Bill Text: CA AB2557 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Zoning regulations: interim ordinances.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Failed) 2016-11-30 - From committee without further action. [AB2557 Detail]

Download: California-2015-AB2557-Introduced.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 2557	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Santiago and Bloom

                        FEBRUARY 19, 2016

   An act to amend Section 12990 of the Government Code, relating to
public contracting.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2557, as introduced, Santiago. State contracts:
nondiscrimination clause.
   Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act
(FEHA), prohibits an employer or labor organization, among others,
from discriminating against a person in specified contexts on the
basis of the person's race, religious creed, color, national origin,
ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition,
genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity,
gender expression, age, sexual orientation, or military and veteran
status. FEHA makes an employer who is, or wishes to become, a
contractor with the state for public works or for goods or services
subject to the provisions of FEHA relating to discrimination, and
requires every state contract and subcontract for public works or for
goods or services to contain a nondiscrimination clause prohibiting
discrimination on the bases enumerated in FEHA by contractors or
subcontractors.
   This bill would specify that those provisions apply to
subcontractors, and would require each state agency with an active
contract or subcontract that contains the nondiscrimination clause to
negotiate amendments to the nondiscrimination clause as necessary to
ensure that the wording of the clause is consistent with the current
statutory nondiscrimination provisions.
   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.  Section 12990 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   12990.  (a) Any employer who is, or wishes to become, a contractor
 or subcontractor  with the state for public works or for
goods or services is subject to the provisions of this part relating
to discrimination in employment and to the nondiscrimination
requirements of this section and any rules and regulations that
implement it.
   (b) Prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with the
state, an employer may be required to submit a nondiscrimination
program to the department for approval and certification and may be
required to submit periodic reports of its compliance with that
program.
   (c)  (1)    Every state contract and subcontract
for public works or for goods or services shall contain a
nondiscrimination clause prohibiting discrimination on the bases
enumerated in this part by contractors or subcontractors. The
nondiscrimination clause shall contain a provision requiring
contractors and subcontractors to give written notice of their
obligations under that clause to labor organizations with which they
have a collective bargaining or other agreement. These contractual
provisions shall be fully and effectively enforced. This subdivision
does not apply to a credit card purchase of goods of two thousand
five hundred dollars ($2,500) or less. The total amount of exemption
authorized herein shall not exceed seven thousand five hundred
dollars ($7,500) per year for each company from which a state agency
is purchasing goods by credit card. It shall be the responsibility of
each state agency to monitor the use of this exemption and adhere to
these restrictions on these purchases. 
   (2) (A) Each state agency with an active contract or subcontract
that contains a nondiscrimination clause pursuant to this subdivision
shall negotiate amendments to the nondiscrimination clause or
necessary to ensure that the wording of the clause is consistent with
the current statutory nondiscrimination provisions of this part.
 
   (B) This paragraph applies to all active contracts or
subcontracts, regardless of the date the contract or subcontract was
entered into. 
   (d) The department shall periodically develop rules and
regulations for the application and implementation of this section,
and submit them to the council for consideration and adoption in
accordance with the provisions of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with
Section 11340) of Part 1. Those rules and regulations shall describe
and include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
   (1) Procedures for the investigation, approval, certification,
decertification, monitoring, and enforcement of nondiscrimination
programs.
   (2) The size of contracts or subcontracts below which any
particular provision of this section shall not apply.
   (3) The circumstances, if any, under which a contractor or
subcontractor is not subject to this section.
   (4) Criteria for determining the appropriate plant, region,
division, or other unit of a contractor's or subcontractor's
operation for which a nondiscrimination program is required.
   (5) Procedures for coordinating the nondiscrimination requirements
of this section and its implementing rules and regulations with the
California Plan for Equal Opportunity in Apprenticeship, with the
provisions and implementing regulations of Article 9.5 (commencing
with Section 11135) of Chapter 1 of Part 1, and with comparable
federal laws and regulations concerning nondiscrimination, equal
employment opportunity, and affirmative action by those who contract
with the United States.
   (6) The basic principles and standards to guide the department in
administering and implementing this section.
   (e) Where a contractor or subcontractor is required to prepare an
affirmative action, equal employment, or nondiscrimination program
subject to review and approval by a federal compliance agency, that
program may be filed with the department, instead of any
nondiscrimination program regularly required by this section or its
implementing rules and regulations. Such a program shall constitute a
prima facie demonstration of compliance with this section. Where the
department or a federal compliance agency has required the
preparation of an affirmative action, equal employment, or
nondiscrimination program subject to review and approval by the
department or a federal compliance agency, evidence of such a program
shall also constitute prima facie compliance with an ordinance or
regulation of any city, city and county, or county that requires an
employer to submit such a program to a local awarding agency for its
approval prior to becoming a contractor or subcontractor with that
agency.
   (f) Where the department determines and certifies that the
provisions of this section or its implementing rules and regulations
are violated or determines a contractor or subcontractor is engaging
in practices made unlawful under this part, the department may
recommend appropriate sanctions to the awarding agency. Any such
recommendation shall take into account the severity of the violation
or violations and any other penalties, sanctions, or remedies
previously imposed.        
feedback