Women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprise procurement.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical, gas, water, and telephone corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to establish rules for all public utilities, subject to control by the Legislature. Existing law directs the commission to require every electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone corporation with annual gross revenues exceeding $25,000,000, and their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to implement a program developed by the commission to encourage, recruit, and utilize minority-, women-, and disabled veteran-owned business enterprises, as defined, in the procurement of contracts from those corporations or from their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, and to require the reporting of certain information. The commission, by its rulemaking authority, has adopted General Order 156, applicable to certain electrical, gas, and telephone corporations, to effectuate these requirements. Existing law includes the declaration by the Legislature that each electrical, gas, water, wireless telecommunications service provider, and telephone corporation that is not required to submit a plan is encouraged to voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprise procurement in all categories. This bill would additionally declare that the Legislature encourages each cable television corporation and direct broadcast satellite provider to voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, and disabled veteran business enterprise procurement and to voluntarily report activity in this area to the Legislature on an annual basis. Existing law requires the commission to provide to the Legislature a specified report on the progress of activities undertaken by certain entities in the implementation of women, minority, and disabled business enterprise development programs. This bill would require the commission to make this report available on its Internet Web site.