Contractors would have to choose between building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and doing business with California under a legislative proposal that advanced in the Senate Tuesday.
As California continues to fight the Trump administration's agenda, Senate Bill 30 by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens, would blacklist companies who help to build the controversial border wall that President Donald Trump has promised to build -- a project estimated to cost more than $20 billion, funding the president has yet to secure.
"It is not enough to simply oppose this wall in theory," said Lara, calling this a "defining moment" for California.
SB 30 is one of two bills taking aim at contractors who choose to work on the border wall. Assembly Bill 946 by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, would force the state to drop its pension investments in any companies involved in the project.
Hundreds of companies have expressed interest in border wall-related construction projects, including a number in the Bay Area, but the government has not released the number of bids it received before the deadline earlier this month.
Lobbyists for contractors spoke out against the bill Tuesday at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization, saying it would create a slippery slope.
"This is precedent setting," said Todd Bloomstine, of the Southern California Contractors Association. "What next unpopular project would we blacklist for contractors?"
The bill will be heard next by the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, said that as a former contractor, he sympathized with those who felt they were caught in the political crossfire. But, he said, "I just believe at this point in our history we have to take a stand for something."
(c)2017 the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)
