BILL NUMBER: SB 734 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 31, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 26, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 25, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 14, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Price
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Galgiani)
( Coauthor: Senator Alquist
)
FEBRUARY 18, 2011
An act to amend Section 185033 of, and to add Section
185034.1 of to, the Public Utilities
Code, relating to small business.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 734, as amended, Price. High-Speed Rail Authority: small
business program: bidding preferences.
Existing law provides for various programs to encourage the
participation of small businesses, as certified by the Department of
General Services, in state agency contracts, and sets forth the
duties of the Director of General Services and the directors of other
state agencies in this regard.
Existing law, the California High-Speed Rail Act, creates the
High-Speed Rail Authority to develop and implement a high-speed rail
system in the state, with specified powers and duties. Existing law,
pursuant to the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act
for the 21st Century, approved by the voters as Proposition 1A at the
November 4, 2008, general election, provides for the issuance of
$9.95 billion in general obligation bonds for high-speed rail and
related purposes.
This bill would require the authority, with the assistance of the
Department of General Services, to prepare a small business,
microbusiness, and disabled veteran business outreach and retention
plan by July 31, 2012, in order to ensure that the percentage of
contracts awarded meets the small business participation goals
established by Executive Order S-02-06.
The bill would require the authority to form a small business
advisory committee of at least 9 members at the time the authority
initiates the preparation of the plan. The
This bill would require the authority to hold a hearing
on the draft plan at least one month before the board meeting at
which the authority intends to act on the proposed plan. The bill
would require that all bidders' conferences convened by the authority
include a presentation of the plan and the state's small business
participation goals. The bill would require an additional price
preference or score of 2.5% of the bid amount to be granted to
qualified state-certified microbusinesses.
The bill would state that the authority shall be subject to the
provisions of the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act.
Existing law requires the authority to prepare, publish, adopt,
and submit to the Legislature a business plan containing specified
elements beginning January 1, 2012, and every 2 years thereafter.
This bill would require the authority to include in that business
plan or in an addendum a strategy for ensuring the participation of
California-certified small businesses in contracts awarded by the
authority with state or federal funds during all phases of the
project.
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 all of the
following:
(a) In order to keep faith with the promise to promote California
jobs following the passage of the Safe, Reliable ,
High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, the state
should aid, counsel, assist, and protect, to the maximum extent
possible, the interests of small businesses, including
microbusinesses.
(b) California's microbusinesses are known to bring real diversity
to local economies and the state and deserve a fair share of
contracts awarded for the high-speed rail project. Although
microbusinesses comprise over 80 percent of California's certified
small businesses, and while it was the state's intent to afford
microbusinesses the same opportunities as other small businesses in
competing for state contracts, many microbusiness owners are
disadvantaged when competing against their larger small business
counterparts. Data compiled by the Department of General Services
shows that of the $2.4 billion of contract dollars issued by state
agencies to small businesses and microbusinesses in fiscal year
2008-09, microbusinesses were awarded only 37 percent, or $866
million worth of state contracting. Moreover, of the 103,371
contracts issued during the same timeframe, microbusinesses received
only 42,140, or 41 percent of the contracts issued by the state.
(c) It is beneficial to the state to promote and facilitate the
fullest possible participation by California workers to train for new
jobs and careers in today's global economy.
(d) Therefore, it is essential to ensure that a fair proportion of
the total purchases and contracts or subcontracts for property and
services for California's high-speed rail system be placed with these
microbusinesses.
SEC. 2. Section 185033 of the Public
Utilities Code is amended to read:
185033. (a) The authority shall prepare, publish, adopt, and
submit to the Legislature, not later than January 1, 2012, and every
two years thereafter, a business plan. At least 60 days prior to the
publication of the plan, the authority shall publish a draft business
plan for public review and comment. The draft plan shall also be
submitted to the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing, the
Assembly Committee on Transportation, the Senate Committee on Budget
and Fiscal Review, and the Assembly Committee on Budget. The business
plan shall identify all of the following: the type of service the
authority anticipates it will develop, such as local, express,
commuter, regional, or interregional; a description of the primary
benefits the system will provide; a forecast of the anticipated
patronage, operating and maintenance costs, and capital costs for the
system; an estimate and description of the total anticipated
federal, state, local, and other funds the authority intends to
access to fund the construction and operation of the system; and the
proposed chronology for the construction of the eligible corridors of
the statewide high-speed train system. The business plan shall also
include a discussion of all reasonably foreseeable risks the project
may encounter, including, but not limited to, risks associated with
the project's finances, patronage, right-of-way acquisition,
environmental clearances, construction, equipment, and technology,
and other risks associated with the project's development. The plan
shall describe the authority's strategies, processes, or other
actions it intends to utilize to manage those risks.
