BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 455| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 455 Author: Campos (D) Amended: 3/31/11 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOY. & RETIRE. COMMITTEE : 3-2, 5/9/11 AYES: Negrete McLeod, Padilla, Vargas NOES: Walters, Gaines ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-25, 4/7/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Public employment: local public employee organizations SOURCE : American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO DIGEST : This bill specifies the composition of local public agency personnel or merit system commissions and the process of appointment of their members and chairperson. ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), which provides a statutory framework for local government employer-employee relations by providing a reasonable method of resolving disputes regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment between local public employers and public employee organizations. CONTINUED AB 455 Page 2 This bill: 1.Requires, in public agencies that have established merit or personnel commissions, that the governing board of the public agency appoint one-half of the commission members, and appoint the other one-half as nominated by the recognized employee organization. 2.Specifies that whenever there are multiple bargaining units represented by different recognized employee organizations, the one representing the largest number of employees will be the one to designate commission members, as specified. 3.Requires the commission members to jointly elect one additional member of the commission who will act as its chairperson. Comments Need for the Bill . According to the author's office, "Many municipalities and public agencies appoint merit and personnel commissions, which promulgate and administer the rules and regulations relating to employee selection, recruitment, pay, retention, promotion, evaluation, and discipline. ÝHowever], despite the importance of merit and personnel commissions to employment relations, the MMBA is silent as to how these commissions should be composed. A requirement that personnel and merit commission appointments be shared by the employer and employee organization would ensure that the commissions will be more balanced and fair." What are Merit Systems in Civil Service ? A merit system is a personnel system based on the principle of employment and promotion on the basis of merit for the purpose of obtaining the highest efficiency while assuring the selection, retention and promotion of the most qualified individuals in the job. Many local public agencies have established merit or personnel commissions to promulgate and administer the rules and regulations for operating these systems. The Merit System in State Civil Service . The merit system CONTINUED AB 455 Page 3 for State employees is established in statute and the State Constitution, and is overseen by the State Personnel Board (SPB) which was "constitutionally created in 1934 to administer the civil service system and ensure that state employment is based on merit and free of political patronage." The SPB, whose members are appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate, is charged with enforcing civil service statutes, prescribing probationary periods and job classifications, adopting other rules authorized by statute, and reviewing disciplinary actions. Selection of Personnel Commission Members in K-12 Education. Current law provides that a personnel commission established by a school district must have three members - one member appointed by the governing board of the district, one member nominated by the classified employees of the district and appointed by the governing board of the district, and a third member jointly appointed by the two members. Current law also defines "classified employees" in this regard as the exclusive representative that represents the largest number of noncertificated employees in a unit or units within the district. However, if there is no exclusive representative within the district, the governing board must, by written rule, prescribe the method by which the recommendation is to be made by its classified employees. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 5/10/11) American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (source) California Labor Federation California State Pipe Trades Coalition of California Utility Employees International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers International Union of Elevator Constructors Service Employees International Union, Local 100 CONTINUED AB 455 Page 4 Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers Utility Workers Union of America OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/10/11) California State Association of Counties Regional Council of Rural Counties League of California Cities ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the source, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, "Currently the MMBA does not specify a requirement for the composition of merit and personnel commissions that are appointed by municipalities and public agencies. Because these commissions decide on rules and regulations relating to employees, their impact on employees is tremendous. Allowing the employer to select its members skews the commission unfairly. ÝThis bill] would prescribe how the membership of public agency merit and personnel commissions must be appointed?and will help protect the rights of public agency employees." ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : In opposition, the League of California Cities states, "AB 455 unnecessarily intrudes into what is fundamentally a local municipal affair over the compensation method of appointment, qualifications, tenure of office, and removal of employees. Additionally, agencies that no longer have authority to appoint the full board will likely forgo the civil/personnel commission and instead took to an outside hearing officer or binding arbitration. Either of these options would be more costly to the agency and to employees." The California State Association of Counties and the Regional Council of Rural Counties contend, "We do not see any reason why the compositions of personnel commissions should be changed as a matter of state law. We would encourage the supporters of AB 455 to seek changes in the composition at the local level, and if the need arises, reconstruct each commission on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis. Furthermore, we question the need for changes. We are unaware of any such abuses when used by counties as a way to address certain employment practices. Note, that when there are unfair CONTINUED AB 455 Page 5 labor practices (alleged or otherwise), current law provides a number of remedies. Altering the composition of each and every composition appears to be a misguided attempt if there are concenrs about one or more selected commissions." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Gatto, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher, Garrick, Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner NO VOTE RECORDED: Achadjian, Charles Calderon, Cedillo, Furutani, Gorell, Bonnie Lowenthal, Mitchell, Portantino, Vacancy CPM:cm 5/10/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED