Huntington Beach Councilman Tony Strickland Leads in Special Election for State Senate On Tuesday, Feb. 25, voters in California’s 36th State Senate District special election and an early tally of ballots in Orange and Los Angeles counties showed Republican Tony Strickland with a strong lead. As of the latest tally, Strickland maintained an early 51% lead over Democrat Jimmy Pham. Pham is an attorney and serves on Westminster’s traffic commission. Strickland, a Huntington Beach councilmember and former mayor, is eyeing a return to the California Legislature, where he has already served for a decade — first as an Assembly member from 1998 to 2004, then as a state senator from 2008 to 2012 — representing parts of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

“Tony Strickland has always been a great supporter of free enterprise and open competition,” said WECA’s Southern California Government Affairs Representative Dave Everett (pictured with Strickland). “Whether it is in the California Legislature or at the local level in Huntington Beach, merit shop contractors know they can count on Tony Strickland.” The special election was triggered after former State Senator Janet Nguyen vacated the seat to join the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Nguyen endorsed Strickland to succeed her in the Senate. The race for the 36th State Senate District, which includes communities in Los Angeles and Orange counties, could be decided outright if a candidate secures more than 50% of the vote in the primary, meaning the runoff election scheduled for April would be canceled.

Despite Strickland’s strong early lead, Orange County Democratic Party Chair Florice Hoffman said she is encouraged by the initial results. “It looks like Jimmy Pham will be in a runoff in this Republican district,” she said. Pham ran for the 70th Assembly District seat in 2024 but was defeated by Republican Assemblymember Tri Ta.  The 36th Senate District stretches from Seal Beach to San Clemente along the Orange County coast to a small portion of Los Angeles County. It includes portions of Buena Park, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Stanton, and Westminster in Orange County and Artesia, Cerritos, and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County. Republicans make up the district's most significant share of registered voters at 37.11%. Democrats follow with 33.93%, while 22.61% of voters are registered with no party preference. Whoever is elected in Tuesday’s primary or the general election in April will serve a term that runs through Dec. 7, 2026.



Huntington Beach Councilman Tony Strickland (left) and WECA Southern California Government Affairs Representative Dave Everett (right)

Stan Ellis (R) Wins Special Election for Assembly District 32 In a decisive victory, Bakersfield-area businessman Stan Ellis (whom WECA supported) has won the special election for California's 32nd Assembly District. Ellis, a Republican, secured 64% of the vote, avoiding a runoff and succeeding Vince Fong, who vacated the seat after winning a congressional election last year. Stan Ellis is a farmer, local businessman, and community member with deep roots in the Central Valley. Ellis's campaign focused on common-sense leadership, advocating for less regulation, safer communities, and economic opportunities. "This victory is a clear message that our communities want leadership that puts working families and our future first," Ellis stated in his victory email.

The district, which includes parts of Visalia and Bakersfield, has been without representation since June 2024. Ellis's win brings a renewed focus on addressing the critical needs of the Central Valley, and he expressed eagerness to begin his work in Sacramento.

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AZ’s Ciscomani Expresses Reservations Over House Republican Budget Resolution Southern Arizona U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R) is expressing reservations over a Republican budget blueprint that could result in significant cost shifts from the federal government to Arizona and negatively affect the state’s Medicaid program, known as AHCCCS, or the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. Story.

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Plaintiffs Are Responsible for Commencing Court-Ordered Arbitration The California Court of Appeal held that after the employer-defendant successfully moved to compel arbitration of the plaintiffs’ employment-related claims, the employer-defendant did not waive its right to arbitration by failing to commence arbitration. The fact that the employer was the only party that “wanted” arbitration was irrelevant. The arbitration agreement required the plaintiffs to initiate arbitration, which they failed to do. Michelle Arzate, et al. v. ACE American Insurance Company, Case No. B336829. Story

