We don’t share a lot of op/eds by California politicians, but this one by Assemblymember Raul Bocanegra (D-San Fernando) just seems to make a lot of sense so thought we’d share: For years, economists, business leaders and policymakers warned that the decline in blue-collar manufacturing jobs in California would leave us with a shrinking middle class, limited economic mobility and a plethora of social ills traditionally equated with systemic poverty. A recent report by the Los Angeles Economic ...

Well, you know how the saying goes.  SB 584 by California Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León implies that you can do a lot more to save and reduce Global Warming. A day after releasing a plan that would make California’s cap-and-trade program even less appealing to market-based solutions, Democrats in the Senate are introduced a proposal that calls for 100 percent of the retail electricity sold in the state to come from renewable energy sources by the end of 2045. Requiring all of the ...

We are happy to report that the Dual Agency Ban Bill, AB 1059 (Gonzalez Fletcher), has been pulled from the Assembly Judiciary Committee docket and we have been told by the author’s staff that she will not pursue the measure further right now (but that it may be revisited over the Interim Recess or next year).  This is great news and we appreciate the fact that Ms. Gonzalez Fletcher has chosen not to move forward with this bill. Right now is a good time to breathe a sigh of relief, and take stock ...

Our industry is part of a coalition that strongly supports AB 600 (Cooper; D-Elk Grove) and SB 600 (Galgiani; D-Stockton) two bills that encourage manufacturing investment in California by extending the existing partial Sales and Use Tax Exemption (STE) creating a more powerful incentive for manufacturing and R&D investments in California. These bills build upon the 2013 Governor’s Economic Development Initiative (GEDI) to encourage manufacturing investment and job creation in California. Extending ...

We are very pleased to report productive conversations with Senator Wiener (D-San Francisco) regarding his SB 71, a bill that is looking to better enable adoption of solar in residential and commercial settings.  Although this early version of the bill gives some of our members heartburn because it seems to unintentionally undermine the codes process in order to mandate solar in statute, through communications with Senator Wiener and his staff, we are hopeful our issues can be addressed. Strict ...

We are happy to report that the Dual Agency Ban Bill, AB 1059 (Gonzalez Fletcher), has been pulled from the Assembly Judiciary Committee docket and we have been told by the author’s staff that she will not pursue the measure further right now (but that it may be revisited over the Interim Recess or next year).  This is great news and we appreciate the fact that Ms. Gonzalez Fletcher has chosen not to move forward with this bill. Right now is a good time to breathe a sigh of relief, and take stock ...

Assemblymember Rudy Salas (D-Bakersfield) and Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) today announced that Assemblymember Adam Gray (D-Merced) has been named the convener of the informal caucus of moderate Democrat Assemblymembers known as the New Democrats, effective immediately, according to a press release from the group. “I am honored to have been selected as convener by my colleagues and look forward to working to find common ground and real solutions to the problems facing our state,” said ...

We are very pleased to report productive conversations with Senator Wiener (D-San Francisco) regarding his SB 71, a bill that is looking to better enable adoption of solar in residential and commercial settings.  Although this early version of the bill gives some of our members heartburn because it seems to unintentionally undermine the codes process in order to mandate solar in statute, through communications with Senator Wiener and his staff, we are hopeful our issues can be addressed. Strict ...

We are happy to report and want to thank all of you that helped, AB 199 (Chu; D-San Jose), a legislative proposal which would have posed a huge threat to the entire construction industry by mandating the payment of Prevailing Wages for private residential projects in California, has been amended in such a manner to address our issues. Due to the recent amendments to AB 199, our coalition, led by friends over at the California Building Industry Association (CBIA), have withdrawn its opposition to ...

Division of the State Architect has release its Access Compliance package which starts the 45-Day language comment period for the disabled access update (7/1/18).  Your Sacramento staff is reviewing the package to see if there are any objectionable provisions remaining (we have been working on this for the past year). We would like to make sure that members of the industry who work with the code also have the opportunity to review and provide comments on any potential issues.  Click here and go ...