The Senate Governmental Organization Committee will take up a bill today aimed at fixing a flawed bidding system for public school roofing projects that an Assembly investigation found limits competition and increases costs for the state.
Assembly Bill 635, would set new requirements for bidding on state and school roofing projects, including that project standards are written in a way that multiple manufacturers qualify to bid and that financial relationships between parties involved in the project are disclosed during the process.
The legislation stemmed from an Assembly Committee on Accountability and Administrative Review staff investigation that found that despite current laws mandating a competitive bidding process, overly narrow project specifications for school roofing jobs were in some cases limiting competition to the products of one manufacturer, disqualifying potential bidders and resulting in significantly higher project costs.
Contractors testifying at a June hearing on the committee's report estimated that restrictive bidding requirements could increase project costs 60 to 100 percent, resulting in end costs that were $128,000 and $500,000 above industry averages.
The hearing is at 9:30 a.m. in Room 4203.
Also under the dome today, The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee takes a look at Proposition 21, a November ballot measure that would increase annual vehicle registration fees to fund the state parks system. The hearing is at 1:30 p.m. in Room 4203.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will talk about the state budget -- which is now 41 days late -- at a 9:45 a.m. event with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.
REPORT: The state Legislature's Tri-Caucus is holding an 11:30 a.m. presser on the West Steps to detail four new reports on health issues facing the state's Latino, African American, Asian-Pacific Islander and Native American communities. The reports are produced by UC Berkeley's School of Public Health's California Program on Access to Care with support from the California Endowment.
GOV2010: Meg Whitman makes a campaign stop in the Central Valley, where she's scheduled to talk about her jobs plan at Evangelho Seed and Farm Store in Lemoore.
SENATE2010: Republican Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina has a full schedule today with campaign stops at Sacramento's Blue Diamond almond company, Bakersfield's ARRC Technology and San Jose's Renewable Power Solutions Inc.
FUNDRAISER: Assembly Speaker John A. Perez is holding a big-ticket fundraiser for the state Democratic Party at Mix Downtown. Tickets run from $2,000 to $25,000 for the event.
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