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Big day for crypto: The US Senate’s first subcommittee on digital asset policy convened this week. Punchbowl got a sneak peek at the opening remarks from the panel’s top Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.). The Arizona Democrat, whose election bid was backed by the crypto super PAC network Fairshake, will say crypto “presents both extraordinary opportunities and significant challenges.” Gallego will also stress the need for “robust oversight,” including a call to ensure crypto is “not used to circumvent existing laws on money laundering, tax evasion, or illicit financing.” Gallego also wants to focus on “encouraging productive and useful innovation to everyday Americans. The growth of things like ‘meme coins’ on everything from Trump to DOGE to Peanut the Squirrel are about flashy headlines and trending on social media, not about helping traditionally un- and under-banked communities gain access to the financial system.” [Punchbowl]

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Labor Nominee Gets a Boost Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan will vote to advance Lori Chavez-DeRemer through the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday, significantly boosting the chances that Trump’s Labor secretary nominee will get confirmed. Hassan is the first Democrat on the HELP Committee to say she will vote for Chavez-DeRemer, making up for potential opposition from panel member Rand Paul. [Politico]

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What is Happening on the Labor Front in DC? Kristen Swearingen Explains. A lot is going on in Washington, DC, these days. In this episode of Labor Relations Radio, Kristen Swearingen, Vice President, Legislative & Political Affairs at the Associated Builders & Contractors, Inc. and spokesperson for the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace, joins host Peter List to discuss some of the issues, including the re-introduction of the PRO Act, Sen. Josh Hawley’s “PRO Act-Lite” framework, as well as President Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Listen

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Bill Introductions in the California Legislature Over the past decade, the California Legislature and its 120 legislators have introduced between 1,900 and 2,600 bills per year, each year of the 2-year legislative session, by the February introduction deadline. Fewer than 50 additional bills get introduced after the deadline (e.g., due to a rule waiver or a bill introduced by a committee, which are not subject to the introduction deadline). The 2023 California Legislative Session saw more introductions than usual, the highest number in over a decade. The 2024 Session returned those introduction numbers to more normal levels. Story

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Guess Who Stymies Housing Construction A passel of recent California laws was supposed to supercharge the construction of desperately needed housing. According to YIMBY Law, they haven’t even come close. One California law was supposed to flip defunct strip malls across California into apartment-lined corridors.

Another was designed to turn under-used church parking lots into fonts of new affordable housing.

A third would, according to supporters and opponents alike, “end single-family zoning as we know it.” Fast-forward to 2025 and this spate of recent California laws, and others like it intended to supercharge the construction of desperately needed housing, have had “limited to no impact on the state’s housing supply.”

That damning conclusion comes from a surprising source: A new report by YIMBY Law, a pro-development nonprofit that would very much like to see these laws work.

“It’s grim,” said Sonja Trauss, executive director of YIMBY Law. Though she acknowledged some of the laws are still new, she blamed their early ineffectiveness on the legislative process which saddled these bills with unworkable requirements and glaring loopholes.

“Everybody wants a piece,” she said. “The pieces taken out during the process wind up derailing the initial concept.”

What are these requirements and loopholes that have prevented these laws from succeeding? Maybe not surprisingly, they are the frequent objects of critique by YIMBY Law and the Yes in My Backyard movement more generally.

One is the inclusion of requirements that developers only hire union-affiliated workers or pay their workers higher wages. Story

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Acting NLRB General Counsel Rescinds Controversial Memoranda On February 14, 2025, National Labor Relations Board Acting General Counsel William Cowen issued Memorandum 25-05, rescinding more than a dozen policy memos issued by his predecessor. Cowen cited an unsustainable backlog of cases as the primary motivation for the rescission. Cowen also signaled that he plans to publish new guidance to replace some of the rescinded memos. Others may be abandoned altogether. Learn More

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CSLB Newsletter Please enjoy the Winter 2025 edition of the California Licensed Contractor Newsletter – a quarterly newsletter from the Contractors State License Board.

