Senate Standing Committee on Rules

Call the Senate Committee on rules to order. Let me say good afternoon, everyone. We are holding our committee hearing in the O Street Building in Room 2200. And as we continue to take some precautions to manage ongoing COVID-19 risk, the Senate continues to welcome the public and has provided access to both in-person and teleconference participation for public comment. For individuals wishing to provide public comment via teleconference service, the participant toll free number and access code is posted on our committee website and it's going to be displayed right now on the screen.

The participant number is 877-226-8163 and the access code is 7362834. I will remind folks that I will maintain decorum during the hearing, as is customary, and any individuals who are disruptive may be removed from the remote meeting service or have their connections muted. Also, on behalf of our court reporter, I'm going to ask all speakers and my colleagues alike and witnesses alike to speak slowly and clearly. And a new thing. Our court reporter is back with us, which is great, which is really good because in the past, we've had these computers in front of us and I have to see her waving that you need to slow down or repeat something because we want to get your comments for the record.

So now you all get to see her in-person, say "slow down." And I'm glad we're back to that because I remember my early days of the Rules Committee, how you just looked at someone and they slowed down or we managed to do it, and now they get to see you do that again. So, just a reminder to folks, we are returning more and more to the way we used to function, which has its benefits and challenges. But I'm really glad that we're all back here together, even as we continue to allow remote participation from members of the public.

So before we begin today's agenda, we need to establish a quorum. And a reminder to my colleagues, you'll need to turn your microphones on for the roll call. And every time that we vote. So, Madam Secretary, please call the roll.

Senators Laird? Here. Laird, here. Ochoa Bogh? Here. Ochoa Bogh, here. Smallwood-Cuevas? Here. Smallwood-Cuevas, here. Grove? Here. Grove, here. Atkins? Here. Atkins, here.

Thank you. So, having gotten through the formalities, let me first say welcome back and Happy New Year. I want to acknowledge and welcome two new members to the Rules Committee, Senators Ohoa Bogh and Senator Smallwood-Cuevas. And I particularly want to acknowledge our new vice chair, Senator Grove. And it's good to be back.

So I'm going to start before we go to item number one. We're going to dispense with some of the items that we can take motions on. And I have some recommended motions. My colleagues will know based on votes being separated out. Let's see, item number two, governor's appointees not required to appear. I would ask for a motion on 2B, C, E, and F. Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Madam Secretary, will you call the roll?

Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye.

I would now ask for a motion on 2D.

So move.

Thank you, Senator Laird. Madam Secretary, call the roll.

Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Ochoa Bogh? Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Not voting. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye.

Three votes. That is out. I would ask for a motion on Item Three: Committee Appointments.

So move.

Thank you, Senator Laird. Madam Secretary, will you please call the roll?

Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye.

That is dispensed with. Thank you very much. Now, on the next, I would take items four, five, and six. And what that is, is the session schedule for 2023, the holiday schedule for 2023, and the weekly committee schedule for 23, 24, with one caveat. I would like to add January 2, 2024 as an additional day for the New Year holiday, and to align that, of course, with our assembly counterparts with my thanks to our vice chair for catching that. And if everyone is following along and we're able to vote, I would ask Madam Secretary to call the roll.

Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye.

I would next entertain a motion on Item Seven through Nine. These are floor acknowledgments so that we can move forward and do that on our senate floor.

So move.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. I'm going to let her pull rank, Senator Laird.

Totally fine.

Madam Secretary, will you call the roll?

Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, aye.

Thank you. And now that we have dispensed with those items, I'm going to turn to governor's appointees required to appear. And that would be item 1A and the appointment of Bryan B. Beyer as Inspector General of the Independent Office of Audits and Investigations in the Department of Transportation. Let me welcome you to come on forward. And as you do that, I will let you know that you're welcome to introduce anyone here with you or that you would like to acknowledge and then go ahead and give your opening comments, whatever you would like to share with us before we turn it over to members. And now, having talked long enough for you to get situated, seated and ready to go, let me turn it over to you, Inspector General.

