To:        CALSAGA Members

From:    Jeff Flint, Association Manager

             William Hodges, Deputy Association Manager

Re:        Legislative bills CALSAGA is tracking

Date:     March 13, 2007

The 2007-2008 California Legislative Session is off and running and literally thousands of bills have been introduced.  With the help from CALSAGA lobbyist Kelly Jensen, we have assembled a list of bills that we are tracking.  Click here to view the list. 

As you know, our top legislative goal for 2007 is finding a solution to the issue of meal/rest break periods.  CALSAGA continues to work behind the scenes, meeting with the Governor’s senior legislative staff and coordinating meetings with key legislators and other interest groups working to address this issue.  We will continue to meet with and discuss this with all parties whose influence will ultimately weigh heavily on the success or failure of our efforts.

A coalition of large employers has sponsored Senate Bill 212 authored by Senator Mark Wyland (R-Oceanside) that would provide a comprehensive fix to the meal/rest break period issue.  Because the bill seeks to completely overhaul the how the State classifies meal/rest break periods, there is a high probability that it will be defeated in its first committee hearing.

Anticipating that this could happen, CALSAGA is already looking at other legislative vehicles where a specific fix for the security industry on meal/rest break periods could be incorporated into another bill later in the session. 

At our request, Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) will be authoring a new bill on behalf of CALSAGA.  SB 666 seeks to require Proprietary Security Officers (PSOs) to complete similar training to that required of contract security officers.  Many of you probably recall that this provision was originally part of SB 194, but it was carved out during the legislative process.

Now that PSOs need to apply with BSIS and go through a mandatory background check, SB 666 will be one more step in professionalizing our industry and will further protect consumers and the public.  

Another bill we are closely monitoring is Assembly Bill 408, authored by Assemblymember Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys), which would require a prevailing wage for any security officer working on public contracts.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (916) 930-0052 or via email at whodges@calsaga.org.  We will continue to track all the bills on the list and give you periodical updates as we move forward.