Legislation and Taxes
Next week, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee will consider AB 1671 (Huffman) which extends the sunset for zero retention withholding on CalTrans projects.
In 2008, SB 593 (Margett) was signed into law. This legislation prohibited the Department of Transportation (CalTrans) from withholding retention proceeds from its contractors when making progress payments for work performed on any transportation project. CalTrans had previously modified its contract policies on federally funded projects to eliminate retention on progress payments between CalTrans and its prime contractors, and its contractors and their subcontractors. SB 593 merely extended this policy to all CalTrans projects regardless of funding source. AB 1671 extends the sunset of the zero percent retention provision for all CalTrans' construction projects from its current 2014 date to 2020.
GSBE’s letter of support is here.
Initiative Update
While there could be a very crowded November ballot with a host of ballot measures, there will only be two measures on the June ballot:
Proposition 28 is a modification to the state's term limits law for members of the Legislature. If approved by voters, future legislators would be allowed to serve up to 12 years in either the Assembly or Senate -- thus eliminating the current practice of politicians jumping from one chamber or the other to get a full 14 years of service at the Capitol.
Proposition 29 seeks to add $1 in taxes to each pack of cigarettes sold in California, with the money (backers estimate $700 million a year) earmarked for cancer research. The battle lines here are drawn largely between anti-smoking groups and Big Tobacco.
For November, most of the discussion is on three competing tax measures. The Governor is working hard to have the other two stand down so he can compete without confusion on the ballot. So far, no one has blinked.
Here is a comparison chart of the three measures for your clarification.
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