(b) (1) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (a), the
business plan shall include, but need not be limited to, all of the
following elements:
(A) Using the most recent patronage forecast for the system,
develop a forecast of the expected patronage and service levels for
the Phase 1 corridor as identified in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(b) of Section 2704.04 of the Streets and Highways Code and by each
segment or combination of segments for which a project level
environmental analysis is being prepared for Phase 1. The forecast
shall assume a high, medium, and low level of patronage and a
realistic operating planning scenario for each level of service.
Alternative fare structures shall be considered when determining the
level of patronage.
(B) Based on the patronage forecast in subparagraph (A), develop
alternative financial pro formas for the different levels of service,
and identify the operating break-even points for each alternative.
Each pro forma shall assume the terms of subparagraph (J) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 2704.08 of the Streets
and Highways Code.
(C) Identify the expected schedule for completing environmental
review, and initiating and completing construction for each segment
of Phase 1.
(D) Identify the source of federal, state, and local funds
available for the project that will augment funds from the bond act
and the level of confidence for obtaining each type of funding.
(E) Identify written agreements with public or private entities to
fund components of the high-speed rail system, including stations
and terminals, any impediments to the completion of the system, such
as the inability to gain access to existing railroad rights-of-way.
(F) Identify alternative public-private development strategies for
the implementation of Phase 1.
(2) To the extent feasible, the business plan should draw upon
information and material developed according to other requirements,
including, but not limited to, the preappropriation review process
and the preexpenditure review process in the Safe, Reliable
High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century pursuant to
Section 2704.08 of the Streets and Highways Code. The authority shall
hold at least one public hearing on the business plan and shall
adopt the plan at a regularly scheduled meeting. When adopting the
plan, the authority shall take into consideration comments from the
public hearing and written comments that it receives in that regard,
and any hearings that the Legislature may hold prior to adoption of
the plan.
(c) In the business plan to be submitted on January 1, 2012, or as
an addendum to that plan to be submitted on March 1, 2012, the
authority shall include a strategy for ensuring the participation of
California-certified small businesses in contracts awarded by the
authority with state or federal funds during all phases of the
project.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 185034.1 is
added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:
185034.1. (a) The High-Speed Rail Authority, with the assistance
of the Department of General Services, shall prepare a small
business, microbusiness, and disabled veteran business enterprise
outreach and retention plan in order to ensure that the percentage of
contracts awarded for architectural, engineering, manufacturing, and
construction activities meets the small business participation goal
established by Executive Order S-02-06. In developing the plan, the
authority shall consider examples of existing small business programs
used by other public agencies in California.
(b) When preparing the plan, the authority shall be guided by the
provisions of the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act
(Chapter 6.5 (commencing with Section 14835) of Part 5.5 of Division
3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(c) At the time the authority initiates the preparation of the
plan, it shall form a small business advisory committee of at least
nine members, the majority of whom shall be selected from the small
business categories identified in subdivision (h). The initiation of
the planning process shall be by action of the authority.
(d)
(c) The plan required by this section shall be adopted
by July 31, 2012. Prior to the adoption of the plan, the authority
shall hold a hearing on the draft plan at a monthly board meeting
held at least one month before the board meeting at which the
authority intends to act on the proposed plan. Both the draft plan
and the adopted plan shall be posted on the homepage of the authority'
s Internet Web site. The authority shall include in all its
procurement documents a summary of the plan and a link to the entire
plan on its Internet Web site and shall implement the outreach
strategy.
(e)
(d) All bidders' conferences convened by the authority
shall include a presentation of the plan and the state's small
business participation goals. The authority shall request a
representative of the Department of General Services to attend all
bidders' conferences and to answer all questions regarding the Small
Business Procurement and Contract Act.
(f)
(e) The authority shall be subject to the provisions of
the Small Business Procurement and Contract Act (Chapter 6.5
(commencing with Section 14835) of Part 5.5 of Division 3 of Title 2
of the Government Code). All contracting preferences granted by the
authority shall be consistent with Section 14838 of the Government
Code.
(g)
f) An additional price preference or score of 2.5
percent of the bid amount shall be granted to qualified
state-certified microbusinesses.
(h)
(g) As used in this section, the following terms have
the following meanings:
(1) "Disabled veteran business enterprise" means an enterprise
that has been certified as meeting the qualifications established by
subdivision (g) of Section 999 of the Military and Veterans Code.
(2) "Microbusiness" means a microbusiness as defined in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (d) of Section 14837 of the Government Code.
(3) "Small business" means a small business as defined in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 14837 of the Government
Code.