Well, thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Pro Tem and Senators. First, I'd like to thank Governor Newsom for appointing me to this position and to each of you on the Rules Committee for consideration of my appointment today. I am joined virtually by my family, who was unfortunately unable to make it here in person, but I can still feel their support. For the past eleven months, I have been fortunate to lead the Independent Office of Audits and Investigations as the Inspector General of Caltrans.

Without a doubt, this has been the highlight of my 24-year state government career. I am proud to work alongside so many dedicated state employees who are passionate about providing transparency and accountability of the state's transportation system. Our work serves to increase the public's confidence that transportation funds are spent efficiently and effectively. I'm honored and feel privileged to have this opportunity and I'm happy to answer your questions.

Thank you very much. Let me go ahead and start on this end today. Senator Laird, would you like to kick us off?

Yes. Thank you very much. And thank you for your public service and thank you for being willing to meet. I really enjoyed the chance to talk and I thought I had a few questions that would follow up on our conversation. And I was struck by the fact that you were very strong about the independence of this job. Could you speak to your view of the independence and why it's important?

Certainly. I think independence is truly the foundation of this office. As the independent Inspector General, I do not report to, nor am I supervised by, anyone in the department. And that allows our office the freedom and flexibility for us to select our own audits, for us to choose our own methodologies, and ultimately formulate our own conclusions in our reports. And we can do this without having the fear of the department unilaterally limiting our access to what we can see and do.

One of the interesting things is in talking about the independence you also said that you're really clear on what the goals are of the department on its own. And I think there was safety, climate, equity. I think there were one or two others. Even though you're independent, you're aware of these goals that the director has. How do you work to deal with that in what you do in your role?

Great question. Thank you. It came out because the director and I talk frequently. We talk at least a couple of times a month. And I think it's important for me to stay on target of what's important to him and his organization. After all, we are still part of that organization, and I think to make our reports more meaningful, I think it's important that we understand what direction that they're going.

They do have four core priorities, at least as I understand it: safety, equity, climate action, and economic prosperity. So, what we're trying to do is develop audit programs and audits that will help facilitate his goals, and hopefully we can find some meaningful recommendations that will help him get to where he's going.

And then lastly, I had a question that we talked about. And it would not be a rules committee hearing if I couldn't set Senator Grove off about the fact that I had a prior incarnation before I got here. But in a previous association I had, there was this issue that came up, and we talked about it in the hearing. And the issue was, is somebody that was a department had came to me confidentially and said, "There's an investigation going on in the department, and it appears that someone is working collaboratively with the vendor to submit false invoices, and then they're splitting the money that's paid from this. It's clear fraud. We're investigating it, but we want to do a wider investigation before we come back to you."

And when they came back to me, they said, "It turns out there's another department where these same people are involved in it on a much broader basis. Your department is small potatoes." And that was Caltrans. And there was a time at which all the people involved were arrested for fraud, and it was followed up, and it was really a case where somebody inside was approving invoices that weren't for legitimate work.

Now, how is you, my question was, how do you, as independent Inspector General, with your independence, how do you try to ferret these out without somebody coming into you and telling you? How would you think that your own process would help you get to this on your own?

Well, thank you for that question because that's really one of the new priorities that I've established. Historically, our office has been an entirely reactive one with respect to investigations. We manage a hotline, we get emails, people write us letters. And really we're relying on people to tip us off on those things happening. But instead, what we'd like to do now is build a data analysis team.

We call it a business intelligence team. And their whole effort will be to look at large data streams and run analytical procedures to try to detect those kinds of patterns of bidding behavior or things that just stand out and look wrong. But for us to do that on the front end is an entirely different paradigm shift. It goes from reactive to proactive. Our goal is to try to get in on the front end before these things become scandals.

Well, I appreciate that, and I think that just the virtue of that question coming from here means that that is a priority for us and just hope that you will consider it in what you do. Appreciate the answers to the questions, and I believe you're eminently qualified for this position.

