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Legislative Update 7/9/03

AB 14
Status: 07/08/2003-From committee: Do pass, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Re-referred. (Ayes 8. Noes 4.).
Summary: This bill would authorize, until December 1, 2007, job order contracting, as defined, by the Los Angeles Unified School District , and would require the district , if it adopts this option, to report to the Legislature regarding implementation of the job order contracting process before that date . This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Oppose

AB 17
Status: 07/08/2003-Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would prohibit a state agency from entering into a contract for the acquisition of goods or services in the amount of $100,000 or more with a vendor or contractor who, in the provision of benefits, discriminates between employees with spouses and employees with domestic partners, or discriminates between the domestic partners and spouses of those employees, except as otherwise specified. This bill would specify that a contractor or vendor is not deemed to discriminate between employees with spouses and employees with domestic partners in the provision of benefits if the contractor or vendor, in providing the benefits, pays for the actual costs incurred in obtaining the benefit. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Oppose

AB 76
Status: 06/26/2003-Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would revise the provision summarized in the first paragraph above to include harassment by nonemployees if the employer knows or should have known of the incident and fails to take corrective action. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 95
Status: 06/26/2003-Withdrawn from committee. Adopted and to Assembly.
Summary: This bill would require a person bringing a private action under these provisions on behalf of the general public to serve a specified notice on each defendant in the action. The bill would also set forth principles for joining these actions. The bill would specify that its provisions are not severable. The bill would make its provisions contingent upon SB 122 being enacted and becoming effective on or before January 1, 2004.
Position: Support

AB 223
Status: 07/07/2003-In Assembly. To enrollment.
Summary: This bill instead would provide that an employee is successful so long as the employee recovers a judgment in his or her favor thereby overturning the holding in Smith v. Rae-Venter Law Group (2002) 29 Cal.4th 345 and restoring the prior holdings in Cardenas v. Mission Industries (1991) 226 Cal.App.3d 952 and Triad Data Services, Inc. v. Jackson (1984) 153 Cal.App.3d Supp. 1 on this issue.
Position: Oppose

AB 274
Status: 07/02/2003-In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would create a rebuttable presumption that an adverse employment action taken within 90 days after an employee exercises his or her employment rights is retaliatory, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the employee made up the claim in order to prevent the employer from taking adverse employment action. This presumption would not apply to the criminal penalty for retaliation.
Position: Oppose

AB 276
Status: 06/25/2003-In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would increase the penalties to $100 for the first violation and $200 for subsequent or willful or intentional violations. This bill would provide that 12.5% of the penalty would be placed in a fund within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency to educate employers about state labor laws, and the remainder would be placed in the General Fund. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 286
Status: 05/08/2003-Referred to Com. on JUD.
Summary: This bill would enact the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act of 2003, which would provide that if a home improvement contract, as defined, is executed in an amount not exceeding $15,000 , regardless of later increases in the contract price, the homeowner may setoff the amount of good-faith payments to the original contractor against the aggregate amount of enforceable mechanics' liens and stop notice claims, in an amount not exceeding $15,000 , as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 323
Status: Com. on APPR. Re-referred.
Summary: This bill would authorize any state agency, city, county, political subdivision, or district to, without advertising or calling for bids, purchase goods manufactured by, and services provided by, nonprofit veteran service agencies, as defined, and to equitably apportion the purchases among those agencies, provided certain requirements are met. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Oppose

AB 324
Status: 06/23/2003-In committee: Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: This bill would specify that, for purposes of the statutory provisions, a labor compliance program means a labor compliance program that is approved by the director as specified in state regulations. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 331
Status: 06/12/2003-Referred to Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would waive the one-week waiting period for any individual who is unemployed due to a lockout related to a labor dispute.
Position: Oppose

AB 447
Status: 07/02/2003-In committee: Hearing postponed by committee. (Refers to 6/19/2003 hearing)
Summary: The California Constitution gives workmen the right to a mechanics' lien for the value of labor and materials provided for the improvement of real property. This bill would increase the amount of attorneys' fees that may be recovered to $2500. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 453
Status: 07/08/2003-Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would provide that when a project for the construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any structure, building, or road, or other improvement of any kind is competitively bid and a protest is made, the contract may be entered into pending final decision on the protest. If the contract is later determined to be invalid due to a defect or defects in the competitive bidding process caused solely by the public entity, this bill would entitle the contractor who entered into the contract with the public entity to be paid the reasonable cost, specifically excluding profit, of the labor, equipment, materials, and services furnished by the contractor prior to the date of the determination, subject to specified conditions.
Position:

