My Day at the State Capitol
In January I made a trip to the State Capitol with other members of the Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors where met with our elected representatives. The purpose of our trip was to talk with our legislators about workforce development and Contractor State License Board enforcement.
Workforce Development:
Sometime ago schools stopped providing industrial arts. Young people have changed their career paths desiring to become programmers and seeking out high tech jobs. Unfortunately, this has left the good paying skilled trades such as plumbing, electrical, carpentry and auto mechanic fields with a depleted labor pool. In fact the average age of a plumber in the US is 57 years old. So, we can expect the shortage to get worse.
Our Mission was to talk to legislators about restoring industrial arts classes to schools, while gathering support for the PHCC’s Ride and Decide program. The Ride and Decide program is meant to engage students between their junior and senior years in high school. The program employs the students for two weeks during summer break and allows them to experience what a career in the plumbing industry can do for them. Interested students could then return after graduation to start a career within the plumbing trade. This includes a fully paid four year approved training program. If you or someone you know could benefit from the Ride and Decide program, please contact me at Info@PlumbingPro.com
California State License Board Enforcement:
In California a contractor’s license is required for all work over $500. While performing “Do It Yourself” work on your own home is fine; hiring an unlicensed person to do the work is illegal. In the plumbing trade, I have personally seen poor plumbing work performed by unlicensed individuals who have put the occupants in physical danger and could have caused a deathly situation.
Our goal was to ask the California State License Board to crack down on all unlicensed persons acting as contractors. Asking for more sting operations and enforcing state requirements for displaying licensing information on ALL advertising, trucks and documents. This would help keep consumers safe.
In conclusion, everyone at the capitol was very receptive to our cause and I felt it was well worth the time spent.
George