[15 Cal. I find particularly disturbing the majority's conclusion that the constitutional validity of legislative enactments and amendments depends upon whether the Legislature is able to empirically disprove contrary trial court findings of fact. Environmental Engineer, Water Engineer. Com. The legislative history [15 Cal. 4th 580] with previous legislative findings regarding the need for additional contracting flexibility to ensure timely and cost-effective project delivery, fn. Const., art. ), Caltrans acknowledges that although the federal government "actively encourages" private contracting, applicable legislation calls for "policies, procedures, and practices which will provide the Government with property and services of the requisite quality, within the time needed, at the lowest [15 Cal. Moreover, as Professional Engineers, supra, 13 Cal. 1209 (1993-1994 Reg. opn., ante, at p. Full Time position. 1503] (Riley); California State Employees' Assn. (Fn. 16, 474 et seq. 2d 288, 298 [73 P.2d 1221], italics added.) In many cases, engineers who work for the federal government are exempt from those laws, although federal agencies can set their own rules. 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]. [5] Although courts must give legislative findings great weight and should uphold them unless unreasonable or arbitrary, " we also must enforce the provisions of our Constitution and 'may not lightly disregard or blink at a clear constitutional mandate.' omitted. [15 Cal. Caltrans suggests that the "nature of the services," and "new state function" tests are difficult to apply and can lead to anomalous results. (c), operative until Jan. 1, 1998, 14130.1, 14130.2. To accomplish this, PECG supports and sponsors programs that promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). & Hy. PECG maintains offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (Glendale) to service members in 17 geographical Sections. Bargaining Unit 9 is represented by Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG). "); People v. Globe Grain & Mill Co., supra, 211 Cal. 4th 567] reasonable cost." Skilled in JIRA, Microsoft Word, Java, ServiceNow and Rally with sound exposure to Guidewire Policy Center Configuration and Tortoise SVN, bitbucket, Gitlab and Git version control tools. The Majority Unreasonably Interfere With the Separation of Powers. Of course, under Riley, Caltrans has had and continues to have the opportunity to justify specific private contracts on the basis that they are needed to assure timely project delivery unobtainable through the available state civil service. 8].) (a)(5)), state highway project development is not a "new state function" within the exception recognized by Williams, supra, 7 Cal.App.3d at page 397. In the absence of any substantial evidence supporting this legislative intent to accommodate Caltrans in circumventing the court's injunction, we must deem this purpose, however clearly expressed, insufficient to satisfy the constitutional mandate. 4.) App. " (Spiritual Psychic Science Church v. City of Azusa, supra, 39 Cal.3d at p. 514, italics added, and cases cited therein.) In re Harris (1989) 49 Cal. Code, former 14132.1 [contracts of $250,000 or less]; Gov. 568.). Thus, Chapter 433, when properly interpreted, does not disregard the constitutional restriction on private contracting, but instead is consistent with the purposes of article VII. Workers v. Ohio State Univ. 232] (CSEA).) Obtaining a certificate is voluntary in some fields, but in others, certification from a government-accredited agency may be legally required to perform certain jobs or tasks. Counsel's Dig., Sen. Bill No. Thus, contrary to the majority, I conclude that the trial court's prior findings of fact should not and cannot properly be utilized to invalidate the legislation in Chapter 433 as unconstitutional. 1209 (1993-1994 Reg. Similarly, section 14130.2, subdivision (a)(2), purports to relieve Caltrans of its obligation to maintain a civil engineering staff "at a level to provide services for other [local] agencies" that arrange their own financing for state highway projects. (Italics added, fn. (1 Witkin, Cal. IX.B.2. ), Instead of adhering to the familiar rules above, the majority regard Chapter 433 with hostility and see it as a sinister attempt by the Legislature to undermine the constitutional civil service provision and to circumvent the trial court injunction. * concurred. The trial court also found that Caltrans undertook private contracting as a direct result of "gubernatorial/executive branch policy against the expansion of state government," which required Caltrans to "balance[] and temper[]" its requests for funding for additional staff by contracting with private entities, without regard to whether qualified persons were actually available for civil service employment or whether Caltrans could assimilate and train them in a timely manner. 1 In other words, the Legislature concluded it is more efficient and less expensive not to expand state government when certain types of road and bridge engineering services can be performed by private consultants. This position does not require Senate confirmation and the compensation is $275,004. 4th 45, 60-61 [51 [15 Cal. (b)), and 14130.2, providing that engineering services needed to deliver locally financed highway projects "are not required to be considered in determining [Caltrans's] project delivery staffing needs. Code, 14130.2). fn. Habtamu Tolossa, Ph.D., P.Eng. - Senior Hydrologic Engineer - LinkedIn Thus, as previously explained (ante, at pp. According to the Court of Appeal majority, nothing in the record supports a conclusion that the legislative findings were clearly and palpably wrong. 