Bill Text: CA AB465 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Gardening or landscape maintenance services: regulation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-01 - Died pursuant to Art. IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [AB465 Detail]
Download: California-2011-AB465-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 465 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Bill Berryhill
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to add Chapter 25 (commencing with Section 22756) to
Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to
gardening or landscape maintenance services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 465, as amended, Bill Berryhill. Gardening or landscape
maintenance services: regulation.
Existing law provides for the regulation of the operation of
various businesses.
This bill would, on and after July 1, 2012, provide for the
regulation of gardening or landscape maintenance services, as
defined. The bill would require a local jurisdiction to obtain from
an applicant for issuance or renewal of a business license who
provides gardening or landscape maintenance services, (1)
documentation that he or she has workers' compensation coverage or is
exempt from those coverage requirements and proof of current
licensure as a contractor issued by the Contractors' State License
Board, or (2) a signed acknowledgment of the consequences of
performing the duties of a contractor without a license. The
bill would also require that a person with a business license issued
by the local jurisdiction who engages in gardening or landscape
maintenance services to prominently display a sticker or other
indicia in his or her motor vehicle if he or she has no employees and
is exempt from workers' compensation insurance coverage
requirements. The bill would make a violation of certain of these
requirements an infraction and would provide additional remedies for
their violation. The bill would impose a civil
penalty, as specified, on an applicant who provides false information
with respect to an application, and would authorize certain persons
to obtain an injunction under specified circumstances.
Because the bill would make a violation of specified
provisions a crime and would specify additional duties for
local jurisdictions, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that with regard to certain mandates no
reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
With regard to any other mandates, this bill would provide that,
if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains
costs so mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall
be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the following:
(a) Businesses offering gardening or landscape maintenance
services often operate in the underground economy and engage in
unlicensed contracting activity.
(b) Underground businesses that contract for works of improvements
without a required license and fail to deduct payroll taxes and to
provide coverage to their employees for job-related injuries harm
consumers and create unfair competition for employers who comply with
laws regulating their business activities.
(c) Enhanced local licensing of businesses that provide gardening
or landscape maintenance services, along with a program that
identifies vehicles used by those engaged in gardening or landscape
maintenance services, will significantly reduce unlicensed
contracting and underground economic activities.
SEC. 2. Chapter 25 (commencing with Section 22756) is added to
Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code, to read:
CHAPTER 25. GARDENING OR LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE SERVICES
22756. The following definitions apply for purposes of this
chapter:
(a) "Board" means the Contractors
Contractors' State License Board.
(b) "CSLL" means the Contractors
Contractors' State License Law set forth in Chapter 9
(commencing with Section 7000) of Division 3.
(c) "Gardening or landscape maintenance services" includes any of
the following activities:
(1) Mowing grass.
(2) Edging.
(3) Pruning of shrubs and trees less than 15 feet in height.
(4) Watering of lawns, shrubs, or trees.
(5) Applying lawn and garden chemicals and fertilizers.
(6) Removing clippings, leaves, and other garden debris.
22756.1. (a) On and after July 1, 2012, a city, county, or city
and county shall not issue or renew a local business license to
provide gardening or landscape maintenance services unless the
applicant provides the following:
(1) Evidence of workers' compensation insurance coverage for his
or her employees, if any, or a signed statement of the facts
exempting him or her from the requirement of having that coverage:
(2) Either of the following documents:
(A) Proof of current licensure as a contractor by the board.
(B) Signed acknowledgment, on a form provided by the board, of the
following matters:
(i) It is unlawful for a person without a license issued by the
board who engages in gardening or landscape maintenance services to
make permanent improvements to real property or to repair any
improvements to real property unless the total cost of the
improvements or repairs is less than five hundred dollars ($500),
including labor and materials.
(ii) A violation of the CSLL is a misdemeanor, and a repeated
violation of the CSLL is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail
for up to one year and by a monetary fine of up to ten thousand
dollars ($10,000) or 20 percent of the aggregate payments received by
the violator.
(iii) An unlicensed person who performs works of improvement
requiring a license issued by the board may not bring a lawsuit to
recover money from the owner of the improved property, and a property
owner who has paid money for any work of improvement or repair
requiring a license issued by the board may bring a lawsuit to
require the unlicensed person who performed the work to return any
money he or she received for that work.
(b) The city, county, or city and county shall retain the records
submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) and shall make them available
for inspection by the public. The city, county, or city and county
shall electronically file with the board records submitted to it
pursuant to subdivision (a).
(c) A violation of this section by an An
applicant for a local business license or for renewal of that
license who provides false information with respect to the
application shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more
than one thousand dollars ($1,000). In addition, a person authorized
to bring a civil action for injunctive relief under Section 7028.4
may bring an action to enjoin a violation of this section
person from providing gardening or landscape
maintenance services without a valid license , and the court
shall award attorney's fees and costs to the prevailing party in an
action brought by a contractor licensed by the board, an association
of contractors, or a consumer.
22756.2. (a) On or after July 1, 2012, a city, county, or city
and county that issues a local business license to a person engaging
in gardening or landscape maintenance services shall require each of
those licensees to display prominently a designated type of sticker
or other indicia in each motor vehicle he or she uses in the
jurisdiction while providing those services if the licensee has no
employees and is exempt from having workers' compensation insurance
coverage.
(b) Subdivision (a) applies to a person licensed by the board if
he or she is engaged in providing gardening or landscape maintenance
services.
(c) The city, county, or city and county shall provide the
licensee with the sticker or indicia required by subdivision (a) and
may impose a fee on the licensee in an amount that does not exceed
the costs it incurred to produce the sticker or indicia.
(d) (1) A violation of this section is an infraction punishable by
a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) and not
more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). In addition, a violation of
the section is subject to a civil penalty of not more than one
thousand dollars ($1,000).
(2) A person authorized to bring a civil action for injunctive
relief under Section 7028.4 may bring an action to enjoin a violation
of this section, and the court shall award attorney's fees and costs
to the prevailing party in an action brought by a contractor
licensed by the board, an association of contractors, or a consumer.
(3) The city, county, or city and county shall suspend for a
period of one year the license of a person who violates this section
three or more times.
SEC. 3. No reimbursement is required by this
act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution for certain costs that may be incurred by a local agency
or school district because, in that regard, this act creates a new
crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the
penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section
17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime
within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
However, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains other costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
