(A “bucket of horse slop” is how one described it.)

Still, the measure known as AB 1250 has been advancing through the Legislature. It was approved with Democratic support in the Assembly in June. It’s now in the State Senate.

Supporters have argued that contracting out to private and nonprofit groups results in lower quality services. The rules, they say, are meant to ensure officials are held accountable for how tax money is spent.

Governments sometimes farm out jobs to save money or to cover needs that are short term or require special expertise.

Opponents say AB 1250 would add conditions so onerous that contracting would become virtually impossible. Among the requirements, counties would have to prove that:

■ a contract would result in “actual overall cost savings”

■ the contractor’s wages are equivalent to those of county workers

■ county employees would not be displaced

■ the potential savings of a contract are “not outweighed by the public’s interest” in employing county workers

California’s public sector unions represent about 1.4 million workers.

The contracting measure was introduced by Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from Los Angeles, who is a former local vice president at the S.E.I.U.