BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 692 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 13, 2011 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Felipe Fuentes, Chair AB 692 (Hall) - As Introduced: February 17, 2011 Policy Committee: Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Vote: 4-1 Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: SUMMARY This bill requires that state employee termination hearings or investigations take priority over all other cases that were initiated within the previous six months by the State Personnel Board (SPB). FISCAL EFFECT Increased costs of approximately $250,000 to the State Personnel Board for processing cases within the time frames specified in this bill. COMMENTS 1)Rationale . According to supporters, the SPB has over 3,800 SPB employee cases to hear and not enough judges to hear them. When an employee is terminated they and their family suffer the loss of their income and health benefits. Many of the terminated employees have to wait up to 18 months to receive a hearing date, but many terminated employees win their SPB cases. If the employee is reinstated, the state has to pay the employee back wages, which more often than not are for a period of at least two years and the employee is allowed to charge the state 7 % interest. 2)Background. Adverse actions are formal disciplinary measures taken against state civil service employees. They include dismissals, suspensions, demotions, reductions in salary, disciplinary transfers and formal reprimands. SBP reports that it received 1,273 appeals of adverse actions in 2008. Of that total, 316 were sustained, six were revoked, eight were AB 692 Page 2 modified, and the remaining 603 were disposed of through pre-hearing settlement agreements. The SPB is responsible for administering a merit system of civil service employment within California state government. As part of its responsibility, the SPB has established administrative procedures to resolve appeals of alleged violations of civil service laws and rules. The SPB is required to issue a decision within a reasonable time after the conclusion of the hearing or investigation. For most appeals, the SPB has six months from the filing of an appeal or 90 days from its submission, whichever is less, to decide the case. The SPB may extend this period by 45 days, as specified. Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081