Thank you, Senator Laird. Let me go to our vice chair, Senator Grove.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem, welcome. I did not have an opportunity to visit with you yesterday. I do apologize. But I have read your resume, and you're more than qualified with over 20 years experience, and I think you have a great extensive background. I do have a couple of questions. One, I'm going to follow up on my colleague, who's the former chair, excuse me, I have to get this correct. Former Secretary of Natural Resources.

Note for the record, I didn't say that.

And I'm going to keep track for the record of every meeting and rules, which he does announce that he is that person. So, that's just this thing that we have going and have had going for a few years, and I didn't expect it to start today. So I apologize for you, for him, for you. But I do want to follow up on one question that he had. You talked a little bit about your independence. Since there is no oversight, really, for you or your department, do you have peer subject reviews or is there some way where you can say, yeah, I think we did that right. And other than your experience, do you have a peer review or anything like that?

Yes. Thank you. Our office follows the Yellow Book, which is the generally accepted government auditing standards. So those are the standards that are really important to us. They're not easy to obtain. So we have successfully passed a peer review for the Yellow Book. So every three years, a panel of our peers throughout the state, sometimes throughout the country, will come in and they will audit our records, and they'll audit our audits, and tell us where we need to improve and fix our internal controls.

Great. No, hopefully that was what I was expecting. I did want to ask you just a brief question in response to the Rules Committee. You note that there were concerns on potential risk with increased federal funding funding coming. We do have the Infrastructure Investment Jobs Act. It's, I think, 30, $38 billion. And can you share what your proactive strategies might be to make sure that there's proper oversight and that we don't develop a large fraud in that case?

Yes, thank you. It's top of mind for me. This is one of the largest influxes of money to California for transportation purposes that I can remember. That, in addition to the state's investment in transportation, is really creating an elevated risk. And for us as auditors, we want to make sure that we have our finger on this pulse and that we're selecting audits that really matter. So we will be picking projects that have the IIJA funds, just so that we can make sure that we have a good understanding of how that money is being spent.

But at the same time, not losing pace or stride on all those other audits that we're doing. And on the proactive side, that's part of this data analytics team as well. That's actually where we got some of these positions to do this, is we wanted to be proactive. With this money coming in, we knew that there was going to be pressure to do different types of auditing. And hopefully, again, on the front end, that we can detect things and then we can work with Caltrans again before they become really problematic. And I think that's just a different role than we've ever played before.

That's wonderful. I do have kind of like an off-question. When you show up--my colleague asked a question--but when you show up, is there reception that you're there? I mean, do you have cooperation with the agencies on a generally predominant basis?

Yes, absolutely. I found that the department staff and the agency staff have been very thoughtful. They embrace the role of the independent Inspector General. I've found no instances where I felt threatened or I felt like they were trying to push me in a different direction that I didn't want to go. It's been nothing but strategic and professional, and I've really appreciated them.

That is really good to know. Thank you, sir. And I look forward to supporting your confirmation.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator Grove. Let me move to Senator Ochoa Bogh. We'll just go down the line.

Good morning, Mr. Beyer. Such a pleasure to meet you yesterday and have the conversations. And I have to say I was very impressed with the level of integrity and poise that you--and the humility and the dedication--that you showed yesterday as we were interviewed. And I hope the process hasn't been too nerve-wracking for you today. I know it's not the place that you would like to be at this point, but I'm grateful that you are here today.

So, it's my understanding that you're the third person to hold an Inspector General position since it was created and the first to have an auditing experience. What changes have you made to make its structure and procedures more like a true auditing office?

Thank you for that. First, I'll say I know both of my predecessors. I think very highly of them. They left this office in a great spot. We are a very well-run machine. I have made some changes. One of the most significant changes from an audit perspective is we have standardized a lot of our audit programs.

That's the tool we use, kind of like the checklist that we use to complete our audits. What I found is we were using a wide variety of audit programs for really the same type of job. And since this was the bulk of what we were doing, we decided to standardize that program so that our staff are now working on just one set of rules. It's more consistent. We're going to get a lot faster at doing what we're doing. And really, I think there's going to be more satisfaction with the jobs when they're done with it.