AB 473
Status: 06/19/2003-Referred to Com. on JUD.
Summary: This bill, in both of the situations described above, would instead provide for the revocation of the license within 90 days, but would authorize the registrar of the board, for good cause, to delay the revocation for not more than one year. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 480
Status: 07/07/2003-Referred to Com. on RLS.
Summary: This bill would authorize the Legislature's Joint Committee on Preparing California for the 21st Century , in collaboration with the University of California and other entities , on or before January 1, 2005, to issue to the Governor and the Legislature a specified report updating this study.
Position:

AB 544
Status: 07/07/2003-SEN. B. & P. Vote
Summary: This bill would also define contractor to include certain work activity provided by a temporary labor service agency. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position:

AB 572
Status: Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would provide standards and establish time limits for the Labor Commissioner's investigation and decision. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 606
Status:. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: This bill would require the director of the department, or his or her designee, and the Governor's Advocate for Small Business, to meet at least 2 times annually with employees and representatives of small business, solely on issues related to the workers' compensation system in California. This bill would authorize the director of the department, or his or her designee, and the Governor's Advocate for Small Business, jointly, to present, at a regularly scheduled meeting of the commission, a detailed summary of the issues discussed at these meetings. This bill would require the commission to utilize this information to the fullest extent possible in undertaking its ongoing activities, and would require the commission to seek any additional input from the department, as is necessary when addressing issues that may significantly impact the operation of small businesses in the state. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position:

AB 669
Status: Com. on APPR. In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would require small businesses and disabled veteran business enterprises, as defined, to perform commercially useful functions, as defined, in relation to any contract those businesses are awarded under those provisions. This bill would also revise the definition of disabled veteran to require that the veteran have at least a 10% service-connected disability and be domiciled in California . This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 722
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would authorize the Department of General Services to utilize reverse auctions for the acquisition of goods, services, and information technology. The bill would define "reverse auction" as a competitive online solicitation process for fungible goods, information technology, or services in which vendors compete against each other online in real time in an open and interactive environment. This bill would also disallow the utilization of the "reverse auction" process for bidding on specified construction contracts.
Position:

AB 774
Status: 07/07/2003-Enrolled and to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.
Summary: This bill would additionally provide that for a pupil who attends a school, as specified, in which the regularly scheduled period is greater than 60 minutes in length, the minimum day is one or more periods totaling at least 180 minutes in duration.
Position:

AB 807
Status: 06/25/2003-In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would provide that an employer may take a credit for employer payments even if contributions are not made or costs are not paid, as specified, if certain conditions are met .
Position:

AB 827
Status: 05/29/2003-Referred to Com. on B. & P.
Summary: This bill would delete this expertise qualification for appointment as a public member.
Position: Oppose

AB 852
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would require the director, upon a request by the state or a political subdivision of the state , to determine and provide these wage rates to the state or a political subdivision that agrees by contract with a private entity that that private entity's employees, in performing the contract, receive the general prevailing rate of per diem wages and the general prevailing rate for holiday and overtime work. This bill would require the director to respond to these requests in the order in which the requests were received, as specified. This bill would require the director to respond only to the first 20 requests if more than 20 requests are pending in a calendar year. This bill would require the director to respond to additional requests in a calendar year only if the director determines that funding is available to provide these responses.
Position: Watch

AB 902
Status: Com. on APPR. Re-referred.
Summary: This bill would authorize an awarding authority to consent to substituting a subcontractor when the subcontractor listed in the bid fails or refuses to execute a written contract for the scope of the work specified in the subcontractor's bid and at the price specified in the subcontractor's bid.
Position: Support

AB 903
Status: 05/29/2003-Referred to Com. on JUD.
Summary:. This bill would revise the definition of builder, as that term is used in provisions regarding construction defect actions. The bill would also recast and reorganize related provisions.
Position: Watch

AB 1028
Status: Com. on APPR. Re-referred.
Summary: Existing law, repealed on January 1, 2003, authorized the California Apprenticeship Council to adopt industry-specific training criteria for use by apprenticeship programs, with certain requirements. This bill would reenact this authority of the council and extend it until January 1, 2007, at which time it would be repealed.
Position: Support

