The last actions of the 2022 California legislative session took place on September 30th, which was the deadline for Governor Newsom to sign or veto legislation. WPCCA again had a highly effective legislative session pursuing industry measures, including making 5% retention on public works a permanent policy; tightening up contractors’ state licensing law to ensure compliance with permitting and workers compensation insurance requirements; securing relief for employers who paid out COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave; and providing increased access to payroll information for our industry labor compliance programs. 2022 was also a challenging year as it related to general employer legislation, due to the legislature’s continued push for employment laws that circumvent the sanctity of our industry collective bargaining agreements. Protecting the wage, hour and working conditions that the industry jointly negotiates has become the highest priority when reviewing legislation. State mandated deviations from those pacts takes away from the union construction industry’s ability to not only compete for work, but also recruit workers, and organize contractors.
In reviewing the scorecard, it is important to remember that both houses of California’s legislature have 2/3 democratic supermajorities, making it difficult to stop progressive and environmentally slanted bills that adversely impact our contractors. Despite that fact, WPCCA was again successful in defeating or amending numerous measures that would have been harmful to our contractors and the industry overall.