By Rorie Johnston CEO Escondido Chamber of Commerce
Today, I received this timely article from Cal Chamber regarding AB1250.
What makes it timely? Our City Council has been reviewing the options to outsource the daily operations of the Escondido Public Library to LS&S or to have the city library operated by the county library system. A final decision is anticipated at today’s city council meeting at 4:30.
What is AB 1250 Counties: Contracts for Personal Services (Jones-Sawyer; D-South Los Angeles)?
The short answer: AB 1250 imposes requirements on counties to justify the need for contracting out personal services. If a savings is determined and a contract entered in to, monthly audits of the contract must be performed to determine if anticipated cost savings of the contract have been realized. The contractors would be required to reimburse the agency for the cost of the analysis, and would be prohibited from factoring the cost of the audit into the contract costs, thereby imposing a fee on the contractor.
There is also a security risk with this bill.
The contractor would be required, on a monthly basis, to furnish the names and hourly rates of all contractor and subcontractor employees, as well as any independent contractor’s names and compensation. This private information would be provided to anyone who makes a request, per the Public Records Act.
Though this bill is directed to county government, in an earlier draft, cities were also included.
City and County government often relies upon private contractors to provide public services as a means to efficiently manage the budget. Should outsourcing of services be hindered by insurmountable barriers imposed by legislation?
What can you do?
September 1 is the deadline for all bills to be sent to the Senate and Assembly floors. You can voice your concern to Senator Joel Anderson and Assembly Woman Marie Waldron. Cal Chamber has also created a quick link response form in opposition to AB 1250 with a recommendation to hold the bill in the appropriations committee.
Sincerely,
Rorie Johnston
Read bill AB 1250 here.
Read CalChamber’s response to AB 1250 here.
