BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE GOVERNANCE & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Senator Lois Wolk, Chair
BILL NO: AB 312 HEARING: 6/26/13
AUTHOR: Wieckowski FISCAL: Yes
VERSION: 4/8/13 TAX LEVY: No
CONSULTANT: Weinberger
FIREFIGHTERS
Clarifies that firefighters on a specified hiring
eligibility list can be hired without regard to seniority.
Background and Existing Law
In 1982, the California State Fire Marshal and the
California Professional Firefighters established the
California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Program
(CFFJAP) as a collaborative apprenticeship program to train
people from underrepresented groups for fire service
careers. Over the last three decades, the CFFJAP's role
has expanded to include a variety of programs related to
firefighter recruitment, training, and retention.
Thousands of civilian employees lost their jobs in the
1990s when Congress closed military bases in California.
In response, the Legislature allowed local fire departments
to give hiring preferences to former civilian federal
firefighters who lost their jobs because of military base
closures (SB 538, Greene, 1997). The 1997 Greene bill
allowed the CFFJAP to maintain a list of eligible civilian
federal firefighters who had lost their jobs. The
Legislature subsequently clarified that the hiring list
maintained by the CFFJAP could include any permanent career
civilian federal firefighter who loses that job due to the
closure, downsizing or realignment of a federal military
installation (SB 258, Ortiz, 1999). In 2004, the
Legislature expanded eligibility to be placed on the hiring
list to include any permanent career firefighter employed
by the state or a local government who is terminated as a
consequence of job elimination (AB 1929, Samuelian, 2004).
The 2004 Samuelian bill expressed the Legislature's intent
to allow the CFFJAP to establish and administer a list of
all displaced state and local government firefighters due
AB 312 -- 4/8/13 -- Page 2
to layoffs in any jurisdiction in California and give fire
agencies the authority to grant special hiring
consideration to displaced fire service personnel. Local
fire departments are allowed to make appointments from the
CFFJAP list irrespective of certain local rules which might
otherwise pose an obstacle. The list serves mainly to
bring fully trained, qualified, and available firefighters
to local fire departments' attention and to enable those
departments to more readily employ displaced career
firefighters.
In response to uncertainty about whether state law requires
a fire department to hire firefighters from the hiring
eligibility list in order of their seniority, California
Professional Firefighters union officials want the
Legislature to clarify the statute governing the hiring
eligibility list.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 312 reduces, from 48 months to 36 months, the
length of time that a permanent career civilian federal,
state, or local government firefighter's name must remain
on the local hiring eligibility list maintained by the
California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Program
(CFFJAP).
AB 312 repeals the requirement that placement on the list
maintained by the CFFJAP must be governed by length of
service as a permanent career civilian federal, state, or
local government firefighter.
State Revenue Impact
No estimate.
Comments
Purpose of the bill . The displaced firefighter hiring list
program administered by the CCFJAP has saved fire
departments time and money in the hiring process, while
also allowing highly-trained firefighters to continue
working in their chosen careers. AB 312 amends the
statutes governing this successful program to clarify that
departments hiring from the list are not required to hire
AB 312 -- 4/8/13 -- Page 3
displaced firefighters based on seniority, but can choose
to hire any firefighter on the list. The bill also
shortens the length of time that a displaced firefighter's
name must remain on the list, bringing state law in line
with the length of time it takes for most displaced
firefighters to find work after their names are added to
the list.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 9-0
Assembly Appropriations Committee:17-0
Assembly Floor: 74-0
Support and Opposition (6/20/13)
Support : California Professional Firefighters.
Opposition : Unknown.