AB 1032
Status: Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: This bill would require any questionnaire used pursuant to these provisions to require each prospective bidder, as defined, to state the number of felonies the prospective bidder has been convicted of, the number of adverse civil judgments entered against the prospective bidder, and the number of administrative violations by the prospective bidder, within the past 5 years, arising from his or her business practices, involving a violation of any law of the United States, this state, or local government in this state, as provided. The bill would require the prospective bidder to give an explanation for each violation, including the date of occurrence, the final outcome, fines, penalties, or damages, if any, imposed against the prospective bidder, and any other information that the department's questionnaire may require. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Oppose

AB 1049
Status: Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would, in addition, prohibit an insurance institution or agent from basing an adverse underwriting decision on the fact that an individual has previously inquired and received information about the scope or nature of coverage under a residential fire or property insurance policy, if the information is received from an insurance-support organization whose primary source of information is insurance institutions and the inquiry did not result in the filing of a claim . The bill would also prohibit an insurance institution or agent from basing an adverse underwriting decision on an indication appearing on a specified loss history report that a single claim within the previous 3-year period was closed without payment.
Position:

AB 1093
Status: 06/26/2003-From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would require the state, and any qualified contractor and qualified subcontractor, as defined, that performs work under a qualified contract, as defined, for a state agency, to pay not less than a living wage, as defined, to each of its employees, as defined , performing work under that contract, as provided . This bill would also authorize an employee to sue to recover unpaid wages from a qualified contractor or qualified subcontractor. This bill would also require certain provisions to appear in a qualified contract and any subcontract to that qualified contract. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 1099
Status: Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would include the Employment Development Department among the agencies authorized to request and receive information regarding workers' compensation fraud. This bill would provide that licensed rating organizations are authorized to release information regarding workers' compensation fraud, as specified.
Position: Support

AB 1132
Status: Com. on APPR. Re-referred.
Summary: This bill would provide that the confiscated articles or material may not be sold. It would further provide that notice shall be given of the confiscation and of the right to appeal, and if a timely notice of appeal is filed, the Labor Commissioner shall hold a hearing, which is required to be recorded . After the hearing, the Labor Commissioner must issue a decision with findings of fact and legal analysis, and may order the return of none, some, or all of the confiscated articles and materials. Finally, it provides that judicial review is available by petition for writ of mandate.
Position:

AB 1133
Status: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would provide that if a judgment for unpaid wages or penalties remains unsatisfied for 6 months after the judgment becomes final, the amount of the judgment doubles, and then doubles again for each additional 6-month period the judgment remains unsatisfied. An employee or the Labor Commissioner may recover costs and attorney's fees for enforcing a judgment under this provision.
Position:

AB 1142
Status: 03/06/2003-Referred to Com. on B. & P.
Summary: This bill would authorize the awarding authority to relieve a bidder from the forfeiture of its bond up to $100,000 if the bidder is a nonprofit organization and a community services agency, as provided.
Position:

AB 1215
Status: Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would require the State Compensation Insurance Fund, in consultation with the Employment Development Department, to develop a program that allows insurers offering workers' compensation insurance to have access to quarterly wage and withholding reports filed with the department for the purpose of confirming payroll reported to the insurer for premium calculations . Any report provided by the department to an insurer would be required to include individual wage information, but not any employee's name, social security number, or date of birth . The bill would require that the program place specified restrictions on employer access to and use of this information, and would further require that the fund impose a user fee on admitted workers' compensation insurers in an amount sufficient to pay the costs of the program. This bill would also provide that an insurer that violates these provisions is subject to a civil penalty, as specified. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1229
Status: 06/12/2003-Referred to Com. on JUD.
Summary: This bill would provide that an employer who grants an opportunity or benefit to an employee because that employee submits to the employer's sexual advances or requests for sexual favors is liable for unlawful sex discrimination against other persons who were qualified for, but denied that employment opportunity or benefit, and therefore, would reject the interpretation given to existing law by the California Court of Appeal in Mackey v. Department of Corrections, et al.
Position:

AB 1262
Status: Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would require the Insurance Commissioner to adopt regulations setting forth the minimum standards of training, experience, and skill that workers' compensation claims adjusters must possess. The bill would require every workers' compensation insurer, as defined, to certify to the commissioner that the personnel employed by the insurer to adjust workers' compensation claims, or employed for that purposes by a medical billing entity, as defined, meet those minimum standards.
Position:

AB 1382
Status: Com. on JUD.
Summary: This bill, in both of the situations described above, would instead provide for the revocation of the license within 90 days, but would authorize the registrar of the board, for good cause, to delay the revocation for not more than one year. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1386
Status: Com. on JUD.
Summary: The bill would specify that a contractor who in good faith submits an application to renew an unexpired license shall not be deemed to have actual or constructive knowledge that he or she was unlicensed when the invalidity is caused by the failure of the board to act on the renewal application prior to the license expiration date. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1418
Status: Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would additionally require the Contractors' State License Board to disclose information regarding a licensee's willful or deliberate violation of the Labor Code. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1483
Status: 06/12/2003-Referred to Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would require every physician who treats and evaluates injured workers, on and after January 1, 2006, to be certified by the Industrial Medical Council as a Qualified Workers' Compensation Physician (QWCP). It would exempt physicians who are qualified medical evaluators from the QWCP certification requirement, and would authorize the council to waive this requirement under certain circumstances. The bill would require the council, on or before January 1, 2005, to establish a QWCP certification program containing specified criteria. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Defer to CCWC

AB 1486
Status: Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: This bill would state the Legislature's intent to enable the Department of General Services to utilize safe and cost-effective options for building and modernizing state facilities through the use of the design-build procurement process. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

AB 1506
Status: 06/25/2003-In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would require the body awarding any contract for a public works project financed with funds made available by the Safe, Reliable High-Speed Passenger Train Bond Act for the 21st Century, if that bond measure is approved by the voters, to adopt and enforce that above-mentioned labor compliance program for application to the public works project. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1536
Status: 06/17/2003 Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: Under This bill would provide that where a person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful practice is represented by private counsel, private counsel, and not the department, would instead serve the complaint, and in either case, service is to be completed within 60 days. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1538
Status: 07/07/2003-In Assembly.
Summary: This bill would require a contractor , except those specified above, to display his or her contractor's license number and business name in or on each commercially registered motor vehicle used in his or her construction business. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1578
Status: 06/18/2003 Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: This bill would increase this maximum fine to $150,000 or twice the amount of the fraud, whichever is greater.
Position:

AB 1579
Status: Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would extend the application of this provision to outpatient surgery goods or services. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1719
Status: Com. on L. & I.R.
Summary: This bill would define "hours worked" to include all the hours an employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not he or she is required to work, and would state that this is declarative of existing law. The bill would also make a technical change to other provisions relating to hours of work. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

AB 1723
Status: 06/25/2003-In committee: Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would require the department to include on its Web site and in its monthly report the information it receives as to mass layoffs, relocations, or terminations.
Position: Oppose

SB 30
Status: 06/19/2003-Re-referred to Coms. on JUD. and B. & P.
Summary: This bill would repeal these provisions and instead require that a home improvement contract and any changes made to that contract be in writing, be legible, be easy to understand, and inform a consumer of his or her 3-day right to cancel or rescind the contract. The bill would require that a home improvement contract contain various information, notices, and disclosures for the protection of the consumer. The bill would provide that a violation of these provisions subjects the home improvement contractor to discipline. The bill would define a "service and repair contract" and would include this type of contract within the definition of a home improvement repair contract. The bill would make conforming changes and revise and recast certain existing provisions regarding home improvement contracts. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Watch

SB 31
Status: Failed passage in committee.
Summary: This bill would require a certified home inspector to conduct a home inspection with the degree of care that a reasonably prudent certified home inspector would recognize. The bill would prohibit a person from holding himself or herself out as or using the title "certified home inspector" or other words implying he or she is a certified home inspector without fulfilling certain requirements. The bill would define a home inspection professional association and specify its duties in certifying home inspectors. The bill would require, on or after July 1, 2004, a home inspector to make disclosures in writing as to his or her qualifications, whether the home inspector carries general and professional liability insurance, and whether the home inspector is certified prior to commencing a home inspection. The bill would also add items to the list of unfair business practices for a home inspector.
Position: Support

