BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 1647
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing: May 7, 2003

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Darrell Steinberg, Chair

                AB 1647 (Wiggins) - As Introduced:  February 21, 2003 

          Policy Committee:                               
          EducationVote:11-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires the Department of General Services to study  
          the use of prefabricated materials in the construction of public  
          schools and report its findings by January 1, 2005, including  
          but not limited to, an inventory of all types of prefabricated  
          materials submitted to DGS for approval.

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Unknown General Fund costs to DGS of approximately $100,000 to  
          comply with the provisions of the measure.  These costs are  
          likely to decrease, as the inventory of prefabricated materials  
          must be maintained.

           COMMENTS  

           Rationale  .  According to the author, on April 11, 2003, the  
          director of DIR issued Decision #2002-064 which required that  
          prevailing wages be paid to the employees of contractors and  
          subcontractors engaged in the off-site fabrication or  
          prefabrication of items produced for public works projects.  The  
          director made the determination based on a situation at Cuesta  
          College in San Luis Obispo where the a contractor responsible  
          for the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems on a  
          project did not pay the employees prevailing wage even though  
          the workers fabricated the items specifically for the public  
          works project.  

          Consequently, with the passage of the school bond, many public  
          works projects similar to the project at Cuesta College will  
          soon go out to bid with the likelihood that the plans submitted  








                                                                  AB 1647
                                                                  Page  2

          and approved by DGS contain off-site fabricated or prefabricated  
          items designed especially for the project. Without knowledge of  
          materials approved by DGS, some school construction projects may  
          be in violation of prevailing wage requirements.  Therefore,  
          this measure would require DGS to create a list of all approved  
          fabricated and prefabricated materials used in school  
          construction sites so that all participatory and regulatory  
          parties better understand the scope and impact of the recent  
          determination.

           Analysis Prepared by  : Daniel Alvarez / APPR. / (916) 319-2081