Wonderful, thank you. And here's a follow up question to that question. Are there any lingering challenges from the initial transfer of auditing functions from Caltrans to your office?

Thank you for that. Lingering challenges. There's a perception sometimes that we are uniquely looking at SB1. So I think some of it is an education that we have to constantly get out, talk to people, let them know what we do, who we are. Because I think there's some misconception that we are only limited to SB1, which is not the case.

We actually have a much broader authority with Caltrans. So I think there's sometimes some confusion when we are going outside of the SB1 realm, and then we just have to educate people and tell them kind of, no, this is our statute, this is what we do, and this is why we're here.

Wonderful. And there's another question that I have, is do you see or any legislative changes necessary to protect your independence?

At the moment, I don't. Again, I think the way that we are interacting with both the department and the agency, I do think we have the independence to do our job. And I'm very happy with how that's going.

Okay, and then one final question, and then I'll make a comment. There's something that you mentioned yesterday that I thought was very important in the spirit of education, which I'm a huge advocate for, and I think for the benefit of those that may be watching.

There's something that was very enlightening for me to learn yesterday from you, and that was the fact that the expectation of not implementing every single recommendation or the expectation of implementing every single recommendation by the auditing agency. Could you talk a little bit as to why it shouldn't be expected to implement every single one or be mandated to expect to implement every single recommendation from your department?

Right, thank you for that. In the context that we were talking about, the question was, should the auditors recommendations be a mandate onto the auditee? And I think my response surprised you a little bit, because the short answer, I think, is no. I think, one, that puts too much power in the hand of an auditor. And as rational as I think I am, at some point somebody's not going to agree with what we're saying, and there might be very legitimate reasons to not implement a recommendation.

And I think that's really for the department to determine. So, from an auditor's point of view, I really embrace the idea of making recommendations and then let the department decide with its team what's the right strategy. I also think that there's a potential conflict of interest, because if our recommendations essentially become mandated, we almost have the force of law with any recommendation that we make. We actually then stand in the shoes of the director in that case, and can pretty much supplant his policy-making authority.

And I don't think that's a great spot for an auditor to be either. And I think going forward, anything that we would audit after the fact, we would be the ones that had decided that policy. We can't then audit it again. And so those are my two big reasons. So I really like the discretionary aspect of it. And then I think the department has to defend itself if it chooses not to implement one of our recommendations, it certainly has that right. It just has to defend why. And I think that's really what those oversight committee hearings are for.

I have to say I really appreciated that insight and that angle that you shared with us yesterday. And I thought it would be very beneficial for the audience to actually hear it and my colleagues to hear that as well. So thank you very much for giving us that perspective, and I truly look forward to definitely supporting your appointment today.

Thank you, Senator. And last, but certainly not least, senator Smallwood-Cuevas.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Beyers, for being with us this afternoon. I unfortunately didn't get the opportunity to meet with you, but I really did enjoy your responses. They were very helpful in helping me prepare for the discussion today. And like my colleague earlier, I have previous association as well. But in this work, really looking at how infrastructure has such a tremendous impact, particularly on vulnerable communities.

And I was very excited to hear some of the things that you talked about in terms of making sure that independence is really about accountability and how are we consistent in making sure that our agencies are accountable to the folks who are investing in this system. I'm also really glad to hear about the shared goals of equity and prosperity that means the most for communities like mine, who obviously want to see our strong infrastructure but also participate in that opportunity.

And so that leads into some of my questions. And Vice Chair Grove spoke to this about the Infrastructure Act and how important it is. It's my understanding that the IIJA is also trying to really level the playing field, one for high road workforce development and also for ensuring that minority-owned business interests have a real stake in how our infrastructure gets built.

And that's through Section 25019. It gives a lot of authority for local jurisdictions and contractors, by extension, to make determinations of local hiring practices and also giving preference around economic disparity and engaging expanding access for workers who are in some of the disproportionate and disadvantaged communities and income.

