SB 1340

Bill Subjects

Abstract

The Unruh Civil Rights Act generally prohibits business establishments from discriminating on specified bases. The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (act) prohibits discrimination in housing and employment on specified bases. Existing law establishes the Civil Rights Department (department) and prescribes its functions, duties, and powers, including to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute complaints alleging employment discrimination pursuant to specified laws, including the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the act. This bill would require the department, in collaboration with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, to develop partnerships with local agencies that allow local agencies to assist with preventing and eliminating unlawful practices under the act, as specified. The bill would require a local agency that pursues a complaint pursuant to these provisions to receive, investigate, conciliate, mediate, and prosecute the complaint using procedures that are substantially similar to the procedures described above within one year of the complaint being filed with the local agency. The bill would authorize a person claiming to be aggrieved by an alleged unlawful practice to file a verified complaint with the department that requests that the complaint be pursued by a local agency pursuant to these provisions, and would require the department, within 30 days of receiving that complaint, to determine whether to pursue the complaint or to issue a letter authorizing the complainant to pursue the complaint through a local agency or through a civil action, as specified. The bill would prescribe procedures of a complaint pursued by a local agency. The bill would require the department to include information about local agencies entering partnerships and complaints being processed by local agencies pursuant to these provisions, as specified. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. Existing law specifies that while it is the intention of the Legislature that the act occupy the field of regulation of discrimination in employment and housing, the act does not limit or restrict the application of the Unruh Civil Rights Act. This bill would, commencing on January 1, 2026, also specify that nothing in the act shall be construed to limit or restrict efforts by local entities to enforce state law prohibiting discrimination against classes of persons covered by the act in employment, provided that the enforcement complies with the provisions described above. Existing law requires specified state agencies to convene relevant stakeholders to provide input on recommendations to establish terms to be included as a material part of a contract, including measurable results to ensure that investments maximize benefits to marginalized and disadvantaged communities, meet with those stakeholders, as specified, and consult with the department and other specified entities for the purposes of developing those recommendations, as specified. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature in enacting those provisions to develop procurement models in alignment with initiatives to enhance the state's training and access pipeline for quality jobs and the application of community benefits on infrastructure and manufacturing investments funded by specified federal law. This bill would require the department to establish and maintain a comprehensive database to track all infrastructure contracting and procurement activities by state agencies funded in whole or in part by certain federal laws, as specified. The bill would require a contractor or subcontractor under an infrastructure contract awarded by a state agency funded in whole or in part by certain federal laws to report to the department specified demographic data, and would require the contractor or subcontractor to conduct a survey to collect this data, as specified. The bill would impose civil penalties for a contractor's or subcontractor's failure to comply with these provisions, as specified. The bill would require the department to publish on its internet website a report containing certain data, as specified, and would require data collected pursuant to these provisions to be confidential, as specified. The bill would require the department to collaborate with relevant state agencies, local governments, and stakeholders to develop and implement strategies for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in public infrastructure contracting and procurement. The bill would require the department to conduct outreach and educational activities to raise awareness of civil rights laws and regulations that impact public infrastructure contracting and procurement. The bill would require a state agency that enters into a project labor agreement to utilize the database to enforce any employee demographic requirements in the project labor agreement, as specified. Existing law establishes the Department of Industrial Relations, one of the functions of which is to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of wage earners of California, to improve their conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment. This bill would require the Department of Industrial Relations to establish a California Public Infrastructure Task Force, consisting of specified members, to, among other things, regularly conduct meetings to make recommendations regarding recruiting and removing barriers to employment in public infrastructure projects for underrepresented communities and to provide ongoing compliance assistance to contractors and subcontractors in public infrastructure projects regarding their nondiscrimination obligations. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature that, to the extent possible, the funding for the bill's provisions would include specified federal law. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.