Thursday, June 22, 2023
WECA Member Contractors: Save the Date to once again join WECA and the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association of California (CAPHCC) at the California State Capitol in Sacramento on August 16 for a joint legislative day.
Spend the day learning about relevant happenings in your industries at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The day will begin by hobnobbing with political pundits, lawyers, and soothsayers before segueing to the 'swing space' of the Capitol (the temporary home of California state legislators while the aging Capitol Annex is being replaced) to visit with your Senator and Assemblymember and sharing your thoughts on some relevant bills awaiting final action.
WECA and CAPHCC believe that the more that attend, the merrier. Registration will open soon, so keep an eye out for the official invitation in your inboxes! We look forward to spending the day at the California State Capitol advocating for fair and open competition in California's construction industry with you.
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Senate HELP Committee Marks Up Landmark Labor Legislation On Wednesday, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee began marking up the most significant labor law reforms in modern American history. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chairman of the HELP Committee, was on the floor of the Senate Tuesday afternoon to discuss this legislation in detail. The three bills that the Committee will be voting on are:
· The Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 728) would address women earning less than men for doing the same work. This legislation would make it easier for women to come together, file, and win lawsuits against employers for alleged wage discrimination.
· The Healthy Families Act (S. 1664) would require up to seven paid sick leave days for all workers.
· The PRO Act (S. 567) would make it easier for workers to join unions and secure a first union contract.
None of the bills are expected to get to President Biden, but we’ll keep you informed as they travel through the Senate.
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OSHA Prepares to Join Administration-Wide Effort to Aid Unions. Among the agencies at the U.S. Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), to some people’s surprise, has been relatively quiet and not getting much attention. However, that will change if OSHA moves forward with a new regulation that was listed in the Fall 2022 regulatory agenda released in January 2023. OSHA has indicated it plans to conduct a rulemaking that will result in union officials being able to accompany OSHA inspectors on walk-around inspections at non-union locations. The agenda said this would be out by May, although agencies frequently miss their regulatory agenda targets. Under President Obama, OSHA attempted to institute this policy by issuing a letter of interpretation, requested by the United Steelworkers Union, which was quickly rescinded during the Trump administration. This would have represented a dramatic change in OSHA policy, going directly against regulations that made clear any third-party representative accompanying an OSHA inspector “shall be” an employee of the company, with limited exceptions for technical expertise such as an industrial hygienist or other safety specialists. A union representative, where a union did not represent the employees, would have been anything but a safety-related specialist. More
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Budget Deal Still Ignores $17.4 billion UI Debt Contrary to claims that there has been no general tax increase in the state since 2011, failure to address this debt institutes one of the highest tax increases ever on California businesses directly and workers indirectly. In the latest report for June 9, 2023, California's federal debt is $17.4 billion. Story
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Newsom's Package of Bills to Advance Environmental Goals Alarms Environmentalists (Ironic, Isn't It?) Last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom attempted to turbocharge California's efforts to combat climate change: he proposed a package of no less than eleven bills to speed up the approval of clean energy, water, and transportation projects focused on achieving the state's climate goals. That sounds good, right? Unfortunately, the bills significantly roll back the state's environmental laws, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Moreover, to fast-track the bills through the legislature, the governor proposed them as "trailer bills" to the budget, which would minimize the opportunity for review and comment. Story
