​WACA Legislative Score Card 
November 2, 2015
The 2015 session of the California State Legislature concluded September 11th, the Governor had until October 11th to act on all bills.  This year, we championed reform legislation regarding change orders.  Tackling the inequity in the public works change order process is paramount to the growth and prosperity of our industry.  Unfortunately, Governor Brown vetoed the bill based on the opposition of state agencies.  While we are disappointed that Governor Brown vetoed our priority legislation, the industry did walk away with significant wins.   Below is a list of the key bills we worked on this year and our results:

Bills We Supported
 
  • AB 304 - Paid Sick Leave: “Clean-up” legislation which clarified that the CBA exemptions under California’s paid sick leave law apply to both onsite and offsite construction employees.
  • Status: Signed with urgency (Taking Effect Immediately)
 
  • AB 552 - Damages: Protects contractors from exposure to very broad consequential damages recently being applied within public works contracts.  AB 522 limits the scope of consequential damages arising from a breach of a public works contract to cover only "delay damages," defined as damages incurred by a public agency for each day after the date on which the work was to be completed by the contractor pursuant to the public works contract.
  • Status:  Signed
 
  • AB 566 - Skilled Labor Force Requirement:  Requires school districts utilizing the lease lease-back school procurement model for construction to use only contractors who can guarantee a skilled and trained workforce, protecting and expanding market share of union contractors.
  • Status:  Signed
 
  • AB 852 - Prevailing Wage: Expands the requirement to pay prevailing wage to private hospitals that utilize state conduit revenue bonds.
  • Status:  Signed
 
  • AB 1185 - Best Value Contracting: Authorizes the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to utilize a best value procurement process as a pilot program until January 1, 2021, for construction projects over $1 million. The bill also contains the skilled labor force requirement.
  • Status:  Signed
 
  • AB 1347 - Change Order Reform: Legislation we sponsored to create a fair and timely payment process for extra work performed on public works projects.
  • Status:  Vetoed
 
  • AB 1358 - Skilled Labor Force Requirement:  Requires school districts utilizing the design build school facility delivery method to use only contractors who can guarantee a skilled and trained workforce, protecting and expanding market share of union contractors.
  • Status: Signed
 
  • AB 1506 - Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA): Limits frivolous litigation against employers regarding paystub information. Amends the Labor Code PAGA Act to provide an employer with the right to cure a violation of failing to provide its employees with a wage statement containing the inclusive dates of the pay period and the name and address of the legal entity that is the employer.
  • Status: Signed with urgency (Taking Effect Immediately)
 
  • SB 762 - Best Value Contracting: establishes a pilot program to allow seven counties to use “best value” criteria to award construction contracts valued above $1 million, until January 1, 2020. The bill also contains the skilled labor force requirement.
  • Status:  Signed
 
Bills We Opposed
 
  • AB 846 - Mechanics’ Lien Law: Limited the time frame a contractor may enforce a lien.
  • Status: Killed in Committee

  • AB 1354 - Nondiscrimination Programs: Existing law requires contractors on state projects to submit a "nondiscrimination program" to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) that must contain procedures to insure equal employment opportunity for all protected classifications under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, including gender and race. Originally we opposed AB1354 as it would additionally require a state contractor with 100 or more employees to submit the details of their nondiscrimination program to the DFEH and to submit periodic reports of its compliance with that program. However, we worked with the author to clarify that construction employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement were excluded from calculation of the employer’s total number of employees.
  • Status: Vetoed

  • SB 465 - Contractor License Law: Reporting of Settlement Agreements: Unfairly threatened the reputation and record of contractors by requiring all legal settlements to be reported to the Contractors State License Board.
  • Status: Killed in Committee

  • SB 406 - California Family Rights Act (CFRA): Expands permissible family and medical leave to include leave to care for a sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law with a serious health condition. In addition the measure proposed to allow parents, when employed by the same employer, to be granted up to 12 weeks of leave individually rather than between both parents, removing an exception currently in existing law. This legislation unnecessarily increases the number of eligible employees and overlaps with federal law.
  • Status: Vetoed