures in awarding agency contracts.
This bill would prohibit, with specified exceptions, a state
agency authorized to enter into contracts relating to public benefit
programs from contracting for services provided by a call center that
directly serves applicants for, recipients of, or enrollees in
, those public benefit programs with a contractor or
subcontractor unless that contractor or subcontractor certifies in
its bid for the contract that the contract, and any subcontract
performed under that contract, will be performed solely with workers
employed in California. This bill would impose a civil penalty, as
provided, for knowingly providing false information in that
certification. This bill would specify that the Governor may
waive these requirements during a declared emergency. This
bill would also require the contract to include a clause
providing for termination a right by
the state to terminate the contract for noncompliance and
specified penalties, if the contractor or subcontractor performs the
contract or the subcontract with workers not employed in California
during the life of the contract. This bill would allow a state
agency to conduct a solicitation without applying the provisions
described above if the California Health and Human Services Agency or
the board of the California Health Benefit Exchange makes certain
determinations, including if a prior solicitation was conducted and
the bids received were priced unreasonably high as a
result of including these provisions.
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. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) The federal and state economies are recovering from the great
recession and California still has a high unemployment rate. Millions
of Californians are not working or are working less than they want
and need full-time employment. California continues to allow state
public benefit call center contracts to be awarded to contractors
that perform the work outside the United States.
(b) By contracting and subcontracting outside of the country, jobs
are displaced in the United States and in California, and taxpayer
dollars are used to create jobs in foreign countries. State tax
revenues should be used to create jobs in the United States and in
California, especially when the taxpayer dollars are designated for
programs meant to create jobs and address problems associated with
joblessness.
SEC. 2. Chapter 3.7 (commencing with Section 12140) is added to
Part 2 of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.7. PROHIBITION OF THE OFFSHORING OF STATE PUBLIC
BENEFITS CONTRACTS
12140. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, any state agency
authorized to enter into contracts relating to public benefit
programs shall only contract for services provided by a call center
that directly serves applicants for, recipients of, or enrollees in
, those public benefit programs with a contractor that
certifies in its bid for the contract that the services provided
under the contract and any subcontract performed under that contract,
to applicants for, recipients of, or enrollees in, those public
benefit programs, will be performed solely with workers employed in
California. Any contractor that knowingly provides false information
in the certification required by this subdivision shall be subject to
a civil penalty in an amount of up to ten thousand dollars
($10,000), in addition to any other remedies available to the state
agency. An action for a civil penalty under this subdivision may be
brought by any public prosecutor in the name of the people of the
State of California.
(b) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Call center" means a building, facility, or operation where
customer or client services or assistance is provided by telephone,
fax, e-mail, text, or Web-based interaction.
(2) "Public benefit programs" means California Work Opportunity
and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs), CalFresh, Medi-Cal, Healthy
Families, and the California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment, and
Retention System.
(c) (1) The contract shall provide that in the event a contractor
or subcontractor performs the contract or the subcontract for call
center services with workers not employed in California during the
life of the contract, the state has the right to terminate
the contract shall be terminated for
noncompliance and the contractor or subcontractor shall pay a penalty
to the state agency in an amount equal to the amount paid by the
state agency for the percentage of work that was performed with
workers not employed in California.
(2) The penalty authorized in paragraph (1) shall be in addition
to any other applicable penalty, including, but not limited to, the
penalty provided in subdivision (a).
(d) The requirements of subdivision (a) shall not apply if the
Governor waives those requirements pursuant to Section 8571 of the
Government Code.
(d) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a state agency may
conduct a solicitation without applying this section if the
California Health and Human Services Agency or the board of the
California Health Benefit Exchange makes any of the following
determinations:
(A) A prior solicitation was conducted and the bids received were
priced unreasonably high as a result of including these provisions.
(B) A prior solicitation was conducted and fewer than two bids
were received as a result of including these provisions.
(C) The services are needed in cases of emergency where immediate
acquisition is necessary for the protection of the public health,
welfare or safety.
(2) If the agency or board makes a determination described in
paragraph (1), that entity shall submit a report to the Assembly
Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy and to the
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations on or before the
last day of the quarter following the quarter in which the
determination was made. The report shall include the reason for
making the determination.
(e) This section shall not apply to the following:
(1) A contract, if the refusal to award that contract, on the
basis that the contractor or subcontractor does not certify that the
contract and any subcontract performed under that contract will be
performed solely with workers employed in California, would
(1) A contract or subcontract, if
implementation would violate the specific terms of the
Agreement on Government Procurement of the World Trade Organization
or any other bilateral or regional free trade agreement to which the
State of California has consented.
(2) A contract or subcontract, currently in place, if the
application of this section would result in a violation of the terms
of the contract, but upon expiration of that contract, these
provisions shall be added before a new contract can be executed or
the contract renewed.
(2) A contract or subcontract, including extensions of that
contract or subcontract, that results from a request for proposal or
bid that occurred prior to the effective date of the act that adds
this chapter.
(3) A contract for a public benefit program between a state agency
and a health care service plan or a specialized health care service
plan regulated by the Department of Managed Health Care, and any
subcontract performed under that contract, or a disability insurer or
specialized health insurer regulated by the Department of Insurance,
and any subcontract performed under that contract.
(f) This section shall be construed so as to not conflict with,
and be applied consistent with, federal law.