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Santa Barbara County Supervisors Are Planning to Give Themselves a 48% Raise On February 25, 2025, the Santa Barbara County Supervisors are planning to give themselves a 48% raise. You read that right. According to Andy Caldwell, Executive Director of the government watchdog COLAB (Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business), that means they will be making $171, 309 per year for a part-time job. They are currently paid $115,000. Story

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Hawley Sells Moreno on Government Control of Private Contracts Punchbowl News has reported that Senator Bernie Moreno (R-OH) is cosponsoring one of the bills based on Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) recently released legislative framework implementing a “new direction” for Republican labor policy, which ironically appears to consist entirely of provisions stolen from Senator Bernie Sanders’ (D-VT) Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act (S 567, HR 20, 118th Congress) and Senator Markey’s bill that brings the warehouse sector under government control and creates a new subagency at the Department of Labor (Warehouse Worker Protection Act, S 5208, 118th Congress). The framework is expected to be broken down into five pieces, and Moreno is reportedly cosponsoring the legislation that would implement government control over management-union contract negotiations.

The legislation, the Faster Labor Contracts Act, requires employers and unions to begin negotiating collective bargaining agreements within 10 days after a union wins a representation election and execute their agreement within months. Consequences for failing to meet this arbitrary timeline is mandatory arbitration, where government-appointed arbitrators set terms for the first contract. [Employment Policy Network]

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Electricity Causes 150 Workplace Deaths Each Year Electricity continues to be one of the leading causes of workplace fatalities and injuries in the U.S., according to new workplace safety statistics from ESFI.

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Mayor and San Diego Supervisor Candidate John McCann Visits WECA San Diego With less than 6 weeks until the April 8, 2025, special election for San Diego County Supervisor, WECA was proud to host Chula Vista Mayor John McCann for a tour and a discussion about workforce development this week at WECA’s San Diego Training Center. Joined by WECA Board President and CDM Electric Vice President Dru Wells, Bill Baber, and Dave Everett from WECA’s Government Affairs team, Mayor McCann sat down with WECA to discuss workforce development, public works projects, and apprenticeship opportunities.

Mayor John McCann is running for the open San Diego County Supervisor seat for District 1. With two Democrats and two Republicans on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, this election will decide which party sets the agenda for the county’s budget and services. A special election will occur on April 8th, with a possible runoff in July if no candidate wins 50% +1 votes. Three Democrats — San Diego City Councilmember Vivian Moreno, Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, and Chula Vista Councilmember Carolina Chavez — and one Republican, Chula Vista Mayor John McCann, have confirmed they are running. Vivian Moreno voted for a discriminatory PLA on all City of San Diego construction, as did Carolina Chavez for the City of Chula Vista. And while the Laborers Union has endorsed Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, she has not yet imposed a PLA on Imperial Beach. Mayor John McCann, of course, voted against the PLA in the City of Chula Vista.

On the tour of our San Diego facility this week with Mayor McCann, WECA highlighted how apprenticeship presents great opportunities for students, and how beneficial it is for young adults to begin adulthood debt-free. We also discussed some of the discrimination and cost increases involved with PLAs. Thank you, Mayor McCann, for taking time out of your busy schedule to learn more about our members and students. It was a critical discussion on the region’s workforce development needs as well as some of the challenges facing the construction industry in California.

Do Voters Want OSHA to Go Away? Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., last month proposed the Nullify Occupational Safety and Health Administration Act, which would abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 that created OSHA. Biggs introduced similar legislation in 2021, which stalled out after it was referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor. “OSHA’s existence is yet another example of the federal government creating agencies to address issues that are more appropriately handled by state governments and private employers,” Biggs said in a statement in 2021. Perhaps someone should remind Biggs that only 22 states (including Arizona) have OSHA-approved state plans. I guess workers in those 28 other States are SOL. Story

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Trump's Labor Secretary Pick Is a Union Favorite—And a Threat to Right-to-Work Laws Given the salacious allegations against some of President Donald Trump's cabinet nominations, it is understandable how Secretary of Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer has mostly flown under the radar. But from a policy perspective, Chavez-DeRemer's voting record is concerning—especially for those who value federalism and coercion-free workplaces. For most of her political career, Chavez-DeRemer, who lost her Oregon congressional seat in November, has been a polarizing figure. The daughter of a Teamster, her soft spot for unions puts her at odds with her Republican colleagues and right-of-center groups. In a letter to the Senate, National Right to Work Committee president Mark Mix wrote that Chavez-DeRemer's judgment is "clearly compromised" and that she "must be rejected as the Secretary of Labor."

