First, the entire law-making authority of the state, except the people's right of initiative and referendum, is vested in the Legislature, and that body may exercise any and all legislative powers which are not expressly or by necessary implication denied to it by the Constitution. Article III, section 3 of the California Constitution states: "The powers of state government are legislative, executive, and judicial. 4th 607, 615 [47 Cal. Jason's responsibilities include new product development, regulatory approval & Product Management. (a)) that allows the state to contract for "personal services" to obtain cost savings, if it can achieve these savings without ignoring other applicable civil service requirements (e.g., use of publicized, competitive bidding, no undercutting of state pay rates, no displacement of state workers or infringement of affirmative action plans, and no overriding public interest in having the state perform the function). (2) Contrary to new section 14130, subdivision (a)(4), Caltrans has not demonstrated that, because it must use private contracting to perform project delivery "adequately and competently," its actions fall within another exception to the civil service mandate. We further conclude the trial court properly found Chapter 433's legislative findings and declarations provided insufficient basis for modifying its 1990 injunction. [15 Cal. 114, 708 P.2d 693] [legislation must be upheld unless conflict with constitutional provision is "clear and unquestionable"].) opn. (Fn. [Citation.]" (Professional Engineers, supra, 13 Cal.App.4th at p. As one appellate decision has observed, "Decisional law interprets article VII as a restriction on the 'contracting out' of state activities or tasks to the private sector. Presuming the Legislature acted with integrity and with the desire that Chapter 433 be valid and fall within constitutional bounds (Beach v. Von Detten, supra, 139 Cal. As Caltrans observes, in an uncodified section of Chapter 433 ( 13), the Legislature authorized a future study to compare civil service and private contracting costs to help determine the most economical mix of public and private service provision. Co. v. Wilson (1995) 11 Cal. The practice acts are Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical Engineering. as amended July 14, 1993). (^qq%q%ARm,k\tESrEq\?bjrA!9 844-846.) 419.) All applicants are required to supply the Board with a full set of fingerprints upon submittal of an application for licensure/certification. Com. More than 80% of these employees are represented by one of the states 21 bargaining units in the collective bargaining process. 2d 350] [ability to judicially notice truth of statements "seriously doubted"]; Western Mutual Ins. (a)(1)). (b), 14130.3. 844. (See California State Employees' Assn. Recall Election - California Fair Political Practices Commission opn., ante, at p. What standard of evidence would the reviewing court require? (Amezcua v. City of Pomona (1985) 170 Cal. of Alcoholic Bev. (Art. I would affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal. 2d 126, 134-136 [69 P.2d 985, 111 A.L.R. Professional Engineer Licensure Available in California: You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Sign up for our free summaries and get the latest delivered directly to you. 3d 951, 957, this court determined that it must "subject to careful scrutiny any legislation restricting the ability of defendants to cross-examine witnesses whose testimony is offered as evidence of probable cause [at a preliminary hearing]." Rptr. Any inability of civil service staff to deliver project workload on time is attributable to Caltrans's policy of inadequate staffing and reliance on private contracting. Code, 14130, subd. Professional Engineers in California Government: 80: 10: California Association of Professional Scientists: 80: 11: Service Employees International Union: 80: 12: International Union of Operating Engineers: 80: 13: . Caltrans failed to appeal those orders. 854, 616 P.2d 836] (involuntary conservatorship provisions); In re Klor (1966) 64 Cal. 1209 (1993-1994 Reg. 3d 287, 296-297 [250 Cal. 594.) 2d 444, 453 [75 Cal. Caltrans suggests that the "nature of the services," and "new state function" tests are difficult to apply and can lead to anomalous results. (1978) 90 Wn.2d 698 [585 P.2d 474, 475]; see also Kaplan, The Law of Civil Service (1958) pp. "Whether a factual finding is true is a different question than whether the truth of that factual finding may or may not be subsequently litigated a second time. 4th 554]. No express or implied finding and no evidentiary support exist to sustain such a provision. (a)(4). In effect, the trial court circumvented Lockard and Stevenson by taking judicial notice of the truth of its own findings. Under these circumstances, the legislative judgment may not be set aside. Thus, the court concluded that Chapter 433's legislative findings and directives are "obviously erroneous, unreasonable and inconsistent with the constitutional civil service mandate," and for that reason the provisions are unconstitutional to the extent they purport to authorize Caltrans to contract privately without a factual showing that the contract is permissible under applicable constitutional principles. On the one hand, the plaintiff relied on the presumption of constitutionality to argue for a deferential standard, while its opponents argued the question was one of statutory interpretation which the court should consider de novo. It also puts lives at risk. In preparation for completing my Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, I took a break from formal studies and worked for 2 years as a land surveyor in Atlanta, Georgia (FEB 1986 - JAN . 