California’s work-from-home revolution is now in Gavin Newsom’s hands

California legislation that would allow state government employees to work from home is on its way to the governor’s desk — where it will likely face its biggest hurdle.

Lawmakers recently passed Assembly Bill 1729 with bipartisan backing, which would require the state to implement a telework plan where remote work is suitable and to mandate agencies to provide justification for making workers report on site.

The state Senate passed it 31-6, and the state Assembly previously voted for it 67-7.

The passed bill is a response to complaints from state labor groups who are unhappy with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order that most state employees who were working remotely return to the office four days a week starting last month.

“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(they) are executing our ambitions, and to see them have their morale just plummet because the governor’s forcing … an outdated model was really heartbreaking to me,” bill author Assemblymember Alex Lee (D) told the Sacramento Bee.

While a number of Republicans voted against the bill, some have thrown their support and agreed remote work can be a good thing.

“It has the potential to save the state hundreds of millions of dollars on office space, reduce traffic congestion on Sacramento roads and help California remain competitive with the private sector,” Assemblymember Josh Hoover (R) told the Folsom Telegraph.

Lee’s bill, however, is likely to be vetoed by Newsom, who has repeatedly defended his return-to-office demand. The return to offices was needed to improve collaboration and public service, Newsom has said.

“One of them is a crisis of loneliness. People not feeling connected,” the governor said at a press conference. “I want people to come back to work. Re-engage,” he added, suggesting the in-person work has societal benefits for workers themselves.

State workers have complained that the in-person requirement has lowered morale as employees deal with commute times, parking and finding child care.

In the past few months, California’s largest state employee union, SEIU Local 1000, remained locked in a tense contract standoff with the Newsom administration, with the return to the office mandate being a main thorn.

Critics of the bill agree with Newsom that returning to the office is long overdue.

“Government workers functioned just fine when required to come to work before the pandemic,” Tim Anaya, a former state government employee for two decades who now works at free market think tank Pacific Research Institute, said.

“Millions who have to commute into the office every day have little sympathy for the noisy union protests demanding another benefit for government workers few in the private sector enjoy.”

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