BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: SB 1308
Gloria Negrete McLeod, ChairHearing date: March 26, 2012
SB 1308 (Senate PE&R Committee) as introduced
2/23/12FISCAL: NO
GOVERNOR'S REORGANIZATION PLAN TO CONSOLIDATE THE DEPARTMENT
OF PERSONNEL ADMNISTRATION AND THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD
HISTORY :
Sponsor: California Department of Human Resources
(CalHR)
Prior legislation: GRP 1, 2011
SB 1309 (Negrete McLeod): also being heard in
this committee
SUMMARY :
SB 1308 contains statutory changes included in the Governor's
plan (GRP 1, 2011) to consolidate the Department of Personnel
Administration (DPA) and the State Personnel Board (SPB) into
a single agency: the California Department of Human
Resources (CalHR).
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS :
1) Existing law :
a) charges DPA with representing the Governor in all
matters pertaining to executive branch, state-employee
labor relations and administering certain programs,
terms, and conditions of state employment, including but
not limited to the following:
salaries, wages, and other compensation.
employee leave programs.
dental, vision, and other benefit programs not
administered by CalPERS.
the classification plan and allocation of
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positions.
employee training, performance, and development.
supervisory and managerial employer-employee
relations.
the Savings Plus Program (457 and 401(k)
programs).
the Alternate Retirement and Part-Time, Seasonal,
and Temporary Retirement Programs.
administering and implementing labor contracts
and overseeing the grievance process.
providing consultation to departments regarding
contract provisions and labor relations issues.
representing the state employer in legal matters
regarding employee relations.
a) as set forth in statute and the Constitution, charges
SPB with administering the state employee civil service
system and ensuring that state employment is based on
merit and free of political patronage. SPB functions
and duties include, but are not limited to, the
following:
operating as an independent 5-member board to
oversee the merit system and hear merit system and
disciplinary appeals, approve new state
classifications, and prescribe probationary periods.
determining minimum job qualifications.
ensuring that job selection is based on a
competitive process.
overseeing the hiring and recruitment process and
providing consultation to state departments on the
merit system.
reviewing and whistleblower retaliation
complaints.
hearing discrimination complaints that may or may
not be similar to, or duplicative of, cases heard by
the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH).
reviewing the necessity of personal services
contracts.
administration of the Dymally-Allatorre bilingual
services program, and the state interpreter program.
administering medical and psychological screening
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programs for new hires.
providing support and leadership to departments
with regard to equal employment opportunity.
administering the merit system services program
for counties receiving federal funding for health and
human services.
a) grants the Governor authority to examine state
agencies or organizations and to propose administrative
reorganization plans under the following guidelines:
The changes achieved by organization should
promote better execution of the laws, reduce
expenditures and promote economy, increase the
efficiency of the operation of state government, and
eliminate overlapping and duplication of effort.
At least 30 days prior to submission to the
Legislature, the plan must be submitted to the Little
Hoover Commission for evaluation and recommendations
to the Legislature and Governor.
Upon submission to the Legislature, the plan is
referred by the Senate Rules Committee to one or more
standing committees for study and report as follows:
i. The Legislature has 60 days to consider
the plan (not including days in a recess with a
date certain of more than 10 days).
ii. At least 10 days prior to the end of the
60 days, the standing committee(s) must provide
its report, including recommendations, to Senate
leadership.
iii. After the 60 days, the plan shall become
effective unless the Senate adopts, by a majority
vote, a resolution to disapprove the Governor's
plan.
Conforming statutory changes may be enacted in
the following year.
2) SB 1308 is identical to GRP 1 and codifies the statutory
changes to law that were put into effect upon passage of
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GRP 1:
a) combines the day-to-day staff operations of the DPA
and SPB organizations into a new, consolidated agency:
CalHR, and will result in relocating the two former
departments into a single location (ideally by July 1,
2013.).
b) identifies a staff-reduction goal of 15-20% following
consolidation, which will be achieved over approximately
three years through attrition of existing staff in the
two departments.
c) specifies that the authority of the DPA director is
transferred to the CalHR director, who will be appointed
by the Governor and approved by the Senate.
d) preserves the constitutionally created, 5-member
State Personnel Board and its constitutional role as an
independent and objective merit oversight organization,
and retains staff dedicated to the specific work of the
Board, including a board-appointed executive officer, an
appeals division, and legal staff. The board will have
its own budget, which will not require approval by
CalHR.
e) transfers appeals of discrimination in state
employment that are not based on violations of the merit
principle to DFEH (for example, general complaints of
discrimination would go to DFEH; appeals of state
examination results based on gender, race, or other
protected factors would continue to be heard by the
Board). These types of cases comprise fewer than 100 of
the 2,500-2,800 cases heard by the Board annually.
f) preserves intact some of the current operations and
divisions within DPA-such as the labor-relations
division and certain benefit programs-while combining
other functions that overlap with current administration
of SPB into two new divisions: the Personnel Management
Division and the Statewide Services Division.
g) includes mostly technical statutory changes, but also
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includes provisions allowing CalHR to establish
disciplinary criteria applicable to adverse actions
taken by appointing bodies, and stating that the State
Personnel Board, in arriving at a decision or proposed
decision regarding an appeal on a disciplinary matter,
shall give consideration and respect to the disciplinary
criteria, as specified, consistent with its discretion
and authority.
FISCAL :
The Department of Finance has scored annual savings of
$5.5-$5.8 million as a result of the reorganization, chiefly
due to position reductions and fully effective when
consolidation occurs and the two departments become
co-located. Staff reductions are expected to be achieved
through attrition over the next few years. In addition, it
is expected that efficiencies will be achieved in the line
agencies with regard to more effective human resources
functions, resulting in additional unquantified savings.
COMMENTS :
1) Arguments in Support :
According to the sponsor, SB 1308 replicates the language in
GRP 1 that the Little Hoover Commission and the Legislature
reviewed last year when they considered the reorganization
plan.
Overlapping functions will be aligned and outdated processes
will be eliminated, providing more efficient and coordinated
personnel management. Over the next two fiscal years, CalHR
will eliminate 60 positions (15 percent reduction) and save
$8.6 million ($3.7 General Fund).
GRP 1 also preserves the independence and constitutional
jurisdiction of the Board. Specifically, SPB's five-member
Board will maintain oversight and authority over the civil
service merit system, disciplinary appeals process, and other
constitutionally defined duties.
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According to the GRP 1 summary provided by the Governor:
"California state government could not operate without
hard-working employees. Unfortunately, due to the
bifurcated personnel system, our own bureaucracy makes it
difficult to recruit, hire, promote, classify, discipline,
train, and reward those employees. It is time to remedy
the procedural and organizational problems that confound
our system and create one unified state Department of Human
Resources."
"Study after study point out that the state's personnel
management system with its redundant responsibilities is
outmoded, inefficient, unresponsive, and lacks the
organizational focus necessary for the management of an
effective public service. It wastes money and is a
bureaucratic impediment to implementing reforms that would
make all state agencies more effective in serving the
public. The State of California can no longer afford
disjointed, duplicative, and wasteful programs. It is in
the public's interest for economy and efficiency in
government to consolidate the human resource management
functions performed by SPB and DPA into one Department of
Human Resources (CalHR)."
"It is also in the public interest to accomplish this
reorganization while preserving the merit principle in
state government as required by Article VII of the State
Constitution."
2) SUPPORT :
California Department of Human Resources (CalHR),
Sponsor
3) OPPOSITION :
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Association of California State Employees with
Disabilities (ACSED), Oppose Unless Amended
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