Public Works Administration

SB 785 (Wolk) – Support
As Amended on May 2, 2013

SB 785, by Senator Lois Wolk, would recast existing design-build statutes for purposes of eliminating inconsistencies and consolidating present statutory authority as well as extend the sunset date on existing design-build authority and reduce the project cost threshold to projects that exceed $1 million. 

The design-build method is an approach to delivering public works projects which counties find beneficial. Under design-build, the owner contracts with a single entity to both design and construct a project at a fixed price. The owner prepares documents that describe the concept of the project and the desired outcome for the project. In addition to price, proposals are generally evaluated on criteria such as best-value, qualifications and design quality. By using design-build, projects can be completed faster, as construction can commence during the design phase. Contractors are provided with more flexibility over project design, materials and construction methods. This promotes project design and construction innovation, which can ultimately result in higher quality, as well as cost savings. Further, time-consuming and costly disputes between designer and contractor are reduced, because both parties are affiliated with the same entity.

Approximately nine counties have used the design-build method for project delivery for a variety of projects ranging from parking facilities to parks and recreation projects to fire stations. Counties, and tax payers in general, benefit from the use of design-build authority due to cost savings produced by this method of project delivery. Furthermore, given the continued difficult economic times across the State, local agencies need maximum flexibility to delivery projects based on their expertise in choosing the right delivery method.

SB 785 was passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on May 20 by a vote of 5 to 3.
Suspense File Legislation

Transportation

AB 14 (Lowenthal) – Support
As Amended on May 6, 2013

AB 14, by Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal, would require the Transportation Agency (Agency) to convene a Freight Advisory Committee to assist with the development of a State Freight Plan that guides the immediate and long-range planning activities and capital investments for the movement of freight. 

AB 14 requires the Freight Advisory Committee to consist of a broad group of stakeholders including representatives of ports, shippers, carriers, freight industry associations and workforce, state departments and commissions, environmental, safety, and community organizations, and local governments. As owners and operators of a significant share of the State’s surface transportation network, which the freight industry and the people of California rely on for the movement of goods, CSAC offers our technical expertise, practical experience, and policy support to you, the Agency, and the Freight Advisory Committee in this endeavor.

With every aspect of the State’s transportation network underfunded and in need of new revenues, it is critical that the transportation community develop plans to protect and improve our existing infrastructure and employ new technologies and strategies for the most efficient and effective movement of freight and use of the transportation system. 

AB 14 was passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee on April 29.

AB 574 (Lowenthal) – Support
As Amended on April 15, 2013

AB 574, by Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal, would create the Sustainable Communities Infrastructure Program. The purpose of the program is to invest cap and trade auction revenues derived from fuels into transportation and sustainable communities infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to address infrastructure needs that are critical in order to develop and support sustainable communities. 

AB 574 builds upon existing statewide strategies such as regional blueprints and SB 375 (Chapter No. 728, Statutes of 2008), which the State enacted to reduce GHG emissions from the transportation sector via integrated transportation, housing, and land use planning and projects at the regional and local levels. Guided by state criteria, AB 574 would use the existing regional structure to advance a competitive grant program to incentivize and foster innovation at the local level. Projects awarded funds under the program would integrate land use changes with transportation infrastructure investments to achieve cost-effective GHG emissions reductions. AB 574 provides a unique opportunity to implement existing statewide directives for the development of sustainable communities and the reduction of GHG emissions in all 58 California counties. 

AB 574 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee as were all measures dealing with Cap and Trade expenditures. AB 574 is one of two Cap and Trade measures CSAC is co-sponsoring this year. While the bill was not let out of the committee today, as reported in our Budget Action Bulletin on the May Revise, the expenditure of Cap and Trade revenues is simultaneously being negotiated in the budget. CSAC continues to work with our coalition partners to advocate that our programmatic funding structures contained in AB 574 (and AB 416 by Assembly Member Rich Gordon) be enacted in the budget or in legislation regardless of whether Cap and Trade funds are appropriated in FY 13-14. 

Housing

AB 5 (Ammiano) - Oppose
As Amended on April 30, 2013

Assembly Bill 5, by Assembly Member Ammiano, would create the Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights and Fairness Act and essentially establish certain protections against discrimination on the basis of homelessness, which the bill defines as “individuals or families who lack or are perceived to lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, or who have a primary nighttime residence in a shelter, on the street, in a vehicle, in an enclosure or structure that is not authorized or fit for human habitation and also means a person whose only residence is a residential hotel or who is residing anywhere without tenancy rights, and families with children staying in a residential hotel whether or not they have tenancy rights.” Additionally, AB 5 contains the following provisions:

• Provides rights to homeless to move freely, rest, eat and solicit donations in public places without being subject to criminal or civil sanctions, harassment, or arrest by law enforcement. (Public spaces is defined in the bill as those owned by any state or local government entity or upon which there is an easement for public use and is held open to the public, including plazas, courtyards, parking lots, sidewalks and public parks and public buildings.
• Prohibits law enforcement from arresting individuals for violation of local ordinances (such as encampment, loitering, panhandling and residing in vehicles parked on public property) unless the following conditions exist:

1. The county maintains year-round Section 17000 nonmedical assistance.
2. The locality is not an area of concentrated un- or underemployment or an area of labor surplus.
3. The county-maintained public housing waiting list is <50 people.

• Requires every local government to have “health and hygiene centers” with 24/7 access to bathroom and shower facilities. The centers would be funded by the State Department of Public Health as part of the Neighborhood Health Center Program through the county agencies that oversee public health programs.
• Provides civil and criminal protections for local agency employees who make public property (such as first aid supplies, blankets, food, water) available for use or distribution to the homeless (without consent of the local agency).
• Requires local law enforcement to annually compile and review the number of citations, arrests, and other enforcement activities made pursuant to laws prohibiting: obstructing a sidewalk, loitering, sitting, lying down, camping, sleeping in a public place, soliciting donations, bathing in public places, sharing or receiving food, inhabiting a vehicle, violating public park closure laws or crossing streets or highways at particular locations. That information would be submitted to the Attorney General and made public.

It should be noted that AB 5 would create a private right of action against any person, public entity or public employer for violation of the rights provided in AB 5, and if a county chooses to move forward with judicial proceedings, the county where the citation was issued must provide counsel to the defendant.

While the intent of helping to provide necessary services to homeless individuals and reduce harassment of those who are homeless is an overarching principle CSAC can support, the costs associated with increased reporting requirements, court costs associated with possible civil actions brought against public employers, law enforcement employees or public agencies as well as the usurping by the state of local authority by prohibiting local ordinance enforcement results in our opposition to AB 5.

AB 5 was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.