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Committee moves bill to form Public Infrastructure Task Force to expand equitable hiring on projects
Summary
SB 469 would create a Public Infrastructure Task Force to recommend strategies for recruitment, retention and nondiscrimination on public infrastructure projects, with community‑based organizations involved; committee advanced the bill to Appropriations.
Senator Smallwood Cuevas introduced SB 469 to establish a California Public Infrastructure Task Force aimed at helping federal infrastructure investments deliver equitable hiring outcomes. The author described prior state work under SB 150 and said the task force would coordinate agencies, contractors, community groups and workforce partners to review hiring practices, recommend recruitment and retention strategies for underrepresented workers, and help contractors meet compliance requirements.
Brian Justy of the UCLA Labor Center testified in support, noting the value of incorporating community‑based organizations and worker centers into public service administration and enforcement. The bill’s backers said such a task force could expand the state’s capacity to enforce nondiscrimination and hire locally on federally funded infrastructure projects.
Supporters included community groups and labor organizations; no opposition witnesses were recorded. The committee voted to advance the bill to Appropriations (recorded 3–1), and the author said the measure builds on prior local and municipal approaches that had shown measurable gains in hiring people from disadvantaged communities.
