PUBLIC INFORMATION — The Senate Committee on Governmental Organization yesterday approved, on a 7-4 vote, a bill that would make detailed information about state agency contracting for personal services and consulting available in a searchable format on the Internet.

AB 756 by Assembly Member Mike Eng (D-El Monte) would require a state agency to provide
a link to a centrally located and accessible state-run Internet website that includes a list of the 
personal services and consulting contracts entered into by the agency. The bill would require the
listings on the state's Internet Web site to include specified information, namely:
  • the name and identification number of each contractor ,as well as whether the contractor is a for profit, nonprofit, small business, micro-business, disabled veteran, or nonprofit veteran's service agency;
  • the statutory basis for the authorization of each contract, including, if relevant, any applicable condition permitting personal services contracts provided by Section 19130 of the Government Code;
  • the duration of each contract;
  • the number of amendments to each contract and the number of renewals of each contract, where applicable;
  • the reason why a low bid was not accepted;
  • the reason for any noncompetitive bidding;and
  • the total amount of the contract price over the duration of the contract, including all known amendments to the contract, the total amount paid by the state agency during the most recently completed fiscal year, and the number, cost, bill rate, and staffing levels associated with each type of contract employee retained during the most recently completed fiscal year. In time and material contracts, staffing levels shall also be described or accounted for in personnel years or full-time equivalent terms. In deliverables based contracts, average staffing levels and bill rates shall be available and reportable 90 days after the completion of the contract or after one year, whichever occurs first.
The bill would require contractors to electronically provide specified information to assist state 
agencies in reporting of information for the listings of personal services and consulting services 
contracts. This bill would make contractors who fail to provide this information ineligible for any 
additional personal services or consulting services contracts, and would cease payment for any 
ongoing contracts, until the information is provided.

The bill is sponsored by Service Employees International Union Local 1000 and supported by the
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the California 
Association of Professional Scientists, and Professional Engineers in California Government. 
Its next stop is the Senate Appropriations Committee.