SB 110
Status: In Assembly. Held at Desk.
Summary: This bill would also authorize a bid specification of a certain product if the awarding authority makes a finding that a particular material or service is designated by a brand or trade name in order to obtain a necessary item that is only available from one source or to respond to a local or state declared emergency. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Oppose

SB 134
Status: 07/02/2003-Enrolled. To Governor at 3 p.m.
Summary: This bill would require that certain statements be included in a preliminary 20-day notice in boldface type in regard to notices of completion or cessation, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Support

SB 176
Status: 07/03/2003-Read second time. To third reading.
Summary: This bill would require a rating organization to provide written notification to a policyholder at the time it provides that notification to the insurer if it imposes a change in the classification assignment of the policyholder, and would provide that a rating organization may satisfy this requirement by furnishing the policyholder with a copy of the notice that it provides to the insurer regarding the change in classification assignment.
Position: Support

SB 179
Status: 07/03/2003-Hearing postponed by committee.
Summary: This bill would provide that any person or entity who enters into a labor contract for construction, farm labor, garment, janitorial, or security guard services when the person or entity knows or should know that the contract does not provide funds sufficient to allow the labor contractor to comply with all applicable laws or regulations governing the labor or services to be provided under the contract, is subject to liability and specified civil penalties. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Oppose

SB 191
Status: 06/05/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would prohibit workers' compensation rates from being excessive, would describe when rates are to be deemed excessive, and would require the commissioner to disapprove rates so deemed. The bill would require a workers' compensation insurer that desires to use any rates lower than the pure premium rates approved by the commissioner to file a complete rate application with the commissioner, as specified. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Oppose

SB 228
Status: 06/12/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would provide that if the Budget Act or any other statute alters the funding methodology of the fund so that employer assessments account for a greater proportion of funding than appropriations from the General Fund, unless expressly prohibited, a sufficient portion of these funds shall be dedicated to implement the fraudulent claim reporting and medical fee schedule reporting provisions contained in this bill, to permit the adoption of specified staffing and clerical employee recommendations, and to enable the development of a cost-efficient electronic adjudication management system. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Defer to CCWC

SB 229
Status: 06/09/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would provide that the State Compensation Insurance Fund would not raise premium rates for small employers, as defined, who provide health insurance for their employees, as specified. The bill would also declare that these provisions would become inoperative on July 15, 2006. The bill would also require the State Compensation Insurance Fund to explore the possibility of providing a permanent premium discount to employers who provide health insurance, and would require a report to the Legislature on the feasibility of doing so by January 1, 2005. The bill would state findings and declarations of the Legislature. This bill contains other existing laws.
Position: Defer to CCWC

SB 354
Status: 07/02/2003-From committee with author's amendments. Read second time. Amended. Re-referred to committee.
Summary: Existing This bill would raise the maximum fine for a violation of these provisions to $100,000. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Defer to CCWC

SB 359
Status: 07/01/2003-From committee: Do pass, but first be re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) Re-referred to Com. on HIGHER ED.
Summary: The bill would require the committee and bureau to evaluate certain provisions of law applicable to private postsecondary institutions to determine what changes are advisable to improve the effectiveness of the state's regulation of those institutions. The bill would require the bureau to objectively assess the cost of meeting its statutory obligations, determine the staffing necessary to meet those obligations, determine whether the current fee structure supports that staffing, and report that information to the Director of Consumer Affairs and the committee by October 1, 2004. The bill would require the bureau to report to the Legislature on October 1, 2003, on its progress in accomplishing corrective actions to resolve deficiencies found in specified audits. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Watch

SB 363
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: Existing law requires specified regulatory boards within the Department of Consumer Affairs to obtain fingerprints from a licensing applicant to conduct a criminal history check. This bill would extend this requirement to the Structural Pest Control Board. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

SB 364
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would add the Contractors' State License Board to this list. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Watch

SB 443
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would instead require, except in unusual cases, that a repeat offender be confined in the county jail for not less than 90 days. The bill would require the court to state on the record its reasons if the court imposed a jail sentence of less than 90 days or only a fine. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Support

SB 457
Status: 07/07/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would express the Legislature's intent that the Division of Workers' Compensation within the Department of Industrial Relations review the effectiveness of the above provisions in penalizing and deterring unreasonably late and denied benefit payments. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position: Defer to CCWC

