Dear friends,

When governments award millions of dollars in public contracts or subsidies to companies that promise to create jobs, the public -- that’s you! -- has a right to know whether those companies hold up their end of the deal.

But right now, California state law doesn’t guarantee that jobs information in these contracts are transparent and accessible to the public.

When companies hide information about jobs, it is most often workers and communities who lose out. Take New Flyer, a Canadian bus maker that tried to keep secret details about the wages and benefits paid out to the workers hired to build buses under its $500 million contract with LA Metro. According to pay stubs and corporate reports recently unsealed in a fraud case, New Flyer failed to pay its workers the wages and benefits it had outlined in order to win the contract. Worse, the company actively hid that information from the public.

Not only does this prevent the public from holding corporations accountable to their jobs promises, it also leaves our public agencies vulnerable to unnecessary and costly lawsuits from companies suing to prevent this information from becoming public record.

That's why a broad coalition of labor, community, environmental, and good governance groups are coming together to #PassSB749. SB749 is a common-sense bill that would require the jobs-related information in our public contracts to be made public record under the California Public Records Act.

Will you send a letter to your state assembly member and ask them to support SB749?

Join the movement for public accountability in California online on Twitter and Facebook #PassSB749!

In solidarity,

Jobs to Move America