8 With regard to Chapter 433, implication of an "economic savings" requirement constitutes a fair and reasonable interpretation of the legislation, and is both permissible and appropriate. omitted. As the Court of Appeal dissent indicates, this provision seems to contemplate Caltrans's use of private contracting even if it is able to use new civil service employees productively. FN 14. Environmental Manager, Environmental Science. The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) argues that the Legislature has complied with the Constitution and that the Legislature's factual findings supporting Chapter 433 justify private contracting. In the case that the NCEES Record does not provide the information the Board needs to determine if an applicant meets the requirements for licensure in California, the applicant will be asked to provide additional information. fn. (5).). Nonetheless, such intent must be considered in assessing the constitutional validity of the enactment. Thus, as the majority acknowledge (maj. endstream endobj 375 0 obj <>stream In effect, the trial court circumvented Lockard and Stevenson by taking judicial notice of the truth of its own findings. On November 21, 2000, Professional Engineers in California Government, which identified itself as "the duly certified collective bargaining representative for members of state employee Bargaining Unit No. The determination, contained in section 14130, subdivision (a)(5), that the use of private consultants to assist in project delivery is a new state function, is not a factual determination. 4th 548] outline the general constitutional and statutory principles before discussing their application to the facts of this case. 239, 583 P.2d 1281].) 374 0 obj <>stream PECG represents members with grievances, arbitrations, and a variety of other claims and appeals. Governor Newsom announces state-level appointments SB692 (2011) was introduced by Senator Mimi Walters to reform the Engineers' Act. as amended June 24, 1993). Rptr. of Education (1955) 134 Cal. [Citation.] The court concluded that Chapter 433 contains sufficient pronouncements, directions, and safeguards to satisfy plaintiffs' earlier objections based on the private contracting restriction of article VII. [Citation.]" At oral argument, plaintiffs conceded the trial court found Chapter 433 unconstitutional on its face. 4th 551]. There is nothing in Riley to suggest that personnel shortages, earthquakes, economic efficiencies, new state functions, higher skills, etc., would not be within the meaning of this exception. The documents and information submitted with the application must substantiate that the requirements have been met. Written comments relevant to the action proposed, including those sent by mail, facsimile, or e-mail to the addresses listed under Contact Person in the Notice, must be, ANNOUNCED FEBRUARY 22, 2022 - The Board is currently experiencing an unanticipated high volume of new applications submitted. [] Such is not the case. It was [15 Cal. The parties agree that the Legislature has the authority to amend Proposition 103 without voter approval, but only to further the purposes of the initiative. 3d 1, 14 [112 Cal. No. Rptr. As envisioned by the Legislature, one group of projects was to consist of projects for which engineering services were provided primarily by civil service staff and the second group was to consist of similar projects for which engineering services were provided primarily by outside consultants. Com. FN . Although many of these provisions remain in effect, Chapter 433 has supplemented them. 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. (Id. 121, 128 [294 P. 3] ["It is to be presumed that the commission will exercise its powers in conformity with the statute and Constitution of the state."].) (See CSEA, supra, 199 Cal.App.3d at pp. Myers; Caltrans Director Will Kempton and his Caltrans engineers; the Arizona steel fabricator whose company built the steel girders; the firefighter who responded to the accident; and the reporters who covered the story. Const., former art. SA-CE-750-S PERDecisioBn No . [Citations.]" 2 (E.g., Spiritual Psychic Science Church v. City of Azusa (1985) 39 Cal. 2d 863, 868 [31 Cal. 3d 531, 547-549 [174 Cal. The majority acknowledge judicial interpretations of Riley which find exceptions to the expressed rule of that case by permitting the state to contract privately for services that state employees have traditionally performed if those services (1) are of a nature that they could not be performed "adequately and competently," or more economically, through civil service (Riley, supra, 9 Cal.2d at p. 135; CSEA, supra, 199 Cal.App.3d at pp. The majority determine that Chapter 433 does not contain findings that would excuse noncompliance with the civil service mandate or afford a legitimate basis for disregarding the constitutional restriction on private contracting. In Methodist Hosp. Jason Falbo - Chief Technology Officer - Mircom Group of Companies Article VII, section 1 states: "(a) The civil service includes every officer and employee of the state except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. 37]; Barenfeld v. City of Los Angeles, supra, 162 Cal.App.3d at p. 1040; cf. Caltrans likewise criticizes Riley's progeny and the creation of such extensions or modifications as the "new state function" rule (see Williams, supra, 7 Cal.App.3d at pp. Rptr. For instance, in Mills v. Superior Court, supra, 42 Cal. 10. ), "[N]either a finding of fact made after a contested adversary hearing nor a finding of fact made after any other type of hearing can be indisputably deemed to have been a correct finding [;] '[u]nder the doctrine of judicial notice, certain matters are assumed to be indisputably true, and the introduction of evidence to prove them will not be required.' We therefore hold, that in passing upon the constitutionality of a statute, the court must confine itself to a consideration of those matters which appear upon the face of the law, and those facts of which it can take judicial notice. I note, as did the Court of Appeal, the arguable illogic of a portion of the finding contained in section 14130, subdivision (a)(4), that "Without the ability to continue a stable contracting out program, the department will not be able to perform project delivery adequately, competently, or satisfactorily, thereby necessitating the use of private consultants to supplement its in-house staff." FN 8. (b), 14130.3. (Stats. For items not listed here, please contact CalHR Labor Relations. The court's injunction also recited that Caltrans had failed to demonstrate that either (1) it could not timely perform the work by hiring additional civil service employees, or (2) private contracting was a more cost-effective way of meeting short-term peaks in its workload.