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DOD Halts Plans on Construction Projects The Department of Defense has ordered its contracting officers to halt the use of project labor agreements on “large-scale construction projects,” according to a memo published by Construction Dive. The notice, dated Feb. 7, says contracting officers shall remove PLA requirements created by former President Joe Biden that apply to projects receiving $35 million or more in federal funds. As part of the memo—signed by John M. Tenaglia, principal director of defense pricing, contracting and acquisition policy for the DOD—contracting officers were ordered to amend solicitations for federal contracts to remove PLA requirements.

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California’s First-in-Nation COVID-19 Regulation Finally Rides Off Into the Sunset (Mostly…) Nearly all the substantive provisions of Cal/OSHA’s non-emergency COVID-19 regulation expired on Monday, February 3, 2025. The event marked a significant end point to the regulatory journey that began on November 19, 2020, when California became the first jurisdiction to enact general workplace regulations specifically addressing COVID-19. California’s detailed COVID-19 requirements remained in effect much longer than those of any other jurisdiction, most of which already expired more than a year ago. Despite the expiration of nearly all the COVID-19 non-emergency regulations, employers should remain attentive to their ongoing workplace safety duties. More

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Legislation

AB 76 Alvarez (D) Current law prescribes requirements for the disposal of surplus land by a local agency. Current law defines terms for these purposes. Current law defines “exempt surplus land” to mean, among other things, land that is subject to a sectional planning area, as described, and meets specified requirements, including that at least 25% of the units are dedicated to lower income households, as specified, and that is developed at an average density of at least 10 units per acre, calculated with respect to the entire sectional planning area. This bill would change those requirements so that at least 25% of units that are not designated for students, faculty, or staff of an academic institution must be dedicated to lower income households, as specified, and that the land must be developed at an average density of at least 10 units per acre, calculated with respect to the entire sectional planning area and inclusive of housing designated for students, faculty, and staff of an academic institution. WECA Position: SIA (Support if Amended)

AB 231 Ta (R) Would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2031, allow a credit against the Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law taxes to a qualified taxpayer in an amount equal to 40% of the qualified wages paid or incurred to a qualified employee employed during the taxable year. The bill would define a qualified employee for this purpose to mean an individual that, among other things, has been convicted of a felony, as provided, and has a hiring date not more than one year after the date the individual was convicted or was released from prison. WECA Position: Support

AB 296 Davies (R) Current law provides for the establishment of apprenticeship programs in various trades, to be approved by the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards within the Department of Industrial Relations in any trade in the state or in a city or trade area whenever the apprentice training needs justify the establishment. Current law requires a school district or school to notify each apprenticeship program in the same county as the school district or school of a career or college fair it is planning to hold, as specified. Current law provides that the Legislature encourages school districts and schools to host apprenticeship fair events, as provided. This bill would delete the above-specified provision regarding the Legislature’s encouragement to school districts and schools and would, instead, require school districts and schools to host at least one apprenticeship fair event during each school year, as specified. WECA Position: Support

AB 303 Addis (D) Current law, until June 30, 2029, authorizes a person proposing an eligible facility, including an energy storage system capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy, to submit an application for certification with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission of the site and related facility. Current law specifies that the issuance by the commission of the certificate is in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by any state, local, or regional agency, or federal agency to the extent permitted by federal law, except as provided. Existing law establishes the procedures by which the commission is to review the application. This bill would specify that energy storage systems do not include battery energy storage systems for the above-described purposes. WECA Position: Oppose

AB 305 Arambula (D) Current law prohibits the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission from certifying a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except for specified powerplants, and provides that a nuclear fission thermal powerplant, except those specified powerplants, is not a permitted land use in California unless certain conditions are met regarding the existence of technology for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel rod processing plants and of demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste, as specified. This bill would exempt small modular reactors, as defined, from those provisions. WECA Position: Support

