BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2149|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2149
Author: Atkins (D), et al.
Amended: 5/20/14
Vote: 21
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE : 6-0, 5/14/14
AYES: Wolk, Beall, DeSaulnier, Hernandez, Liu, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Knight
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 4/10/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : The Local Agency Public Construction Act: County of
San Diego
SOURCE : County of San Diego
DIGEST : This bill exempts, from the provisions of the Local
Agency Public Construction Act that apply to counties, a
contract entered into by the County of San Diego with a private
entity for the delivery of a regional communications system
(RCS) and any related infrastructure to be used by public safety
agencies and emergency responders located in the Counties of
Imperial and San Diego.
ANALYSIS : The Local Agency Public Construction Act requires
local officials to invite bids for construction projects and
then award contracts to the lowest responsible bid-der. This
"design-bid-build" method is the traditional, and most
widely-used, approach to public works construction. This
approach splits construction projects into two distinct phases:
CONTINUED
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design and construction. During the design phase, the local
agency prepares detailed project plans and specifications using
its own employees or by hiring outside architects and engineers.
Once project designs are complete, local officials invite bids
from construction firms and award the contract to the lowest
responsible bidder.
This bill exempts, from the provisions of the Local Agency
Public Construction Act that apply to counties, a contract
entered into by the County of San Diego with a private entity
for the delivery of a regional communications system and any
related infrastructure to be used by public safety agencies and
emergency responders located in the Counties of Imperial and San
Diego. This bill allows the County of San Diego to use any
competitive procurement method to procure the regional
communications systems and related infrastructure, and requires
the county to use a best value, as defined, procurement if the
county does not use a procurement method otherwise available
under specified provisions.
Comments
The RCS is a public safety voice communications system that
provides vital radio communications for twenty-one 911 dispatch
communications centers and thousands of first responders
throughout San Diego County and Imperial County. The RCS
provides a high level of interoperability, enabling public
safety agencies in the two counties to communicate in all types
of emergencies and disaster responses, which is essential not
only for the daily emergencies that first responders handle, but
for catastrophic events such as the wildfires of 2003 and 2007
that require all of a region's first responders to work together
and receive the same information. Updating the RCS to replace
obsolete components, improve system coverage, and increase
system capacity involves unique technological requirements,
requiring integration of the project's software, hardware, and
constructed infrastructure elements. As a result, a traditional
lowest-responsible-bidder contract process is not the best
procurement method for upgrading the RCS. Similar to the
authority granted by AB 946 (Lowenthal, Chapter 400, Statutes of
2011), this bill grants San Diego County officials the autonomy
to contract for a new RCS through a competitive procurement
process that allows for the consideration of the project's
specialized emergency communications technology requirements.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local:
No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/21/14)
County of San Diego (source)
American Medical Response
Bonita-Sunnyside Fire Protection District
Calexico Fire Department
Carlsbad Police Department
Chula Vista Police Department
City of Coronado
County of Imperial
El Cajon Police Department
Escondido Fire Department
Escondido Police Department
Imperial Valley Emergency Communications Authority
La Mesa Police Department
National City Police Department
Oceanside Police Department
Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department
San Diego County Fire Chiefs' Association
San Diego County Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Association
San Diego County Sheriff
San Diego Police Department
Urban Counties Caucus
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 4/10/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Salas, Vacancy
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AB:nl 5/21/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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