Assembly Bill 1729, spearheaded by Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-San Jose; received a 31–6 vote, moving it to the Governor’s Office where it could face a veto. It passed the Assembly 67-7 in late May.
“I do believe this bill’s next hurdle is the biggest hurdle it faces in its journey,” state Sen. Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, said while advocating for the measure.
That hurdle comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom required many state workers return to the office four days a week starting July 1. Newsom said the return-to-office mandate aims to boost creativity and foster relationships among the thousands of people who work for the state. He also equated it to a three-day weekend.
Even if Newsom would veto the bill, legislators could override it with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. More than two-thirds voted for AB 1729 in both the Senate and Assembly.
The governor’s RTO mandate is what inspired Lee to author the bill, saying it affects employee morale.
“These are the people we need to (take) care of because (they) are executing our ambitions, and to see them have their morale just plummet because the governor’s forcing ... an outdated model was really heartbreaking to me,” Lee said in an interview.
The debate
Those who support AB 1729 say it could save California money and provide flexibility for state workers. A legislative analysis shows the bill could save California upwards of $225 million annually while costing roughly $10 million.
Even with cost savings in mind, AB 1729 encourages telework but doesn’t require it. The bill would instruct agencies to reevaluate telework policies and creates a central dashboard to assess efficiency benefits.
“I personally believe that decision (of where to work) is best left to (workers’) direct managers, and I believe that 1729 threads that needle and is a good conversational point,” Ashby said.
Those opposed to the bill say they’d prefer language that encourages flexibility rather than telework itself.
“I don’t know that’s something that we, as a Legislature, should really be saying — that we want to encourage teleworking as the default and standard,” state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, D-Encinitas, said.
Blakespear said she’s concerned about how telework could affect workers’ mental health, citing a recent article in BBC Science about a study that found remote work increased isolation.
That study, originally published in the journal “Science,” showed remote workers who live alone are more than twice as likely to spend a whole day without seeing another person compared to those who work in person. However, isolation data was consistent for workers who live with families regardless of remote or in-person work.
“After the pandemic, workers in remote-capable jobs spent more time working alone and avoided social activities with their friends, remaining more isolated both during and after work,” Ekeoma Uzogara, an editor for “Science” wrote in a summary.
Lee objects to Blakespear’s mental health concerns because, he said, it can be demoralizing to sit in traffic.
“People are also super depressed ... when they’re spending the limited time they have on this earth in traffic or sitting in their cubicle alone on a Zoom meeting that could take place anywhere,” Lee said.
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