You will have auditing power over these federal dollars that will come in, over seeing who's receiving these contracting projects, procurement practices, particularly for disadvantaged businesses, as well as ensuring that there is proper corresponding outreach and technical support. You will make a huge difference in something that I worked very hard before coming to the State Senate, which is to ensure that we are bringing our economies together, both business and workers.

It's also my understanding that Caltrans is required to ensure prevailing wage on these jobs. And I want to have a better understanding of how will you ensure, through your auditing authority, that, one, Caltrans is aware when those prevailing wages are not being met? And how will you work with the agency to ensure that those workers be made whole?

Great. Thank you, Senator, for that. The answer is, of course, that's absolutely something that we can build into our audit programs. And it's great timing because we haven't started these IIJA audits yet, but in the next couple of weeks even, we're going to be starting to select either one or two to get going. So what I'd like to do is build some of those procedures into our programs, our standard programs, so that we can look at that for all of the projects that we're looking at.

And along those lines--and I'm glad that prevailing wage will also be a part of it--we also know that on the local hiring and hiring preference, because these are federal dollars, there is a requirement for Caltrans to produce EEO1 plans for each of these projects.

How will you ensure that your auditing process will also be looking at these EEO One reports? And how then will those reports be shared? You mentioned how they're shared with the department itself, but is there a way for the public to be a part of that oversight and review?

Great question. Thank you. And the answer is yes, all of our reports are actually made public. So, I guess maybe the short answer is to ensure that we are doing that, we will put that type of procedure into our audit program so that it is captured with our work. And then you'll see the results when we issue our public report.

We will see those report as in terms of the legislature will see the report. But in terms of communities where contractors are actually producing and creating local hire, will they have access to those reports as well? General public.

Sorry. To the extent we know that there is someone interested in our work, we would absolutely try to send them a copy of our reports because not everybody knows how to navigate to our website and download our reports. But that's certainly-- I would love to know how to reach out and get a wider audience for our reports.

Appreciate that answer. The other part of this whole question of access and bringing economies together--certainly the state represents a huge workforce, and you talked a lot about diversifying your staff. And as I was reading through the notes, there are so few folks who have the expertise and experience that you have.

You are--so glad that you are before us, and your years of experience is helping to bring some real assets to this agency. But how do you think about the ways in which you will begin to track and share the hiring demographics and the ethnic background breakdown of those hires of your staff at your office?

Sure. Great. Thank you. So that data is tracked. So that's something that we try to look at as often as we can. We're fortunate we have a very diverse workforce in my office. And I know that Caltrans is tracking that data very carefully as well. That's actually one of the subject areas--internally, we were considering of an audit because there's a huge focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we want to make sure that we are doing as much as we can in propelling that forward.

I'm glad to hear that. I'm glad to hear that. And in terms of recruiting, so often there are different ways of recruiting different populations, different communities, both within your department and certainly more broadly for Caltrans. What are some of the methods that you will be taking to ensure that your staff is really going to some of these targeted underrepresented populations that may exist in your workforce?

Right. So we do have a method of advertising our positions. We really try to get out as much as possible to the widest net, if you will. We've even expanded our outreach statewide because, with our new working model, we work from home and work in the office. We can actually, for the first time, accommodate staff who don't just live in Sacramento.

So that's a great way to get out and get to folks that wouldn't have that opportunity otherwise. And we found we can still do our job. We can still be productive and work from home. And really, work from home can be anywhere right now. So that's really a positive thing. And I hope that gets to where you're going.

It does. I guess one specific question. Does that include ethnic media, both newspapers, online platforms? Just to what extent are the actual technical approaches to that outreach?

I apologize. I actually don't know the very specifics. I'm sure that's something that hopefully we can maybe get back to you on.

Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for answering those questions, and I look forward to working with you and hearing more about those steps in terms of the recruitment and the different methods you'll use.

Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. And again, I say the colleagues that have been here longer have heard me say this many times. The advantage of going last is people have asked the questions and drilled down. I only want to follow along and ask one particular question. In reading the materials and as it relates to outreach and diversity and the SB1 and SB103 required IOIA audits.

