This op-ed originally appeared in the Riverside Press-Enterprise
Hold on to your hat and your wallet. In the lower house of the California Legislature, 54 is a magic number. With 80 Assembly districts throughout the state, 54 seats are exactly what Democrats need to hold a supermajority in Sacramento.
The California Constitution requires that tax increases and emergency legislation must be approved by two-thirds or a supermajority of each house of the Legislature.
To date, this supermajority vote requirement has served as the last line of defense for families, businesses, and taxpayers in California. A few vacancies are pending special elections in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, but we assume the Democrats in Sacramento will soon secure 54 seats.
Coincidentally, SB 54 by Sen. Loni Hancock of Berkeley and sponsored by state labor has surfaced in the final days of the legislative calendar. SB 54 would convert the stateâs private oil refineries to âpublic works,â forcing the hiring of members of the State Building and Construction Trades Council and requiring the refineries to pay âprevailing wageâ to members of this labor union.
Public works law, including the requirement to pay âprevailing wageâ has always been limited to public projects or projects funded with public dollars. SB 54 is a dramatic and dangerous expansion of public works law to cover private projects funded without public funds.
Oil refineries are in the business of making transportation fuels: gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. I personally would prefer that refineries concentrate on making these transportation fuels affordably, safely, and reliably.
SB 54 instead treats these refineries as just another opportunity for expanding government control and creating another set of expensive public projects such as high speed rail and the Bay Bridge renovation.
SB 54 mandates that refineries hire state workers for as much as 60 percent of their workforce needs while precluding thousands of specially trained and experienced refinery workers, many unionized, from being eligible for continued work in the refineries.
Private projects, including refinery projects, have long been held hostage for labor agreements. Thatâs not new.
Environmental lawsuits under the guise of environmental protection have been the primary tool for labor for a long time.
I guess the trade-off for refiners (and the next industry subject to a state takeover) would be the savings in litigation expense, if the California Legislature passes a bill like SB 54.
Handing Democrats a supermajority in Sacramento ensures support for this extreme expansion of the public works and prevailing wage requirements. This is exactly why political balance matters. Too much of anything, especially in politics, can be dangerous.