Dive Brief:

• The California Senate failed to take up two controversial H-1B visa bills on Friday, pushing any further discussion of the issues to January, CIO reports.
• Assembly Joint Resolution 12 and Assembly Bill 853 were both sidelined with no discussion or vote.
• The two bills were introduced after Southern California Edison workers complained over 500 of them were laid off so the company could bring in cheaper H-1B workers from other countries.

Dive Insight:

Experts say the California measures may be one of the “more significant legislative actions against offshore outsourcing in the U.S.,” and may eventually affect the ability of U.S.-based utilities to outsource services in the future.

Assembly Joint Resolution 12 asks the U.S. Department of Labor and Congress to investigate alleged misuse of H-1B visas in offshoring outsourcing. It was previously approved in the state Assembly 49 to 20. AB 853, meanwhile, would prevent state regulated utilities from outsourcing critical infrastructure work without regulatory approval.

AB 853 has been opposed by tech and business groups. Both bills were supported by utility workers represented by unions. Though the focus is currently on utilities, both measures could ultimately affect other industries that outsource workers.