552, 537 P.2d 384]; Miller v. Municipal Court, supra, 22 Cal.2d at p. 828; see San Francisco Taxpayers Assn. 2d 453, 461-462 [202 P.2d 38, 7 A.L.R.2d 990].) As there described by the Court of Appeal, "[t]his legislation arose from a legislative determination that '[p]ublic sources of revenues to provide an efficient transportation system have not kept pace with California's growing transportation needs, and alternative funding sources should be developed to augment or supplement available public sources of revenue.' omitted. ), In short, the Riley decision and its progeny seem typical of the restraints many other jurisdictions, including the federal government, have imposed on private contracting. As previously explained, the Legislature's factual determinations may be set aside or disregarded by the courts only if the fact of error " 'appears beyond reasonable doubt from facts or evidence which cannot be controverted, and of which the courts may properly take notice.' The propriety of the use of extrinsic materials in determining legislative intent is a question which may properly be considered on appeal regardless of whether the issue was raised in the trial court." A Span in Time tells the saga of the 2007 Labor Day weekend Bay Bridge construction project, with the now-legendary C.C. Individuals with a special immigrant visa that have been granted a status pursuant to section 1244 of Public Law 110-181, Public Law 109-163, or section 602(b) of title VI of division F of Public Law 111-8. [Citation.] The Professional Engineers in California Government, which represents about 11,000 state engineers, recently contributed $250,000 to the main campaign committee supporting Newsom. In 2003, 2010, 2012, and 2020 PLP was reinitiated to assist in achieving budget savings to improve the state's ability to meet its financial obligations. (Pacific Legal Foundation v. Brown (1981) 29 Cal. Dennis F. Moss, Gary P. Reynolds, Harry J. Gibbons, Sam A. McCall, Jr., Neil Robertson, Williams, Romanski, Polverari & Skelton and Anthony M. Santana as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Respondents. (3) Contrary to Caltrans's contention, new section 14130.1, characterizing seismic retrofitting services as a "short-term workload demand," fails to constitute adequate justification for private contracting because it fails to consider the civil service staff available and obtainable to perform the work. If applicants fail to provide additional information or references within 90 days following the request by Board staff, the application may be considered abandoned, and the application fee forfeited (Title 16, California Code of Regulations section 428). These sections appear consistent with the decisional law interpreting article VII. Co. v. Deukmejian, supra, 48 Cal.3d at p. 814), the judiciary should not interfere. What Constitutes a Satisfactory Reference? (The provisions Chapter 433 added are effective only until January 1, 1998, unless extended.) 572.) Brad Starr - Principal Engineer / Resident Engineer / Office Manager In like manner, section 14130.1, which deems engineering services for the seismic safety retrofit program a "short-term workload demand," is aimed, according to the Court of Appeal majority, at relieving Caltrans from its obligation to have its civil service staff perform this work. Rptr. 109.). App. of Education (1955) 134 Cal. A title authority indicates a proficiency in that field greater than what is required for Civil Engineering licensure. 2d 515, 522 [20 Cal. This is a fairly common procedure." 2d 740] [rejecting motorcyclists' due process challenge to helmet law and holding that state had no obligation to come forward with evidence controverting motorcyclists' evidence that helmet law did not accomplish intended safety purpose]; Rittenband v. Cory (1984) 159 Cal. CSEA determined that cost savings or efficiency would be a relevant, though not conclusive, factor in applying Riley's "nature of the services" test. Section 14130.2 also provides that Caltrans "may balance the need for outside contracting for these services on a program basis, rather than on an individual contract basis." 283, 816 P.2d 1309] [rejecting federal constitutional challenge to term limits initiative and finding no need for initiative's defenders to empirically demonstrate that the initiative will accomplish each of its objectives]; Buhl v. Hannigan (1993) 16 Cal. VII, 1 (article VII)) and its implied mandate limiting the state's authority to contract with private entities to perform services the state has historically or customarily performed. If so, would the constitutionality of legislation then become a question of which side hired the best attorney? ', "In Pacific Indemnity Co. v. Indus. as amended June 24, 1993; Sen. Appropriations Com., Fiscal Summary of Sen. Bill. 397.) 273, 279 , the court held that 'where a constitutional provision may well have either of two meanings, it is a fundamental rule of constitutional construction that, if the Legislature has by statute adopted one, its action in this respect is well nigh, if not completely, controlling. Where more than one reasonable meaning exists, it is our duty to accept that chosen by the legislature.' (1995) 10 Cal. View James Bourbos' profile on LinkedIn, the world's largest professional community. Section 14131 permits Caltrans to contract for services with engineers, architects, surveyors, and other similar professionals whenever certain guidelines contained in section 14134 are applicable, as long as these contracts do not displace any Caltrans employees. In sum, article VII would not be undermined by the operation of Chapter 433. Both the Court of Appeal majority and dissent agree that, despite the Legislature's characterization (see 14130, subd. Rptr. Riley rejected the argument that the services independent contractors perform are beyond the civil service mandate's reach, stating that "[a]ny other construction of the constitutional provision would have the effect of weakening, if not destroying, the purpose and effect of the [civil service] provision." opn., ante, at p. As the Court may judicially notice, the inadequacy of civil service staff to timely deliver the workload of highway projects has been traceable, not to a lack of available or obtainable personnel qualified to perform the work, but to defendants' policy and