SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gray Davis recently vetoed Assembly Bill 1679, which would have severely limited licensed contractors' ability to use the services of temporary employees from employment agencies and the like.

Authored by Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco), the bill would have made contractors responsible for paying workers' compensation insurance for temporary workers. The State Building and Trades Council intended the law to make contractors more careful about job site safety.

The California Landscape Contractors Association strongly opposed the bill, insisting that it "would have eliminated the biggest advantage of using temporary employment agency help: covenience."