by Richard Markuson, Region 9 Legislative Advocate

After the Legislature passed and Governor Newsom signed into law a legislation package to provide needed relief to individuals, families, and businesses suffering the most significant economic hardship due to COVID-19, the Legislature commence both budget and policy hearings in March. One remaining piece of COVID-19 legislation was the enactment of SB 95 (Skinner). This bill mandates that employers expand supplemental paid sick leave for COVID-19-related absences. SB 95, which took effect on March 29, 2021, applies retroactively to applicable leave taken on or after January 1, 2021, and remains in effect until September 30, 2021. Thus, covered employers must provide Supplemental COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave beginning on March 29, 2021, and covered employees who took qualifying leave between January 1 and March 28 may request retroactive payment for leave taken during that period.

by Yazdan T. Emrani, P.E., ENV SP Chair, Infrastructure Policy Committee

California, in some respects, is a microcosm of our nation. We are a culturally diverse and rapidly growing state. As such, our infrastructure is beginning to show its age. With close to 40 million residents, California is the most populated state in the country and its economy ranks as the world’s fifth largest economy. This trend is expected to continue into the foreseeable future. Over the next 20 years, California is expected to grow at a rapid pace. Based on some estimates, our state will add an additional 10 million residents over the next 20 years, putting California’s population at a staggering 50 million people. A well-designed and maintained infrastructure anchors our economy and secures our quality of life. Investment in infrastructure is vital to our state’s productivity, competitiveness, and economic well-being.

However, one of the biggest impediments to maximizing long-term economic growth is the urgent need to modernize our nation’s infrastructure. The cost of inaction is too high for all Americans who depend on reliable, modernized infrastructure.

by Daniel Cronquist, Chair, 2021 CAIS Chair

I am excited to announce that the 2021 California Infrastructure Symposium will be held on June 24^th and 25^th hosted by the ASCE Los Angeles Section and ASCE Region 9. The program will be brought to you virtually using the same platform as last year’s successful event. The event will be from 8:00 AM to 1:30 PM, each day.

The program will include 23 speakers divided into two tracks; water and transportation. These dynamic speakers will present on exciting and timely topics. Our four keynote speakers are:

Randy Iwasaki – Leader, State and Local Government Transportation

Amazon Web Services

Toks Omishakin – Director

California Dept. of Transportation

General Paul Owen – Commander and Division Engineer of the South Pacific Division

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Senate District 25

by Shari Tavaf, Chair

Dear Region 9 (California) ASCE members;

As I reflect on the most unusual year we have all lived through, I look forward to all the positive opportunities ahead as we reopen California and our nation.

As the new Chair of the Transportation and Development committee for the Region 9, I am very excited to be collaborating with the highly respected professionals in our industry in my new role.  To take advantage of the momentum built by the previous leadership, I would like to invite new members to join our committee to participate in our crucial activities going forward.

In light of the importance of transportation and housing to the new administration in Washington and our continued challenges in California in both housing and transportation sectors, our committee has a great opportunity to influence the future of our state and our industry.

Arbitration is one means of resolving disputes. In arbitration, an arbitrator acts as the trier of fact, he considers the evidence and renders a decision. The decision by the arbitrator can then be confirmed through a court proceeding whereby it will be given the force and effect of a judgment.

One of the advantages with arbitration is in the finality of the decision. The parties can be relatively assured that once an arbitration award is rendered it will be final and that there will be no further appeals or court proceedings that keep the dispute alive. That is not to say that there is no basis to have an arbitration award set aside. The grounds for such action are limited, however, and are specifically set forth in the statutes. With a trial, there may be numerous grounds for appeal that involve questions of law and procedure during the conduct of the trial. In arbitration, the arbitrator does not have to follow the law and the requirements applicable to the conduct of trials do not apply and hence do not serve as the basis for appeal.