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New California Assembly Bill on Website Accessibility Could Result in a Lawsuit Tsunami In a classic gut and amend move midway through the Legislative Session, the California Assembly Judiciary Committee on June 12 replaced the entire content of an existing bill on courts (AB 1757) with language that would effectively make Web Accessibility Game-Changer (WAGC) 2.1 Level AA the required standard for the websites and mobile apps of “business establishments” covered by the Unruh Civil Rights Act. And in an unprecedented step, the bill would allow individuals with disabilities and business establishments to sue third-party developers that create non-compliant websites and mobile apps. More
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Homebuilders Accelerate on Returning Demand After months of a slowdown in the wake of weaker demand, homebuilders are starting to pick the pace of construction back up, reports Ashley Fahey of The Business Journals. Privately owned housing starts in May were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.63 million, a 21.7% increase from the April estimate of 1.34 million, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this week. That's particularly important since homeowners now locked into low-interest rates are unlikely to want to sell existing homes. "There's such a low level of inventory on the market (and) so many people are locked into very low-interest rates, which makes new homes one of the more available options in a lot of markets," said Kelly Mangold, a principal at RCLCO Real Estate Consulting. The turnaround surprises George Ratiu, chief economist at Keeping Current Matters. Last year's sharp increases in mortgage rates saw many buyers walking away from their contracts, forcing builders to offer concessions or sell portfolios to investors. After six months of dire predictions, he said buyers are suddenly returning to the market. Story
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Whose Text Is It, Anyway? Maybe Yours! Must an employer preserve business-related text messages between employees using their personal cell phones? Can a judge punish an employer for failing to do so? According to a federal judge in Texas, the answer to the first question is – it depends on the circumstances. The answer to the second question is yes. And depending on those pesky circumstances, the punishment can be severe. In Miramontes v. Peraton, Inc., the plaintiff claimed he was selected for a reduction in force because of his age. The facts are straightforward. Shortly after Peraton acquired the company where the plaintiff had been employed for 27 years, it began a series of terminations internally referred to as “Project Falcon.” (Note to self: Avoid using secret agent code names for RIFs.) The plaintiff was selected in the first round. When notified of his termination, he claims that his “supervisor unilaterally brought up his age, telling him twice – without prompting – that he was not being terminated because of his age.” (Note to self: Do not deny something when no one has accused you of it.) While this Texas case does not become dicta in California, human resources should consider future compliance questions. (Story)
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Workforce Training Program Prepares Native Americans for Jobs in the Trades While working for the Tribal Employment Rights Office for the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin, Nicholas Kedrowski found limited success in helping Native American workers find long-term employment in the construction trades outside the reservation. Story
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EEOC Sues Electrical Contractor for Age Discrimination The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit against Hatzel & Buehler, alleging the Wilmington, Delaware-based commercial electrical contractor violated labor law through discriminatory hiring and recruitment of workers aged 40 years and older at its New Jersey office. Since at least November 2020, a Hatzel & Buehler vice president in New Jersey allegedly refused to hire older candidates because of their ages, according to the suit. Story
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Former Valley Congressman Launches Bid to Capture Fresno-Based Assembly Seat Former Rep. George Radanovich's (R–Mariposa) post-Congressional life has brought him back to the ballot in recent years. Last year, the retired eight-term Congressman re-entered electoral politics with a bid for California State Senate District 4 - a heavily Republican foothill district. His bid, as well as those of two other GOP contenders, led to two Democrats capturing the top two vote totals, flipping the seat for Democrats. On Tuesday, he announced his bid for a newly drawn Assembly seat represented by termed-out Asm. Jim Patterson (R–Fresno), that stretches across seven mountain counties, but is densely populated in northern Fresno County. One contender – former Fresno State football star David Tangipa – already entered the race with virtually every endorsement in Fresno County. Another possible contender, former Asm. Frank Bigelow (R–O'Neals) has spent much of the year kicking the tires on running for a final two-year term. Here's a look at Radanovich's announcement and the latest on Bigelow.
