Action needed by April 21 when AB 2690 goes to the Assembly Labor Committee.

Background
Recent determinations by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to require payment of prevailing wages for all people, including volunteers, working on projects deemed to be “public works” has significantly impacted the activities of hundreds of California watershed groups, classroom service projects, and community organizations that rely on volunteer involvement. Under DIR’s determination, prevailing wage must be paid to everyone who works on a watershed-based restoration and education project, including students and volunteers, when public funds are used (solely or in part). This decision will essentially eliminate many watershed outreach and education groups from being able to engage local residents and students in watershed restoration efforts happening in their communities. The wage requirements guarantee hard-working restoration practitioners the prevailing wage and benefits, many of whom have historically struggled to remain employed.

The Coalition to Protect Watershed Volunteers and California’s Prevailing Wages is a group of community advocacy, education, and restoration organizations focused on finding a solution that will both protect fair wages for laborers and preserve volunteer opportunities for Californians wanting to participate in watershed-based restoration, education and outreach projects. We believe Governor Schwarzenegger should quickly work to resolve the current interpretation of “volunteer labor” and “public works” under Labor Code § 1720. By changing the Code to recognize that individuals can contribute their time to volunteer, while all hired laborers on these projects receive at least prevailing wages, a compromise can be achieved to protect the interest of the labor and watershed volunteer community. In the event that an administrative solution is not quickly reached, the Coalition is working with Assemblywoman Loni Hancock on AB 2690, which will be heard in the Assembly Labor Committee on April 21, 2004. A resolution must be made soon, as current grants projects are being jeopardized, an entire season of restoration and community work may be lost, environmental education opportunities are being eliminated, and future programs are being put on hold until State Agencies are able to adjust to the current Department of Industrial Relations determinations.

What is AB 2690?
The goal of AB 2690 is to protect the rights of labor to obtain prevailing wages while simultaneously preserving community action and public education projects. It is critical that watershed, stream or creek restoration, and enhancement projects be able to receive public funds when involving volunteers. Existing state policy, including the Public Resource Code, requires the support of programs that incorporate citizen volunteers, address local needs, and contribute to healthy communities. Thus, AB 2690 aims to preserve the ability of citizens to volunteer and work in concert with professional workers paid prevailing wage. This will provide benefits to community sustainability and ecological health of California’s watersheds. AB 2690 will be reviewed in the Assembly Labor Committee later this month and the bill’s details are still being negotiated.

What you can do to help!
Write Governor Schwarzenegger before April 21st and urge him to quickly resolve this issue administratively by working with the Department of Industrial Relations to find an interpretation of the Labor Code that permits for watershed-based volunteerism and guarantees a prevailing wage for laborers.

Write your state Assembly Member and urge him/her to support A.B. 2690. To find your Assemblyperson, visit http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7.htm.
A sample form letter can be found at www.watershednetwork.org & www.calsalmon.org/advocacy/ab2690-form-letter.html.

Send copies of your letters to Assemblywoman Loni Hancock and let her know you support her effort to protect volunteerism and prevailing wages.

Finally, please send the Coalition a copy of your letter at the e-mail addresses below, so we can include you in our future efforts to resolve this situation.

Governor Schwarzenegger State Capitol Building Sacramento CA, 95814

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock State Capitol P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249-0014

For more information
For more information concerning AB 2690 you can read our fact sheet, visit www.watershednetwork.org, or contact Michael Wellborn of the California Watershed Network, (714) 964-0516, email: michael@watershednetwork.org, or Sharon Farrell of the Watershed Project (formerly the Aquatic Outreach Institute), (510) 231-9507, email: sharon@aoinstitute.org.

For updates on this issue, you can also join our email listserv at http://www.topica.com/lists/watershedvolunteers.

To read the text of A.B. 2690, visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html and search for “2690”.