Where do Sacramento-area lawmakers stand on the effort to protect telework?

The issue of where state employees work — from government offices or their homes — has motivated hundreds of Assemblymember Josh Hoover’s constituents to write to him.

Because the Folsom Republican represents an outsized number of state workers who commute from his district to downtown Sacramento, he has been one of the most prominent voices in the Capitol advocating for the continuation of telework for government employees.

Hoover is the co-author of a bill that would enable state agencies to establish department-specific policies around telework, instead of conforming to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s four-day, in-office requirement that is scheduled to go into effect this July.

Not all Sacramento-area lawmakers have come out in defense of telework. Several legislators declined to take an official stance and critics of the proposal say that the telework bill is a manifestation of labor’s pervasive influence in the Capitol.

“It’s an example of a politician pandering to labor’s interests at the expense of the community,” said Barry Broome, the president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.

Lawmakers who represent parts of the region where 40% of the state’s workforce lives said this bill was a way to help take care of their constituents while also promoting long-term savings and reducing office space costs.

“As the Assembly member with one of the highest concentrations of state workers in California, I appreciate AB-1729’s focus on making telework more consistent, accountable, and effective while ensuring state government continues to operate efficiently,” Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, D-Elk Grove, said in a statement referring to the bill that she is co-authoring.

Where do other Sacramento-area legislators stand?

Earlier this year, government employees lobbied lawmakers to earn their support for the telework bill. Members of the state engineers union visited Sen. Roger Niello’s office, several of whom were constituents of the Fair Oaks Republican, to talk about how teleworking has enabled them to do their jobs more effectively and spend less time on Sacramento highways.

Niello said it was too early to take a stance on the bill, but he noted in a statement that telework policy for state employees falls under the governor’s authority. The senator said that while he supports workers’ exercising their right to advocate through their bargaining units, he is wary of proposals that interfere with that process.

Sen. Christopher Cabaldon declined to take a position on the bill. A spokesperson for his office said the West Sacramento Democrat would review the telework legislation before it comes before the Senate.

While Senate Majority Leader Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, also said she was not ready to comment on the pending legislation, she did signal some support for telework.

“I do believe remote work will play an important role in our society. It’s all about the balance,” Ashby said in a statement. “We need not look to the past but instead work towards the opportunities that are right in front of us.”

One of those opportunities is the nascent effort to convert three underused government buildings into a downtown campus for Sacramento State. The Capitol Campus has so far raised $52 million from the technology company Meta and the federal government to build student housing, academic facilities and other mixed-use developments.

Ashby said she was focused on transforming Sacramento’s downtown “into a multifaceted hub of jobs, education, entertainment, and urban housing.”

Assemblymember Maggy Krell, D-Sacramento, declined to comment. Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, and Assembly Republican Leader Heath Flora, R-Ripon, did not respond to requests for comment.

Labor’s influence in the Capitol

Broome’s organization, the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, works with business and public leaders to drive growth in the region. He said the telework bill was an example of politicians working against their communities in favor of labor groups.

Broome added that policymakers shouldn’t be involved in this decision over working conditions for state employees.

Unions representing state workers, including SEIU Local 1000 and the Professional Engineers in California Government, have made thousands of dollars in contributions to Hoover and the bill’s primary author, Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-San Jose, in recent years.

The influence of labor groups in California politics was part of the reason the public has lost faith in politicians, Broome said, comparing the unions to other special interest groups, like Wall Street and developers.

“It really is a good indication of why people don’t trust Democrats to lead America,” he said.

Hoover pushed back on Broome’s critique. His bill wouldn’t enable state employees to work remotely, which is what SEIU Local 1000 proposed earlier this month. Instead, it would allow departments to establish telework policies based on operational needs, rather than requiring agencies to adopt Newsom’s one-size-fits-all approach.

“Neither of those options really strike the right balance,” Hoover said. “What we want to see is remote work where it makes sense, and in-person work where it is needed.”

Hoover said he sees how the decrease in state workers’ foot traffic has impacted businesses downtown, particularly smaller operations.

“I think we have to do that by rethinking what a downtown core looks like … rather than trying to revive our economy on the backs of state workers,” he said.