Three California Bills Discourage Maintenance Contracts

Three bills working their way through California’s legislature could write state landscape contractors out of their landscape maintenance contracts. Still in initial stages in the house, the bills make it more difficult for public educational institutions to contract for a variety of  “personal services,” including groundskeeping.

Assembly Bill 2225 by Allan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) targets the California State University system and specifies 11 conditions the institution must meet before contracting out a service. Last amended on April 24, the bill proposes approval for contracted work only if contractors’ wages are at the industry level and do not “significantly undercut state pay rates.” In addition, the contracted service must require capabilities too technical for those available from the pool of university employees, call for skills the institution does not offer or would not be performed at a satisfactory level.

The rationale: Contracted work takes away jobs from veteran public workers, and some former institution employees have alleged that universities have paid more for contracted services and received the same quality, the bill analysis concludes.

Similar state bills under discussion include Senate Bill 1419 by Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), which applies to school and community college districts, and Senate Bill 2066 by John Burton (D-San Francisco), which addresses new University of California facilities.

Larry Rohlfes, assistant executive director for the California Landscape Contractors Association, said if passed, these union-sponsored bills could create numerous roadblocks for schools that want to employ non-university workers for services. “Schools will have to jump through hurdles to prove that the lower cost of contracting out is not a result of lower pay,” he said.

While he does not know the number of California contractors who will be directly affected by these bills if they should go into effect, CLCA is keeping an eye on their progress. The association’s May newsletter encourages concerned contractors to contact Rohlfes at 800/448-2522 or e-mail larryrohlfes@clca.org. To learn more about these bills, log on to www.leginfo.ca.gov.

The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@gie.net.