BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1870
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1870 (Alejo)
As Amended August 4, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |55-22|(May 15, 2014) |SENATE: |23-10|(August 19, |
| | | | | |2014) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. & E.
SUMMARY : Makes changes to existing law related to the
distribution of training contributions by the California
Apprenticeship Council (CAC) to approved apprenticeship
programs.
The Senate amendments provide that if there are two or more
multiemployer apprenticeship programs serving the same craft or
trade and county for which the training contributions were made
to the CAC, the grant shall be divided among those programs
based on the number of apprentices "from that county" registered
in each program.
EXISTING LAW requires the CAC to distribute training
contributions received, less the expenses of the Department of
Industrial Relations for administration, by making grants to
approved apprenticeship programs for the purpose of training
apprentices as follows:
1)If there is an approved multiemployer apprenticeship program
serving the same craft or trade and geographic area for which
the training contributions were made to the CAC, a grant to
that program shall be made.
2)If there are two or more approved multiemployer apprenticeship
programs serving the same craft or trade and geographic area
for which the training contributions were made to the CAC, the
grant shall be divided among "those programs" based on the
number of apprentices registered in each program.
3)All training contributions not distributed as above shall be
used to defray the future expenses of the Department of
Industrial Relations for the administration and enforcement of
apprenticeship standards and requirements under existing law.
AB 1870
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AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill provided that if there are
two or more approved multiemployer apprenticeship programs
serving the same craft or trade and geographic area for which
the training contributions were made to the CAC, the grant shall
be divided among "all the approved multiemployer apprenticeship
programs serving the same craft or trade in California" based on
the number of apprentices registered in each program.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : This bill is sponsored by the State Building and
Construction Trades Council of California, who argues that it
will help ensure that every apprenticeship program in California
receives an equitable share of grants distributed by the CAC.
They contend that the current funding mechanism used to
determine the amount provided to each program has resulted in a
disproportionate distribution of funds to a limited number of
programs.
The sponsor illustrates the need for this bill with the
following example, "As the formula is currently laid out, one
statewide apprenticeship program that has 200 total enrolled
apprentices receives a higher amount of training funds than 10
separate apprenticeship programs each training 200 apprentices
and operating in 10 different counties. This means that even
though all 10 of the separate programs are training a total of
2,000 apprentices, they receive significantly less funding than
the program with statewide jurisdiction that is only training a
total of 200 apprentices. [This bill] would fix this
discrepancy."
Opponents, including the Western Electrical Contractors
Association, argue that this bill changes the long-standing
method by which the state allocates apprenticeship training
grants without increasing the level of state funding for this
vital training. They argue that the bill will created some
winners and losers and their programs will be at risk of losing
important funding.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
AB 1870
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FN: 0004347