SB 458
Status: 07/07/2003-Placed on inactive file on request of Assembly Member Chan.
Summary: This bill would make a technical change by specifying that the provisions relating to comparative fault, described above, apply to a subcontractor, material supplier, individual product manufacturer, or design professional.
Position:

SB 523
Status: 07/08/2003-Enrolled. To Governor at 1 p.m.
Summary: Existing law imposes specified prerequisites, including certain prelitigation procedures, in order to bring an action against a builder or developer of new residential housing on and after January 1, 2003, for construction defects. Under these provisions, a builder is required to provide a copy of the governing law to be initialed by the purchaser and builder's or developer's sale representative. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change in these provisions.
Position: Watch

SB 727
Status: 07/02/2003-Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.
Summary: This bill would make conforming and clarifying changes in provisions relating to family temporary disability compensation. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position:

SB 730
Status: 07/07/2003-Placed on inactive file on request of Assembly Member Yee.
Summary: This bill would require the director to provide these wage rates to an awarding body within 120 days of a request for the rates, and would require that any appeal of a wage rate determination be decided within 30 days of the appeal. This bill would also require the director to maintain a log, as a public record, of these determination requests and appeals, as provided.
Position:

SB 757
Status: 06/19/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would require the commission to conduct a survey and evaluation of existing medical treatment utilization standards in other states, at the national level, and in other medical benefit systems, and prepare a report of its findings and recommendations for purposes of workers' compensation utilization guidelines and protocols. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
Position: Defer to CCWC

SB 796
Status:
Summary: This bill would allow aggrieved employees to bring civil actions to recover these penalties, if the agency or its departments, divisions, commissions, boards, agencies, or employees do not do so. The penalties collected in these actions would be distributed 50% to the General Fund, 25% to the agency for education, to be available for expenditure upon appropriation by the Legislature, and 25% to the aggrieved employee, except that if the person does not employ one or more persons, the penalties would be distributed 50% to the General Fund and 50% to the agency. In addition, the aggrieved employee would be authorized to recover attorney's fees and costs. For any violation of the code for which no civil penalty is otherwise established, the bill would establish a civil penalty.
Position:

SB 868
Status: 06/05/2003-To Com. on L. & E.
Summary: This bill would instead require that those records supplied to a joint labor-management committee established pursuant to the federal law be marked or obliterated only to prevent disclosure of an individual's social security number. This bill contains other related provisions.
Position:

SB 889
Status: 05/13/2003-Set, first hearing. Failed passage in committee.
Summary: This bill would limit a private right of action for unfair competition by prohibiting those actions against a business organization having fewer than 50 employees, unless the person bringing the action has sustained distinct and palpable harm as a result of an act or practice of unfair competition.
Position:

SB 899
Status: 06/16/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would add outpatient surgery, as defined, to the list of medical goods or services for which it is unlawful for a physician to refer a person under this provision.
Position: Defer to CCWC

SB 962
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would require the department take reasonable steps to verify eligible claims before payments are mailed on any new claims , as provided.
Position:

SB 966
Status: 07/03/2003-From committee with author's amendments.
Summary: This bill would authorize a contractor to bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover from the body awarding a contract for a public work or otherwise undertaking any public work any increased costs, as defined, incurred by the contractor if certain conditions are met . For purposes of these provisions, this bill would define "awarding body" to exclude the Department of General Services, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Water Resources, and define "increased costs" to include, but not be limited to, labor cost increases required to be paid to the contractor's workers and penalties for which the contractor is liable, as specified.
Position:

SB 996
Status: 06/04/2003-In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
Summary: available, the division would annually update its 2002 study titled "Living Wages: The Issues and the Impact," with certain requirements.
Position: Oppose

SB 1007
Status: 06/12/2003-To Com. on INS.
Summary: This bill would expand the definition of "common trade or business" to include specified types of manufacturing facilities.
Position:

SB 1008
Status: Com. on APPR.
Summary: This bill would modify the definition of disabled veteran business enterprise, and specify that a limited liability company may be certified as a disabled veteran business enterprise for these purposes if that company is wholly owned by one or more disabled veterans. The bill would also change the definition of "disabled veteran" to instead mean a veteran, as specified, with a service-connected disability of at least 10% who is a resident of, and is domiciled in , the state. This bill contains other related provisions and other existing laws.
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