You had mentioned in the questions with staff, that you had restructured the program, created a new dedicated team for the function, and that there would be a status report at the end of 2022. And I'm sure we'll see all that. I'm just back and haven't had a chance to look that up. But the question I want to ask, and to give you an example, for years I have heard--and I think there's a role here as it relates to procurement and to follow along with what Senator Smallwood-Cuevas said--as it relates to outreach efforts, the small minority, disabled, veteran businesses, and I'm going to say women-owned businesses.

I have for years listened to a person in my district who is a small business, a woman-owned small business that specializes in highway improvements, such as highway striping, who's had difficulties competing at Caltrans with contracts because of the way the contracts are structured. They're often so that large and only major service providers can compete.

I think that's the challenge. And I know that there's reasons for that. There's efficiencies, there's cost, and so there's a balancing act to all of those things. But I have heard this enough times now from smaller businesses. I just want to know, is that incorporated into the restructure of how you evaluate this and will we be able to kind of talk to you about that going forward?

So a long question, hopefully to get to a response on how we can look at that and how I can respond to these small businesses. Because as we provide all this money, this taxpayer money, to do these critical infrastructure projects, people want to benefit from it that are California-based small companies and certainly for the diversity aspect of those businesses.

Thank you for that. The answer is I certainly hope you'll learn about this because we're really excited about this new team that we've developed in the past. This was a one-person operation and I thought it was a lot larger than that. So we did reorganize our office. We established this full team and this is all they're going to be doing. This is a perpetual audit. So year after year we're going to try to do more and more and more.

Our first report, unfortunately, didn't get out in the end of 2022. It's very soon. It just wasn't ready yet. It's got a wealth of information in there, though. We're very excited about it as a little teaser. But we are looking at all three of those, the two state programs and the one federal: so the small business, the disabled veteran, and the disadvantaged business enterprises.

And we're trying to do a deep dive on how that money is spent to those types of entities. And we're also trying to break down more granular than I think we've seen publicly. And hopefully, we can give a little bit more behind the whys of what's happening there now. It's part of our audit. Excuse me. We also piggyback on what Caltrans is doing for their outreach activities.

They are doing an awful lot with trying to get out, trying to increase participation. We're trying to attend those things. We're trying to see firsthand what they're doing. So hopefully, we'll get some observations ourselves on how that's working or not. We're also trying to reach out to the other stakeholders just to see how it's working on their end. So, we're trying to get intelligence from a whole variety of angles.

I really appreciate that and obviously the value to this undertaking. And I will look forward to that status update from all those perspectives and to my staff who's listening. And we had a whole conversation on this. We'll look for that status update and be sure to communicate with your office on behalf of at least one constituent that we have listened to for years.

I mean, owned the business for more than 50 years, committed to continuing to do this. And you can imagine when people think there are resources available and they're going to be able to benefit from some of that and do the work, it's important to us. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and all the answers to all these questions from my colleagues. So thank you.

We are now going to go to members of the public who may wish to weigh in support or opposition. And so we're going to start with members of the public who wish to testify in support. And as people line up to speak, let me ask you to keep some distance still in light of--you're good, you're good--those coming behind you should keep a little distance.

But I'm going to do a quick reminder for witnesses wishing to provide comment via phone and teleconference that, again, the participant toll free number is 877-226-8163. The access code is 7362834. And with that, right here in room 2200, we're going to begin with witnesses in support. Your name, organization, if any, that you represent, and your comments.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem and Members of the Committee. Todd Bloomstine representing the Southern California Contractors Association. We're an all union association of engineering contractors. I've got a prepared statement that I should probably throw out the window because I think a lot of the points that you brought up, Pro Tem, are points that the industry shares, namely that in order for Caltrans to develop efficiencies, they're looking to bundle, sometimes bundle and make mega projects.

