BILL ANALYSIS �
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1678|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1678
Author: Gordon (D), et al.
Amended: 7/1/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTIL. & COMMUNIC. COMMITTEE : 9-1, 6/17/14
AYES: Padilla, Block, Cannella, Corbett, De Le�n, DeSaulnier,
Hill, Pavley, Wolk
NOES: Fuller
NO VOTE RECORDED: Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-20, 5/15/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business
enterprise
procurement
SOURCE : National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
DIGEST : This bill extends provisions of the Supplier
Diversity Program at the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to
include Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) business
enterprises.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
CONTINUED
AB 1678
Page
2
1. Directs the PUC to require each electrical, gas, water, and
telephone corporation, and each wireless telecommunications
service provider, with gross annual revenues exceeding $25
million, to submit annually a plan for increasing procurement
with women, minority, and disabled veteran business
enterprises, generally known as the Supplier Diversity
program.
2. Requires each utility to submit an annual report to the PUC
regarding implementation of its Supplier Diversity program
and requires the PUC to annually report to the Legislature on
the progress of utilities in implementing these programs.
3. Requires the PUC to adopt criteria for verifying eligibility
of women and minority enterprises and the Department of
General Services to verify disabled veteran enterprises.
4. Makes a person or corporation subject to a fine of up to
$5,000 and jail for up to one year for falsely representing a
business as eligible for the Supplier Diversity program.
This bill:
1. Extends provisions of the Supplier Diversity Program at the
PUC to include LGBT business enterprises.
2. Defines "LGBT business enterprise" as a business enterprise
that is at least 51 percent owned by a LGBT person or
persons; or, in the case of any publicly owned business, at
least 51% of the stock of which is owned by one or more LGBT
persons; and whose management and daily business operations
are controlled by one or more of those individuals.
3. Beginning September 1, 2016, requires the PUC's annual report
to the Legislature to include information about LGBT business
enterprises.
4. Requires the PUC to adopt criteria for verifying eligibility
of LGBT enterprises by adopting the certification standards
created by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce,
as specified.
5. Includes an LGBT corporation to the list of persons or
corporations subject to a fine of up to $5,000 and jail for
CONTINUED
AB 1678
Page
3
up to one year for falsely representing a business as
eligible for the Supplier Diversity program.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/30/14)
National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (source)
A Womyn's Touch, LLC
Ace Mailing Corporation
AFSCME
AT&T
Aviva Spectrum
California Communities United Institute
California Small Business Association
Desert Business Association
DesignWorkPlace Inc.
eBlue Wave Solutions, Inc.
Envirolution
Equality California
Golden Gate Business Association
Green Viking Consulting, LLC
InSight Consulting Partners, Inc.
Landis Communications Inc.
Latino Journal
London Guest Suites
Long Beach Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
OutSmart Office Solutions
OutThink Partners
Pendergast Consulting Group
Premium Resource
Riviera Advisors
Sacramento Rainbow Chamber of Commerce
San Francisco Small Business Network
Silicon Valley Rainbow Chamber of Commerce
Small Business California
Southern California Edison
The Honorable Betty Yee, Board of Equalization
Vaughan Benz
WBB+McCormack
WriteAway Communications Corporation
CONTINUED
AB 1678
Page
4
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, the
PUC's Supplier Diversity program has been effective in
encouraging utilities to contract with diverse suppliers that
may not have the knowledge or expertise to initiate such a
partnership. The estimated 1.4 million LGBT-owned businesses in
the United States have a low rate of contracting with state or
local governments currently, although 80% of LGBT businesses
responded to a survey that they would like that opportunity. It
is important to recognize the contributions LGBT businesses,
large and small, have had and continue to have on California's
economy and ensures that these businesses also have the
opportunity to participate in the state's success.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-20, 5/15/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall,
Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A.
P�rez, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Ch�vez, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Fox,
Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder,
Logue, Melendez, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Maienschein, Mansoor, Nestande,
Waldron, Vacancy
JG:d 7/1/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****
CONTINUED