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Energy Tax Credits - Recent Developments Bring New Guidance and Questions The month of May was busy for the IRS, as the agency has been hard at work releasing new guidance and rules regarding energy tax credits. In Notice 2023-38, the IRS details how the “domestic content” tax credit rate adder can be satisfied. Notice 2023-44 offers guidance on the advanced energy project tax credit application process outlined in Section 48C. These notices will provide interim guidance until the IRS can publish proposed regulations on these topics. Finally, proposed rules (REG-110412-23 RIN 1545-BQ81) have been introduced to further clarify the procedures and criteria for applying for allocations to receive increased tax credits for solar and wind facilities in low-income communities. Despite the push, there are still several energy tax credit issues that remain outstanding, which range from the ministerial (e.g., publication of unemployment rates to comply with the “energy community” adder) to those issues that are highly material to the success of the legislative goals intended by the Inflation Reduction Act (e.g., publication of guidance as to transferability of tax credits). More
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Senate Shakeup A surprise late entrant is considering joining the race for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat, potentially scrambling the field of better-known Democrats that most had assumed was already set. Lexi Reese, a Facebook and Google alumna and now COO of Gusto, confirmed her interest in a recent interview. She’s assembled a team and is preparing to file paperwork with the FEC this week to formally explore a run.
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Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly Mum on Biden's Labor Secretary Nominee President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the Labor Department has stalled as several key senators — including both of Arizona’s — have not signaled their support for Julie Su, whose opponents are portraying her as a threat to business owners. Su is the acting secretary, and the Senate confirmed her as the deputy secretary – the number two position in the agency that oversees employment issues ranging from workplace safety to hourly wages. If confirmed, she would be Biden’s first Asian American Cabinet secretary. Story
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Freshman Assemblymember Faces a Challenger in 2024... in the form of longtime Democratic Bakersfield City Council member Andrae Gonzales. On Wednesday, Gonzales teased the launch of his bid for the California State Assembly, kicking off a direct challenge to newly minted Asm. Jasmeet Bains (D–Bakersfield). The Bakersfield doctor-turned-state lawmaker dominated Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez in an all-Democratic general election last year. Since then, her fortunes have turned in Sacramento, with Democratic leadership booting her from plum committee posts for fighting for Kern County's oil industry. The district is D +24, and the 2022 race was fascinating. Bains finished second to Kern Supervisor Leticia Perez (50.52/49.48). Special interests poured $3.3 million in independent expenditures – largely for Bains, and she finished on top (60.29/39.71). Perez has endorsed Gonzales. Story
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We’re Number Two! We’re Number Two! California has so far avoided a summer gas price spike, and on Wednesday, the state even lost its usual distinction of having the most expensive fuel in the nation, POLITICO’s Wes Venteicher reports. According to AAA's price tracker, Washington took the top spot, with gas reaching $4.93 per gallon — about 7 cents higher than in California. At this time a year ago, a gallon of regular gas in California cost $6.38, approaching a record high that prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to launch a crusade against Big Oil. Newsom ultimately pushed into law a proposal that could lead to a penalty on oil companies’ profits. The proposal, Senate Bill X 1-2, requires oil market participants to begin submitting huge swaths of pricing data to the California Energy Commission next week for analysis. The commission will eventually decide whether to impose a limit on oil profits that a penalty would enforce. Proponents of the bill suggested that even the prospect of a penalty could help keep prices down. That remains to be seen.
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CFEC Meeting at WECA The next quarterly contractors meeting will be held at WECA’s California headquarters in Rancho Cordova on Tuesday, June 27 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm. Lunch will be provided! We will be discussing the following:
· City of Sacramento ballot initiative that seeks to build everything union.
· County of Sacramento's upcoming $1.3 billion airport project that is a PLA target.
Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost will be speaking to the group as well.
Please RSVP if you can attend and spread the word!
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And finally…
Jack Daniel’s wins trademark dispute case The U.S. Supreme Court recently sided with Jack Daniel’s in its years-long trademark dispute with a dog toy company. The case, Jack Daniel’s Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, centered on a squeaky dog toy called Silly Squeakers Liquor Bottles: Bad Spaniels, which resembles the bottle shape and font of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. But, instead of saying "Old No. 7 Brand" and "Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey" like Jack Daniel's bottles, the toy said, "The Old No. 2 on Your Tennessee Carpet," among other quips. While a lower court had sided with VIP, the Supreme Court disagreed, noting “the use of a mark does not count as noncommercial just because it parodies, or otherwise comments on, another’s products.”
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