AB 345 Jackson (D) Current law provides for apprenticeship programs within the Division of Apprenticeship Standards within the Department of Industrial Relations, sponsored by specific entities and employers, and requires the Chief of the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to perform various functions with respect to apprenticeship programs and the welfare of apprentices, including the approval of new apprenticeship programs. Current law makes any person who willfully discriminates in any recruitment or apprenticeship program, as specified, guilty of a misdemeanor. This bill would require the Division of Apprenticeship Standards to confirm the completeness of an application for a new apprenticeship program within 30 days of receiving the application. The bill would provide that, where the chief has not made a final determination on a completed application for a new program within 6 months of receiving the application, the program shall have conditional approval to operate if it satisfies specified conditions, including approval by the United States Department of Labor. The bill would require the chief to make a final determination on an application for a new apprenticeship program within one year of receiving a completed application. The bill would provide its provisions do not apply to apprenticeship programs in the building and construction trades or to firefighter programs. WECA Position: SIA

ACR 28 Ortega (D) Would proclaim the week of March 2, 2025, to March 8, 2025, inclusive, as Women in Construction Week. WECA Position: Support

SB 61 Cortese (D) Current law generally governs retention payments withheld with respect to a contract for a private work of improvement, including by requiring an owner that withholds a retention from a direct contractor to, within 45 days after completion of the work of improvement, pay the retention to the contractor. This bill would limit the amount of a retention payment with respect to a contract for a private work of improvement by, among other things, prohibiting a retention payment withheld from a payment by an owner from the direct contractor, by the direct contractor from any subcontractor, and by a subcontractor from any subcontractor thereunder, for a private work of improvement, from exceeding 5% of the payment. WECA Position: Support

SB 75 Smallwood-Cuevas (D) Current law establishes the Pre-Release Construction Trades Certificate Program within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to increase employment opportunities in the construction trades for incarcerated persons upon release. Current law requires the department to establish a joint advisory committee, composed of representatives from specified organizations and state agencies, for the purpose of implementation of the program and specifies the duties of the committee with respect to the program. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation relating to postrelease apprenticeship programs. WECA Position: Support

SB 84 Niello (R) Would prohibit a construction-related accessibility claim for statutory damages from being initiated in a legal proceeding against a defendant who employs 50 or fewer individuals, as specified, unless the defendant has been served with a letter specifying each alleged violation, and the alleged violations have not been corrected within 120 days of service of the letter. The bill would provide that a defendant is not liable for statutory damages, plaintiff’s attorney’s fees, or costs for an alleged violation that is corrected within 120 days of service of a letter alleging the violation. The bill would also prohibit a plaintiff from avoiding the notice and opportunity to correct provisions and the liability limitations by claiming they are seeking general discrimination damages based on a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 if the underlying claim is based on a defendant’s failure to comply with physical accessibility standards under California law. WECA Position: Support

SB 272 Becker (D) The Local Agency Public Construction Act sets forth procedures that a local agency is required to follow when procuring certain services or work. The act also sets forth specific public contracting requirements for certain transit districts, including the San Mateo County Transit District, for construction work contracts. The act authorizes certain local agencies, including school districts and community college districts, to engage in job order contracting, as prescribed. This bill would establish a pilot program to authorize the San Mateo County Transit District to use job order contracting as a procurement method. The bill would impose a $5,000,000 cap on awards under a single job order contract and a $1,000,000 cap on any single job order. The bill would limit the term of an initial contract to a maximum of 12 months, with extensions as prescribed. The bill would establish various procedures and requirements for the use of job order contracting under the pilot program. WECA Position: SIA

SB 291 Grayson (D) Current law generally requires, as a condition precedent to the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, renewal, or continued maintenance of a contractor license, a licensed contractor or applicant for licensure to have on file at all times with the Contractors State License Board a current and valid Certificate of Workers’ Compensation Insurance or Certification of Self-Insurance in the applicant’s or licensee’s business name, as specified. Current law generally makes a violation of these provisions a misdemeanor. Current law exempts from this requirement an applicant or licensee who has no employees, provided that they file a statement with the board before the issuance, reinstatement, reactivation, or continued maintenance of a license certifying that they do not employ any person, as specified, and who does not hold a specified license issued by the board, including a C-8 license, as defined. Existing law repeals these provisions on January 1, 2028. This bill would instead repeal the above-described provisions on January 1, 2027. WECA Position: Oppose