Our weekly California Legislature “hot list” provides you with a preview of the bills that are up (as well as other important legislative action) the following week.

Recap of Legislative Bill Activity Last Week – The following bills were acted upon this past week:

AB 46 (Cooper) – Gender Pay Inequality – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee (7-0); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 55 (Thurmond) – Refineries­ – Approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8; now moves to the Senate floor.

AB 168 (Eggman) – Salary History Information – Passed the Senate Public Employment Committee (3-2); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 199 (Chu) – Public Works: Residential Projects – Hearing postponed by committee.

AB 263 (Rodriguez) – Emergency Medical Services Workers “Bill of Rights” – Placed on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File.

AB 326 (Salas) – Barbering and Cosmetology: Physical and Sexual Abuse Awareness Training: Approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8; now moves to the Senate floor.

AB 353 (Voepel) – Veterans’ Preference – Hiring Policy – Failed passage in the Senate Judiciary Committee (3-2).

AB 402 (Thurmond) – OSHA: Plume – Placed on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File.

AB 450 (Chiu) – Immigration Worksite Enforcement Actions – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee (5-2); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 530 (Cooper) – Public Employment: Peace Officers – Passed the Senate Public Employment Committee (3-1); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 568 (Gonzalez Fletcher) – School and Community College: Paid Maternity Leave – Placed on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File.

AB 569 (Gonzalez Fletcher) – Discrimination: Reproductive Health – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee (5-2); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 581 (McCarty) – Apprentices – Placed on the Senate Appropriations Suspense File.

AB 978 (Limón) – OSHA IIPPs – Approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8; now moves to the Senate floor.

AB 1008 (McCarty) – “Ban the Box” – Passed the Senate Judiciary Committee (5-1); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1066 (Aguiar-Curry) – Prevailing Wage: Tree Removal – Passed the Senate Labor Committee (4-1); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1080 (Gonzalez Fletcher) – Public Contracts: Bid Preferences: Employee Health Care Expenditures –  Passed the Senate Labor Committee (4-1); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1209 (Gonzalez Fletcher) – Gender Pay Differentials – Passed the Senate Labor Committee (4-1); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1250 (Jones-Sawyer) – Contracts for Personal Services – Passed the Senate Governance and Finance Committee (4-2); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 1565 (Thurmond) – Overtime Salary Threshold – Hearing postponed by committee.

AB 1603 (Ridley-Thomas) – Meyers-Milias-Brown Act: Joint Employment – Passed the Senate Public Employment Committee (3-2); now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 49 (De León) – California Environmental, Public Health, and Workers Defense Act of 2017 – Passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee (6-3); passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee (8-3); now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 219 (Wiener) – LGBT Long-Term Care Facility Resident’s Bill of Rights – Passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee (9-0); now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 258 (Lara) – Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017 - Passed the Assembly Environmental Safety & Toxics Committee (4-0); now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

SB 295 (Monning) – Farm Labor Contractors – Passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee (9-2); now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Senate Judiciary Committee – July 18, 2017 (Tuesday) – 1:30 p.m. – Room 112

AB 1701 (Thurmond) – Labor-Related Liabilities: Original Contractor – This bill, sponsored by the California Conference of Carpenters, would make a general contractor on a construction project liable for wages or fringe benefits not paid by a subcontractor at any tier of the project.  The bill would also provide for a civil action to enforce this liability.

Assembly Appropriations Committee – July 19, 2017 (Wednesday) – 9:00 a.m. – Room 4202

SB 63 (Jackson) – New Parent Leave – This bill would provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected family leave to bond with a new child for employees that work for employers with 20 or more employees (as opposed to CFRA, which applies to employers with 50 or more employees).  This bill is similar to the author’s SB 654, which was vetoed last year by Governor Brown.  Notably, that bill only provided for six weeks of job-protected leave, whereas SB 63 would authorize up to 12 weeks.

SB 225 (Stern) - Human Trafficking: Hotels and Motels – Revises a specified human trafficking notice that certain establishments are required to post to include the ability to text certain hotlines, and makes other minor changes.

SB 285 (Atkins) – Public Employers: Union Organizing – Prohibits a public employer from deterring or discouraging public employees from becoming or remaining members of a union.

SB 418 (Hernandez) – Public Contracts: “Skilled and Trained Workforce” Requirements – This bill originally dealt with the “de minimis” exemption for the use of public funds on public works project.  However, the bill was recently amended to delete its contents and address a completely different issue.  Under existing law requires a “skilled and trained workforce” requirement on certain projects, including a requirement that a certain percentage of skilled journeypersons on a project are graduates of an apprenticeship program.  This bill would exempt nearly 20 occupations from those requirements. 

SB 772 (Leyva) – Cal/OSHA Regulations – Existing state law requires an in-depth economic assessment (known as the Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment – SRIA) of any regulation estimated to cost employers over $50 million.  This bill would exempt Cal/OSHA regulations from that requirement.  The author of this bill sponsored legislation last year (SB 1167) to require the adoption of an indoor heat illness standard.  She indicates that this bill is intended to help expedite the adoption of that regulation and argues that the SRIA requirement is duplicative and can lead to unnecessary delay.