SB 247 California Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

State agency contracts: bid preference: equity metrics.

Summary

Existing law establishes bid preferences and participation goals in public contracting for certain types of bidders. The Small Business Procurement and Contract Act establishes a minimum goal of 25% procurement participation for small businesses, including microbusinesses, in the provision of goods, information technology, and services to the state, and in the construction of state facilities. The Small Business Procurement and Contract Act requires that state agencies awarding contracts for goods, information technology, services, and construction give 5% bid preferences, as specified, to small business and microbusiness bidders. The California Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program requires state departments that award contracts to establish 3% participation goals for certain types of contracts for certified disabled veteran business enterprises, as defined. This bill would require an awarding department, defined to include a state agency or department, to provide a bid preference of a prescribed percentage, as specified, in the award of contracts to contractors that set equity metrics. The bill would prohibit awarding a preference to a noncompliant bidder and would also prohibit the preference from being used to achieve any applicable minimum requirements. The bill would require the Department of General Services to adopt rules and regulations for the purpose of implementing these provisions.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Aug 2026

Senate Passage

Jan 2026

Assembly Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 30, 2025 Last action Aug 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

04/21/25 - Amended Senate → SB247 · 3 edits

MINOR

SB 247 was substantially narrowed in scope and its incentive structure was redesigned. The bill now applies only to construction projects exceeding $35 million funded by specific federal legislation (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act, or CHIPS and Science Act), rather than all state contracts. Additionally, the flat 10% bid preference was replaced with a tiered system where the preference percentage scales from 1% to 10% based on how many labor hours are performed by eligible persons.

Scope change

The bill's scope was dramatically narrowed from applying to all state agency contracts (goods, services, construction, franchises, concessions, leases) to only large construction projects ($35M+) funded by three specific federal laws. This limits the bill's impact to a small subset of major infrastructure and technology projects.

SCOPE

The definition of 'contract' was changed from covering all state agreements (including services, materials, franchises, concessions, and leases) to only covering construction projects with aggregate costs exceeding $35 million that use funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. This dramatically narrows which contracts are subject to the equity metrics requirement.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'equity metrics' was simplified from a broad set of criteria (workforce living below the poverty line, in communities affected by environmental pollution, or in regions with high unemployment and low-income concentrations) to simply 'hiring a required percentage of eligible persons,' where eligible person is defined as someone residing in a distressed area or disadvantaged community.

REQUIREMENT

The bid preference was changed from a flat 10% discount (for lowest responsible bidder) or 10% score addition (for highest scored bidder) to a tiered system: 1% preference for hiring eligible persons for 5-9% of labor hours, increasing by 1 percentage point per 10-point band, up to a maximum 10% preference for 90%+ of labor hours performed by eligible persons.

03/26/25 - Amended Senate → 04/21/25 - Amended Senate · 6 edits · Apr 21, 2025

MODERATE

SB 247 was significantly narrowed in scope. The bill no longer amends Section 2500.5 (project labor agreements and community benefits) and now applies only to construction contracts over $35 million funded by specific federal infrastructure laws (IIJA, Inflation Reduction Act, CHIPS Act). The flat 10% bid preference was replaced with a tiered system ranging from 1% to 10%, scaled to the percentage of total contract labor hours performed by 'eligible persons' (residents of distressed areas or disadvantaged communities).

SCOPE

The definition of 'contract' now limits applicability to projects with aggregate construction costs over $35 million using funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, or CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. Previously the bid preference applied broadly to all state contracts.

The amendment to Section 2500.5 of the Public Contract Code (regarding project labor agreements requiring community benefits provisions for projects over $35 million) was entirely removed from this bill.

REQUIREMENT

The flat 10% bid preference was replaced with a tiered system: 1% preference for hiring eligible persons to perform 5-9% of total contract labor hours, scaling up by 1 percentage point per 10-point band, reaching a maximum 10% preference at 90% or more of labor hours.

DEFINITION

Three new definitions were added: 'disadvantaged community' (per Health and Safety Code Section 39711(a)), 'distressed area' (per Government Code Section 4532(b)), and 'eligible person' (a person residing in either a distressed area or a disadvantaged community).

The definition of 'equity metrics' was narrowed from a broad description (workforce living in poverty areas, communities affected by pollution, regions with high unemployment) to specifically mean hiring a required percentage of eligible persons.

FISCAL

Fiscal committee approval changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now has a fiscal impact requiring committee review.

01/30/25 - Introduced → 03/26/25 - Amended Senate · 7 edits · Mar 26, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amendment dramatically expands SB 247 from a narrow technical cleanup of project labor agreement provisions into a major new policy bill called the California Good Jobs Act. It adds an entirely new article (Sections 10117-10117.2) requiring state agencies to give a 10 percent bid preference to contractors that set equity metrics tied to hiring from low-income, high-unemployment, and environmentally burdened communities. The original project labor agreement language is retained but renumbered as a secondary provision.

SCOPE

Adds an entirely new Article 1.7 (Equity Metrics in State Contracting) to the Public Contract Code, expanding the bill from a technical fix on project labor agreements to a broad bid preference program for all state contracts.

The bill is now formally named the 'California Good Jobs Act' and its scope extends from only project labor agreements over $35 million to all state contracts including franchises, concessions, and leases.

REQUIREMENT

Requires awarding departments to provide a 10 percent bid preference to contractors that set equity metrics. For lowest-bid solicitations the preference is 10 percent of the lowest responsible bidder's price; for scored solicitations it is 10 percent of the highest responsible bidder's total score.

DEFINITION

Defines 'equity metrics' as including a required percentage of the workforce living in areas below the poverty line, communities disproportionately affected by environmental pollution, or regions with high unemployment and low-income concentrations.

ENFORCEMENT

Requires the Department of General Services to adopt rules and regulations for implementation, including enforcement methods and requiring contractors to track and report progress on equity metrics to the awarding department.

ELIGIBILITY

Prohibits awarding the bid preference to a noncompliant bidder and prohibits using the preference to satisfy any applicable minimum participation requirements (such as small business or disabled veteran goals).

FISCAL

Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the amendment introduces a fiscal impact requiring legislative analysis.

Floor votes · Senate Jan 27, 2026

How they voted

30–10

Passed

Total votes 40

Jan 27, 2026

D Democratic30

30 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican10

10 Nay

100% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Aug 13, 2026

Lower · Passed

August 13 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.

lower

Jun 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 2.) (June 23). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

lower

May 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to Com. on E.D., G., & H.I.

lower

Jan 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 30. Noes 10. Page 3306.) Ordered to the Assembly.

upper

Jan 22, 2026

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 2. Page 3268.) (January 22).

upper

Apr 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 4. Page 830.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

upper

Apr 21, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on G.O.

upper

Apr 2, 2025

Committee

Re-referred to Com. on G.O.

upper

Mar 26, 2025

Upper · Passed

From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to Com. on RLS.

upper

Jan 30, 2025

Introduced

Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors