Ban aims to keep jobs by state contractors from going offshore.

Trying to stem the tide of jobs going to foreign countries, the Assembly approved a bill Thursday that would ban state contractors from offshoring jobs.

The bill would prohibit contracts such as the one California has with a company operating a call center in India for welfare and food stamp recipients, said Assemblywoman Carol Liu, D-La Canada Flintridge.

Liu’s bill would require all contractors and subcontractors to certify that the “contract work will be performed by people in the state of California,’ she said.

Opponents said the bill was shortsighted because outsourcing jobs keeps those contracts cheaper.

“What you call outsourcing is capital going to its most efficient place,’ said Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine. “And when capital goes to its most efficient place, we all benefit.’

The bill doesn’t attempt to stop private companies from outsourcing, but jobs paid for with state tax money should be kept in the state when possible, said Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-San Francisco.

“I don’t believe anyone wants to see our tax dollars fleeing the state or this country,’ Mullin said.

Liu’s bill was approved 44-26 and sent to the Senate.

The Assembly also approved 41-27 a bill by Assemblyman Paul Koretz, D-West Hollywood, that would require employers to expand their payroll reporting to include the numbers of workers in California, other states and overseas.

“There’s a lot of conflict about the number of jobs sent offshore,’ Koretz said. “Many have argued that it’s premature to act until we have the numbers. This will give us those numbers.’

Read the bills, AB1829 by Liu and AB3021 by Koretz, at www.leginfo.ca.gov

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