practice since the 1980s of maintaining civil service staff at a level inadequate to perform the workload and in contracting privately for the portion of the workload exceeding the staff's capacity. [] [] The legislative finding in subdivision (a)(4), conclusively establishing the inadequacy of civil service to perform the project delivery workload, is clearly wrong and cannot constitutionally justify defendants' contracts for project development services." Applicants licensed in another state (comity applicants) must meet the same application requirements as all other applicants. (a)(4)), and defendants use private consultants interchangeably with civil service staff to provide project design and development, construction inspection, locally funded, seismic retrofitting, and other project delivery services. [N]o new methods of managing, financing, or otherwise performing project delivery work distinguish the work performed by private consultants from that historically and presently performed by civil service staff. Thus, " '[L]egislative findings, while not binding on the courts, are given great weight and will be upheld unless they are found to be unreasonable and arbitrary. Civil Engineer Applicants Although the ultimate constitutional interpretation must rest, of course, with the judiciary [citation], a focused legislative judgment on the question enjoys significant weight and deference by the courts." (c), 14130.2, subd. (c). opn., ante, at p. (Riley, supra, 9 Cal.2d at p. at p. Click, Professional Engineers in California Government - All Rights Reserved. Since the trial court did not base its decision on this ground, however, and given that the contracts at issue no longer appear to be in effect in any event, I see no need to discuss the issue. I conclude that the trial court erred in rejecting the factual findings of the Legislature, and that neither the trial court nor this court may reject such findings except under very limited circumstances not present here. 9," and Dennis Alexander, a taxpayer (collectively Professional Engineers), filed a petition for writ of mandate in the San Francisco . Second, the court found that, in any event, the type and amount of project development work Caltrans contracted for 1993-1994 did not correspond to that which the new provisions authorized because it fell outside the seismic [15 Cal. Job in Los Angeles - Los Angeles County - CA California - USA , 90079. 288, 775 P.2d 1057] [drafters of initiative measure, and voters adopting it, are deemed to know judicial construction of law serving as its source]. 4th 1474, 1485 [35 Cal. (a)(2), operative until Jan. 1, 1998.) Profes'l Engineers v. Kempton, 40 Cal.4th 1016 | Casetext Search + Citator 4th 407, 414 [9 Cal. Gregg v. Georgia (1976) 428 U.S. 153, 184-186 [96 S. Ct. 2909, 2930-2931, 49 L. Ed. 397-399) and the "cost savings" rule (see CSEA, supra, 199 Cal.App.3d at pp. Sess.) 800, 647 P.2d 76] (vagueness challenge to special circumstance statute); In re Ricky H. (1970) 2 Cal. PECG maintains offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (Glendale) to service members in 17 geographical Sections. Evidence (3d ed. Western Cape Government All project management related responsibilities, client liaison, stakeholder liaison, design & tender documentation, managing the project team Transnet projects Engineering Manager, NEC Supervisor, civil and mechanical design engineer Part of the Civil and Mechanical SANRAL projects & Hy. hXMk#G+}GJ`A z!%_S3d}p^nw1.%j cR1;0"3 L?gv,. ), Chapter 433 constitutes a reasonable legislative construction of article VII. ", Additionally, nothing in the record supports Caltrans's assertions that restrictions on private contracting cause additional expense or safety risks. Code, former 14132.1 [contracts of $250,000 or less]; Gov. As we subsequently explain, that holding seems clearly correct in light of the uncontradicted evidence of Caltrans's historical responsibility for project development of the state highway system. (Pacific Legal Foundation v. Brown (1981) 29 Cal. ), Caltrans asserts supposed policy reasons why we should overrule or disapprove 60 years of settled case law: "As a result [of the existing case law], Californians have had to forego promising new techniques for providing services, ranging from contracting with private contractors to outright [15 Cal. 461.) The majority's reliance on Turner is misplaced. Classifications and Salaries - California Air Resources Board Consistent with the view that Chapter 433 is provisional in nature, the Legislature declared that engineering services necessary for seismic safety retrofitting "shall be considered a short-term workload demand." 3d 692, 699 [170 Cal. Plaintiffs argue that the state must hire additional employees and that the Legislature's efforts are unconstitutional. PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS IN CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION et al., Defendants and Appellants. The documents and information submitted with the application must substantiate that the requirements have been met. A partial application will not be evaluated. PECG membership provides a wealth of benefits such as amusement park discounts and reduced rates on life insurance. 4th 1211, 1219 [4 Cal. Werdegar, J., and Brown, J., did not participate therein. v. State of California (1988) 199 Cal. fn. Rptr. The constitutionality of Chapter 433 is a question of law; hence, "we are not bound by evidence presented on the question in the trial court. " (Professional Engineers, supra, 13 Cal.App.4th at p. 590, quoting Sts. Your application will not be processed without it. Neither U.S. fn. PECG has sponsored and produced several Emmy Award-winning documentaries that have been seen by millions of viewers around the country. Judieth Sullivan-Ojuola v. City of Sunnyvale, Imperial County Deputy District Attorneys Association v. County of Imperial, Junnie Verceles v. 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Barstow Community College District, Operating Engineers Local Union No.