Assembly Concurrent Resolution ACR145 declares March 1–7, 2026, as Women in Construction Week and asks the Governor and the public to observe the week with programs and educational activities. The resolution collects findings about the low share of women in construction trades and apprenticeships and frames apprenticeship pathways and women-owned businesses as key tools for expanding participation.
The measure is a symbolic statement of legislative priorities: it promotes recruitment and retention of women in construction, highlights apprenticeships as an alternative to college debt, and signals support for existing policy efforts to diversify the industry. Because it is a concurrent resolution, it does not create new regulatory duties or funding streams; its value lies in public visibility and policy signaling to agencies, employers, and training programs.
At a Glance
What It Does
Proclaims the week of March 1–7, 2026 as Women in Construction Week, requests that the Governor issue a proclamation encouraging observance, and directs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution.
Who It Affects
Women seeking careers in construction, apprenticeship sponsors and trade employers, labor-management apprenticeship programs, workforce development and education professionals, and policymakers focused on workforce diversity.
Why It Matters
The resolution elevates workforce diversity and apprenticeship pathways in public conversation, aligning legislative messaging with prior policy (cited in the text) and encouraging stakeholders to prioritize recruiting and retaining women in skilled construction roles.
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What This Bill Actually Does
ACR145 compiles a set of factual findings and then uses them to proclaim a week-long observance focused on women in construction. The factual preamble highlights workforce gaps and frames apprenticeships and women-owned businesses as central levers for expanding participation.
The text connects those findings to ongoing policy efforts and to a stated goal of increasing women's presence in construction careers.
After the findings, the operative language is procedural: the resolution proclaims March 1–7, 2026 as Women in Construction Week and requests that the Governor issue a proclamation calling on Californians to observe the week with appropriate programs and education activities. It also instructs the Assembly Chief Clerk to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution.
There is no operative funding authorizing language or regulatory directive to state agencies.Although the resolution itself carries no enforcement mechanism, its findings include concrete statistics and policy references that shape how agencies, educators, unions, and employers might interpret the Legislature’s priorities. The bill name-checks prior legislation and apprenticeship systems, frames apprenticeship as a debt-avoiding career path, and underscores development of women-owned business enterprises as beneficial to the broader workforce.
In short, the measure is intended to spur outreach, recruitment, and public education rather than to impose new legal obligations.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The resolution designates March 1 through March 7, 2026, inclusive, as Women in Construction Week.
It explicitly requests that the Governor issue a proclamation calling on Californians to observe the week with programs and educational activities.
The text cites national participation figures: women occupy 9 percent of apprenticeships and 10.9 percent of construction trade jobs.
The resolution references existing state policy (Assembly Bill 2358 of 2018 and Senate Bill 530 of 2019) and states an aim to help achieve at least 20 percent participation by 2029.
The bill quotes Division of Apprenticeship Standards data that joint labor–management building trades apprenticeship programs graduate over 90 percent of women apprentices in California’s state‑approved apprenticeship system, noting those graduates are union members covered by collective bargaining agreements.
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Findings on workforce gaps and apprenticeship value
The preamble compiles a sequence of findings: low female participation in construction trades and apprenticeships, the importance of diversified recruitment to competitiveness, apprenticeships as an educationally efficient pathway, and the role of women-owned businesses in improving conditions. Practically, these findings frame the Legislature’s reasoning — they do not impose duties but create a record that stakeholders can cite when designing outreach, training, or contracting strategies.
Proclamation of Women in Construction Week
This single-sentence operative provision proclaims March 1–7, 2026 as Women in Construction Week. As a proclamation within a concurrent resolution, it is declaratory and symbolic: it signals legislative intent and encourages public observance but does not change statutes or regulatory responsibilities.
Request to the Governor to issue a proclamation
The resolution asks the Governor to issue a matching proclamation calling on the public to observe the week with programs and educational activities. That request is nonbinding; the Governor’s office decides whether to act and how to allocate staff time or resources to produce official materials. The practical effect depends on executive uptake—if the Governor issues a proclamation, state and local agencies and partners typically use it as a basis for coordinated outreach.
Transmittal instruction
The resolution directs the Chief Clerk of the Assembly to transmit copies of the resolution to the author for distribution. This is a routine, procedural step that facilitates dissemination to community groups, apprenticeship sponsors, unions, and other stakeholders who may use the resolution in promotional or educational efforts.
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Who Benefits
- Women seeking construction careers — the resolution raises visibility for career pathways and apprenticeship options, which can increase recruitment and provide social validation for women entering nontraditional trades.
- Apprenticeship sponsors and training programs — the public focus can drive outreach, enrollment, and partnerships with schools and workforce agencies, strengthening candidate pipelines.
- Labor–management building trades and unions — the resolution spotlights apprenticeship outcomes and may bolster union-affiliated recruiting efforts, particularly where joint programs report high female graduation rates.
- Career counselors, educators, and workforce boards — the Legislature’s message gives these actors a clear lever to promote construction pathways and to justify programming aimed at girls and young women.
Who Bears the Cost
- Governor’s office and state agency communications units — if the Governor issues a proclamation or coordinates events, those offices will absorb staff time and production costs without additional appropriation from this resolution.
- Apprenticeship programs and employers organizing outreach activities — local sponsors will carry the operational burden of events, recruitment campaigns, and any accommodations made to attract more women, often using existing budgets.
- Institutions asked to expand recruitment or training (schools, community colleges, workforce boards) — scaling outreach and supportive services (like childcare or PPE fit testing) can require resources that are not provided by the resolution.
- Trade employers and contractors adapting worksites to be more welcoming — practical changes (restroom facilities, harassment prevention training, tool and equipment adjustments) impose real costs and logistical effort on firms, especially smaller contractors.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The central tension is between symbolic recognition and the need for concrete, resourced interventions: the resolution promotes recruitment, apprenticeships, and a 20 percent participation goal, but it offers no funding, enforcement, or measurement plan — leaving stakeholders to translate legislative voice into the operational changes that actually increase and sustain women's participation in construction.
ACR145 is primarily symbolic: it compiles data and sets aspirational goals without attaching funding, enforcement mechanisms, or reporting requirements. That creates an implementation gap — the Legislature signals a priority (including a target to reach 20 percent participation by 2029) but does not identify who will measure progress, how it will be funded, or what statutory changes are required to reach the goal.
Stakeholders can use the resolution as political cover to pursue programs, but measurable results will likely depend on separate budgetary or regulatory action.
The resolution also leans on selective evidence — for example, it highlights strong female graduation rates in joint labor–management apprenticeship programs and emphasizes union protections, but it does not address the experiences or outcomes of women in nonunion pathways or describe how to reconcile differing program models. Finally, emphasizing visibility and outreach risks tokenizing a complex set of barriers (worksite culture, safety equipment and facility design, childcare, harassment, and career mobility).
Without complementary investments in workplace change, training supports, and enforcement, awareness alone may not move the needle on retention and advancement.
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