Clean Restrooms Now Mandatory in CA Schools
Thanks to a new law, school districts must keep restrooms clean and in working good working order. The bill does not provide new funding, but rather requires districts to work with existing maintenance budgets to ensure the restrooms are sanitary.

"School districts often save those monies for a rainy day while children can't even walk into the restrooms," explains Assembly member Fabian Nunez (D - Los Angeles), in an article in California Educator.  

The California Teachers Association, a union serving 335,000 teachers in 1,000 school districts, supported the measure, because of the health risks of unsanitary restrooms to students and teachers alike.

On the other hand, some school districts seem unprepared to deal with the new rules at all. At Adolfo Camarillo High School in Oxnard, administrators shut down all but two sets of bathrooms at a time, to cut down on graffiti and potential violence, reports the Ventura County Star. But this conflicts with the law, to take effect in January, which requires bathrooms to be open during school hours. Current California plumbing code requires one urinal for every 30 boys, plus a toilet for every 100 boys. One toilet is suggested for every 45 girls. By keeping restrooms locked, Camarillo High does not meet these ratios.

For more information about school restrooms, visit Project Clean .

State Of The Estate Tax? In Flux
There may be a compromise near on the estate tax. Currently, estates up to $1 million ($2 million for couples) can be inherited tax-free; that number is set to steadily increase before the estate tax disappears entirely in 2010. However, the current estate-tax law sunsets that year.

Opponents of the estate tax are ready to concede that total, permanent repeal of the tax is unlikely, given impending retirements of the baby-boom generation and the current budget deficit.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), a longtime advocate for repealing the tax, has instead considered raising the estate tax exemption to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for couples and lower the tax rate on inherited assets above that level to 15 percent, the current rate on capital gains and dividends, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Post. The Post suggested the 15 percent rate would not be a “business-ending event” for small companies.

Change Your Plan, Keep Your Cell Number
Barring any last-minute injunctions or lawsuits, wireless-phone users soon will be able to switch providers, but keep their existing phone numbers. “Local number portability” goes into effect Nov. 24, and up to 25 percent of large businesses and 20 percent of consumers will switch providers, according to communications consultants The Management Network Group.

For more information about number portability, visit the Federal Communications Commission.

Federal Contracting

Government Changes Bundling Rules
With the publication of a final rule in the Oct. 20 Federal Register, small businesses contracting with the federal government may have more opportunities to compete.

Previously, small businesses lost out on many contracts due to “bundling” — a practice that combines several small contracts into one large package. This is done to streamline government acquisition, but puts small contractors at a disadvantage. For every 100 bundled contracts, 106 individual contracts are no longer available; and every $100 awarded to bundled contracts has led to a decrease of $33 in small-business contracts, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The rule cleans up loopholes by requiring bundling reviews for certain multiple-award contract vehicles; agency reviews, for unnecessary or unjustified bundling of proposed acquisitions above specified thresholds; and written justification when alternatives to bundling aren’t used. The rule also attempts to mitigate the effects of bundling by strengthening compliance with subcontracting plans; facilitating development of teams and joint ventures; and revising the definition of bundling to include multiple-award contract vehicles and task and delivery orders.

“When contracts are bundled together and small businesses are excluded from federal contract opportunities, our country suffers,” says SBA administrator Hector V. Barreto in a press release. “Small business participation is necessary for innovation and cost savings, not to mention the benefits to our economy when small businesses are able to grow and create more jobs.”

This information is intended as a summary of legal information and should in no way be construed as legal advice. Contact your attorney before proceeding with any legal action.




POSTED ON: 11/1/2003