Public contracts: public entities: project labor agreements.

Existing law sets forth the requirements for the solicitation and evaluation of bids and the awarding of contracts by public entities. This bill would authorize a public entity to use, enter into, or require contractors to enter into, a project labor agreement for a construction project, if the agreement includes specified taxpayer protection provisions. This bill would authorize the members of the governing board of a local public entity to choose by majority vote whether to use, enter into, or require contractors to enter into a project labor agreement for a specific project or projects awarded by that entity and whether to allocate funding to a specific project covered by such an agreement. This bill would prohibit a charter provision, initiative, or ordinance from preventing the governing board of a local public entity, other than a charter city, from exercising this authority on a project-specific basis. This bill would also provide that if a charter provision, initiative, or ordinance of a charter city prohibits the governing board's consideration of a project labor agreement for a project to be awarded by the city, or prohibits the governing board from considering whether to allocate funds to a city-funded project covered by such an agreement, then state funding or financial assistance may not be used to support that project, as specified.