Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo is introducing a motion on Friday that would require contractors who bid on city projects to disclose if they've also bid on President Trump's border wall.
The motion would not outright deny city contracts to firms that are bidding on the wall, but the measure's language makes it clear that they would be at a disadvantage.
The motion would let city residents know "whether or not they are supporting individuals or entities who are involved in the construction of a Border Wall that will significantly impact them and bring harm to their families and communities," Cedillo said in a statement.
The measure would not go as far as proposals under consideration in San Francisco and Oakland. Those cities are deciding whether to deny city contracts to firms that bid for wall work. And a bill introduced in the state legislature would prohibit California from contracting with organizations that provide goods or services for the wall.
Contractors are "furious" about the string of so-called "blacklist" bills circulating around the state, said Tom Holsman, CEO of the Associated General Contractors of California. If these measures become law, they would unfairly harm construction workers based on work that's deemed to be politically unpopular, he said.
"Penalizing employers who are private operators for philosophical political beliefs is beyond the control of those [workers]," Holsman said. "The ripple effect is devastating."
In a statement, the contractors' group suggested that such laws, if passed, could be challenged in court: "Such proposals are contrary to more than 140 years of California Supreme Court precedent with regard to competitive bidding that focuses on the bidding process and not on what is being built."
Hundreds of companies around the U.S. have already submitted design bids for Trump's proposed border wall, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Selected vendors could be announced as soon as this month. The government is expected to request additional construction bids over the coming months and years (if and when the wall is funded).
Cedillo's motion has the support of immigrant advocacy organizations and labor groups, including the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
These are other bills in the state legislature designed to limit Trump's reach in California. One seeks to limit how local police cooperate with federal immigration agents. Another measure would require business owners to inform their workers about upcoming immigration raids.
