51 Percent District Residents New Hires Amendment Act of 2001
Bill 14-27

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A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Councilmembers Catania and Mendelson introduced the following bill which was referred to the Committee on Public Services with comments from the Committee on Government Operations.

To amend the First Source Employment Agreement Act of 1984 to impose penalties on contractors who fail to comply with the requirement that 51 percent of new hires shall be residents of the District of Columbia.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "51 Percent District Residents New Hires Amendment Act of 2001 ".

Sec. 2. Section 4 of the First Source Employment Agreement Act of 1984, effective June 29, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-93; D.C. Code § 1-1163), is amended by adding new subsections (c) through (e) to read as follows:

"(c) The Chief Procurement Officer and each District Contracting Officer shall transmit each employment agreement to the Department of Employment Services.

"(d) Each contractor shall submit to the Department of Employment Services, every three months following the execution of the contract, a contract compliance report for the project that includes the:

"(1) Number of employees needed;

"(2) Number of current employees transferred;

"(3) Number of new job openings created:

"(4) Number of job openings listed with the Department of Employment Services;

"(5) Total number of all District residents hired for the reporting period and the cumulative total number of District residents hired; and

"(6) Total number of all employees hired for the reporting period and the cumulative total number of employees hired, including:

"(A) Name;

"(B) Social security number;

"(C) Job title;

"(D) Hire date;

"(E) Residence; and

"(F) Referral source for all new hires.

"(e)(1) The Chief Procurement Officer and each District Contracting Officer shall include in each government-assisted project, where direct and indirect labor costs of the contract exceed $100,000, the provision that 51 % of the new employees hired for the project shall be District residents. For purposes of this subsection, "direct and indirect labor costs of the contract" means the total compensation, including salary and fringe benefits, of all workers assigned, in whole or in part, and regardless of hours allocated, by contractors or subcontractors to the project.

"(2) With the submission of the final request for payment from the District, the contractor shall:

"(A) Document in a report to the Contracting Officer its compliance with paragraph (1) of this subsection; or

"(B) Submit a request to the Contracting Officer for a waiver of compliance with paragraph (1) of this subsection and include the following documentation:

"(i) Material supporting a good faith effort to comply;

"(ii) Referrals provided by the Department of Employment Services and other referral sources; and

"(iii) Advertisement of job openings listed with the Department of Employment Services and other referral sources.

"(3) The Mayor may waive the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection if the Mayor finds that:

"(A) A good faith effort to comply is demonstrated by the contractor;

"(B) The contractor is located outside the Washington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area and none of the contract work is performed inside the Washington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area;

"(C) The contractor enters into a special workforce development training or placement arrangement with the Department of Employment Services; or

"(D) The Department of Employment Services certifies that there are insufficient numbers of District residents in the labor market possessing the skills required by the positions created as a result of the contract.

"(4) Willful breach of the employment agreement, or failure to submit the contract compliance report pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection, or deliberate submission of falsified data, may be enforced by the Contracting Officer through the imposition of penalties, including monetary fines not to exceed 10% of the total amount of the direct and indirect labor costs of the contract. The payment shall be remitted to the Department of Employment Services for job training programs, subject to appropriations by Congress. The Contracting Officer may withhold payment, void the contract, prohibit the contractor from receiving new District contracts for a period of one year following the date of the assessment of any penalty.

"(5) The contractor may appeal any decision of the Contracting Officer pursuant to paragraph (4) of this subsection to the Contract Appeals Board as provided in the contract.

"(6) The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to contracts entered into prior to the effective date of the 51 Percent District Residents New Hires Amendment Act of 2001.".

Sec. 2. Fiscal impact statement.

The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(3)).

Sec. 3. Effective date.

This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), approval by the Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority as provided in section 203(a) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995, approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code § 47-392.3(a)), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(1)), and publication in the District of Columbia Register.