BILL ANALYSIS
------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 29X8|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|1020 N Street, Suite 524 | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
------------------------------------------------------------
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 29X8
Author: Steinberg (D), et al
Amended: 3/4/10
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE : 5-0, 2/16/10
AYES: Correa, Corbett, Cox, Ducheny, Liu
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-1, 2/17/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Alquist, Leno, Liu, Price, Yee
NOES: Wyland
SENATE FLOOR : 30-6, 2/18/10
AYES: Aanestad, Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Cogdill,
Corbett, Correa, Cox, DeSaulnier, Ducheny, Florez,
Hancock, Huff, Kehoe, Leno, Liu, Lowenthal, Negrete
McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Pavley, Price, Romero, Runner,
Simitian, Steinberg, Wiggins, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Ashburn, Denham, Hollingsworth, Strickland, Walters,
Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 70-7, 3/8/10 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public employment: furloughs
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill exempts state civil service employees
from being furloughed if employed in positions funded at
least 95 percent by sources other than the General Fund,
CONTINUED
SB 29X8
Page
2
prohibits state agencies, boards, and commissions from
implementing, or assisting with implementation of,
furloughs for such employees, and specifically exempts all
employees of the Franchise Tax Board and Board of
Equalization from being furloughed.
Assembly Amendments made technical changes and added
co-authors.
ANALYSIS : Existing law sets forth the general policy
that the workweek of a state employee shall be 40 hours and
authorizes workweeks of different hours to be established
in order to meet varying needs of different state agencies.
Existing law also authorizes the Governor to require that
the 40-hour workweek be worked in four days in any state
agency or part thereof when the Governor determines that
the best interests of the state would be served thereby.
Existing law vests the Department of Personnel
Administration with the duties and responsibilities
exercised by the State Personnel Board with respect to the
administration of salaries, hours, and other
personnel-related matters.
Executive Orders S-16-08 and S-13-09 imposed mandatory
furloughs on state civil service employees, regardless of
funding source and with limited exemptions. The current
furlough program is scheduled to end on June 30, 2010.
This bill:
1. Exempts from any mandatory furlough program the
following state civil service employees:
A. Any employee whose position is funded at least
95 percent by special funds (i.e., non-General
Fund).
B. Any employee of the Franchise Tax Board.
C. Any employee of the State Board of
Equalization.
SB 29X8
Page
3
1. Prohibits any state agency, board, or commission from
directly or indirectly implementing, or assisting with
the implementation of, a furlough of the above state
employees.
2. Makes the following findings and declarations related to
the furlough program:
A. Furloughs result in tremendous hardships to
employees and their families.
B. Furloughs are applied to almost all state
employees, regardless of whether or not they are
paid from the General Fund.
C. Furloughing employees paid by special funds
provides no General Fund savings and tends to make
special fund departments less efficient.
D. Delays in services harm California's residents
and deprive the State of federal funding.
E. In some cases the furlough program has reduced
new revenues.
F. The Sacramento region has suffered
significantly from the loss of workers' wages,
forcing some businesses to close their doors.
3. Specifies that it does not create legal authorization
for the imposition of furloughs through an Executive
Order.
Background
Furloughs of two days per month began in February of 2009,
and were increased to three days per month in July of 2009.
Since the July implementation, many state departments,
boards, and commissions have been closed three days per
month. Some have been exempted from closures and those
employees are on a self-directed furlough program. The
SB 29X8
Page
4
self-directed program allows employees to accrue furlough
days and use them like vacation days, upon management
approval. Accrued furlough days have no cash value and
must be used within 24 months of the end of the furlough
program.
According to the Department of Personnel Administration,
accrued furlough days must be used before an employee may
use accrued vacation, annual leave, personal holidays,
holiday credit, personal leave time credit, and
compensatory time off.
The current three-day furlough requirement amounts to a
reduction of approximately 13.85 percent of employees'
compensation.
According to the Department of Personnel Administration,
the following departments employing civil service employees
have been exempted from the furlough program.
1. California Highway Patrol and 911 Dispatchers
2. Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (during fire
season)
3. The Public Utilities Commission
4. The Legislative Counsel Bureau
5. The Bureau of State Audits
According to information provided by the State Controller's
Office, this bill would result in exemptions for
approximately 79,850 state civil service employees, as
follows:
1. 69,500 employees paid 100 percent from non-general fund
monies
2. 3,985 Board of Equalization Employees
3. 6,365 Franchise Tax Board Employees
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 3/8/10)
Association of California State Supervisors
California Labor Federation
SB 29X8
Page
5
California Statewide Law Enforcement Association
California-Nevada Conference of Operating Engineers
Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to a study supplied to
the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee by
the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local
1000, the furlough program has resulted in approximately
$1.6 billion in lost economic activity to the State,
approximately $119 million in lost state taxes, and as many
as 10,400 lost jobs. Furthermore, SEIU Local 1000 states,
"Numerous examples show that furloughing non-General Fund
employees makes no fiscal sense."
The California Labor Federation states that furloughs have
caused serious backlogs, jeopardized essential enforcement,
and harmed Californians and this bill will "benefit all
Californians by allowing at least some departments to do
their jobs." In addition, "Labor law enforcement,
unemployment benefits assistance, and highway maintenance
and safety - all these programs have been derailed by
furloughs."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes,
Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight,
Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Tran, Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NOES: Tom Berryhill, DeVore, Fuller, Gaines, Garrick,
Harkey, Logue
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nielsen, Norby, Vacancy
JJA:nl 3/16/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SB 29X8
Page
6
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
**** END ****