There's a lot of sophistication that goes into bidding a very large job. One that most people don't understand is they have to--contractors have to bond the entire amount of that project. So if it's $100 million project, they have to put up a bond worth $100 million. And that bond has to be guaranteed by some financial liquidity. Well, if that's the case, and a contractor can't continuously reuse that bond, they're limited to the amount of work that they can do until that project is done.

So, the concern is if we continue to let large, very large Caltrans projects, we're going to delay projects and we're not going to utilize the full capacity of the construction industry as a collective. So that's a point that we've brought up continuously with the leadership at Caltrans and certainly going to share with the Inspector General as well. I do have another point, totally off my script here, but I think it's worth sharing. And I'd love to reach out to you and have a meeting.

I looked up our master labor agreement, what the wage is for a union operating engineer. Our employers pay them $62 an hour. That's for a full union member with at least three years experience. Sixty-two dollars an hour we pay, in addition, another $30 an hour for health and welfare benefits. That's a $90 an hour position. And to your point, these are extremely valuable jobs.

And so it's extraordinarily important to go out into the community and make sure there's a way for members of the community to become members of the union as well. So I look forward to initiating a conversation with you, Senator, as well. Having all said, all that, throwing my script out the window, the Southern California Contractors Association supports the confirmation of Mr. Beyer. Thank you, Madam Pro Tem.

Thank you very much. And for members of the public, I would say we don't often have that kind of extensive--you're good. I was just explaining, though, we usually just say in support or opposition with one or two comments or since, but that was really relevant and I appreciate it. So the Chair allowed it because it was on target with the questions we were asking. So I appreciate that. And as we move forward, I just appreciate this dialogue. This is a new position and one that we really are very interested in.

And so I appreciate the comments. Thank you to the speaker. Anyone else here in support, physically? Okay, having given that opportunity to everyone here in support, we are going to move to our moderator and welcome the moderator who will prompt individuals waiting to speak in support. And Moderator, as you tee people up, and once you are able to determine, will you tell me the number of people waiting to testify in support? And with that, welcome.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem. And ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to comment in support, you may press one and then zero at this time. Once again, if you wish to comment in support, you may press one and then zero. One moment, please. We have one party in queue. Line eight, your line is open. Please go ahead.

Good afternoon. I'm Roy Wesley, retired Inspector General for the State of California. I've worked with Bryan for 15 years, and I strongly support Brian for appointment to the Transportation IG.

Thank you very much, very much. Madam Moderator, any further speakers in support?

There are no further comments in support.

Thank you. We will be back with you momentarily. So, I'm going to move to anyone who might be in room 2200 in opposition. Seeing no one approach the dais. Madam Moderator, I'm going to come back to you for members of the public who may wish to speak in opposition, waiting to testify under teleconference service, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem. And ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to comment in opposition, you may press one and then zero at this time. Once again, if you wish to comment in opposition, you may press one and then zero. We have no comments in the queue at this time.

Madam Moderator, thank you so much for your assistance today. We appreciate it. Okay. Having given the opportunity for people to speak in support and opposition, I'm going to bring it back to this Committee, making sure there are no further comments or questions. I will entertain a motion. Madam Vice Chair has made a motion to support the appointment. Madam Secretary, will you please call the roll?

Senators Laird? Aye. Laird, aye. Ochoa Bogh? Aye. Ochoa Bogh, aye. Smallwood-Cuevas? Aye. Smallwood-Cuevas, aye. Grove? Aye. Grove, aye. Atkins? Aye. Atkins, Aye.

Five to zero. Your appointment will be moved on to the senate floor for full confirmation. And thank you for your time today and congratulations.

Thank you.

Absolutely. So this concludes the public portion of today's agenda. So I want to thank everyone who participated. I want to again welcome our new colleagues as we open our first Rules Committee meeting. And to those who weren't able to testify today, if you still wish to submit your comments or suggestions, please do so in writing to the Rules Committee or visit our website for instructions on how to do so.

I would let everyone know we do consider your comments and suggestions important to us, and we want to make sure they're included in the official hearing records as testimony. So thank you, everyone. The Senate Committee on Rules will now move to executive session.