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9.A 9 Legislative Bill Action ................................ ............................... authorize a contractor to bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to recover from a local agency any increased costs incurred by the contractor as a result of any decision that classi- fies, after the time at which the awarding body accepts the contractor's bid, a project as a "public work." Under current law prevailing wages are required to be paid on local public projects that are "public works" - this is not in dispute. Unfortu- nately, this bill imposes on local agencies the cost for prevailing wages and penalties in circum- stances where, through no fault of the local agency, a construction contractor or subcontrac- tor fails to pay prevailing wages to its workers. This bill could cost local agencies millions of dollars a year in added costs and penalties. Staff: Natasha Fooman, Status: AsmFlr, Position: Oppose. SCR 49 (Benoit). Prevailing Wage Rates. Charter Cities. This resolution was introduced on 8/2703 and passed out of the Senate by a vote of 24 -14 on 9/2/03. SCR 49 promotes a conclu- sion that would substantially drive up construction costs for most California cities by suggesting that state prevailing wage law apply to all projects subsidized with public funds, including the projects of chartered cities. Existing law does not require Charter Cities to pay prevailing wages. SCR 49 is another example of the erosion of local control. Staff: Natasha Fooman, Status:Asm, Position: Oppose. HOUSING AND LAND USE AB 1192 (Dutra); SB 619 (Ducheny) League Removal of Opposition. Last week the League removed its opposition to two land use bills which had been controversial earlier in the session. Both of these bills have been extensively amended from their earlier forms, with the most objection- able provisions removed. AB 1192 (Dutra), clarifies that pre -2003 devel- opment agreements and applications for subdivi- sion maps are not subject to the provisions of your AB 2292 (Dutra). c. 706 Statutes of 2002, which prohibited a local government from reducing, requiring, or permitting the reduction of the resi- dential density for any parcel below the density that was utilized by the Department of Housing and Community Development in determining compliance with housing element law unless the local government made specified findings, and ensured that there was no net loss of city avail- able sites and densities. In addition, this legisia- tion states that local governments are "solely" responsible for compliance with this law. Although the "grandfathering" provisions were a step in the right direction, in removing its opposition, the League made it clear to the author that additional changes to last year's AB 2292 are necessary to avoid unnecessary delays to the development process. Striking a balance between concerns over unjustified local downzoning, and the practi- cal realities faced by both local governments and housing developers at the parcel level remains critical. Staff: Dan Carrigg, Status: In Assembly, Concurrence in Senate Amendments, Position: Neutral. SB 619 (Ducheny), contains several different legislative proposals ranging from housing devel- opment approvals, to litigation, to the Coastal Commission, to administrative changes to the Cal -Home program. Earlier versions of the legislation attracted significant opposition from a variety of environmental and local government groups, but the many amendments adopted during the year sufficiently addressed many of the outstanding issues. While removing opposition, the League made it clear to the author that Sec- tion (2) of the bill - which reduces local ability to request conditional use permits on specified multifamily projects - although narrowly con- strued, is symptomatic of a disturbing trend in recent legislation that reduces opportunities for public input on housing projects. Such measures could have the unintended consequence of shifting contentious land use issues from the public forum to the courts and state ballot box. Staff: Dan Carrigg, Status: In Senate, Unfinished Business, Position: Neutral. Visit the League's Official Web Site-- www.cacities.org PRIORITY FOCUS /PAGE 6