BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 372
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 2, 2013

                       ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
                                Al Muratsuchi, Chair
                    AB 372 (Eggman) - As Amended:  March 21, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Civil service: veterans' preference in hiring.

           SUMMARY :  This bill changes the way veterans preference is  
          handled in state employment.  Specifically,  this bill  :   

          1)Deletes the specific treatment of veteran applicants for  
            police or watchmen positions.  

          2)Defines certain terms:
             a)   "Veteran" has the same meaning as defined in Section  
               18540.4. 
             b)   "Disabled veteran" has the same meaning as defined in  
               Section 18541.
             c)   "100 percent disabled veteran" means any veteran as  
               defined in this section who is currently declared by the  
               United States Veterans Administration to be 100 percent  
               disabled as a result of his or her service

          3)Deletes the existing point system for awarding veterans  
            preference points.

          4)Mandates that whenever any veteran, widow or widower of a  
            veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran achieves  
            a passing score on an entrance examination, he or she shall be  
            ranked in the top rank of the resulting eligibility list. 

          5)Prohibits application of the preference to any veteran who has  
            been dishonorably discharged or released.

          6)Deletes the provisions of Government Code Section 18978  
            pertaining additional points for military law enforcement  
            trained applicants to peace officer positions.

          7)Deletes the provisions of Government Code Section 18979  
            pertaining to appointment preference order for the Disabled  
            Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP).

           EXISTING LAW  :  Provides for a competitive examination process  
          for most state employment.  Applicants take some kind of  








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          examination; Examinations shall be competitive and of such  
          character as fairly to test and determine the qualifications,  
          fitness, and ability of competitors actually to perform the  
          duties of the class of position for which they seek appointment.  
           Applicants who take an examination receive a score.  
          Examinations have a passing score. 

          Veterans who have not received a dishonorable discharge and  
          certain others related to them may have points added to their  
          scores, as follows: Disabled veterans, 15 points; veterans, 10  
          points, widows or widowers of veterans; and spouses of 100  
          percent disabled veterans, five points. All ties shall be  
          decided in favor of veterans and widows or widowers of veterans.  
           
          
          Applicants are ranked according to their scores into six ranks.  
          The first rank shall consist of eligibles who receive a score of  
          95 percent or higher. The second rank shall consist of eligibles  
          who receive a score of 90 to 94 percent. The third rank shall  
          consist of eligibles who receive a score of 85 to 89 percent.  
          The fourth rank shall consist of eligibles who receive a score  
          of 80 to 84 percent. The fifth rank shall consist of eligibles  
          who receive a score of 75 to 79 percent. The sixth rank shall  
          consist of eligibles who receive a score of 70 to 74 percent. In  
          general, applicants must be hired first from the top three ranks  
          and are said to be "reachable."

          Current law specifies a separate preference order for the DVOP.

          Current law gives extra points for military law enforcement  
          trained personnel who apply to peace officer positions.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown at this time.

           COMMENTS  :  According to the author:

            The current process does not provide any advantage to veterans  
            who pass the exam but do not score in the highest three ranks,  
            and have the minimum qualifications for the job, because they  
            will never be in the higher ranks on the list. As a result the  
            true objective, to get veterans jobs in state government, is  
            frustrated.

               §      This legislation will ensure that more veterans will  
                 be competitive for state positions by allowing veterans  








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                 who pass exams to automatically be placed in the top  
                 rank.  

               §      Preferences for veterans are set in Government Code  
                 and are under the purview of CalHR. 

               §      The merger of the State Personnel Board (SPB) and  
                 the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) into the  
                 new California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) has  
                 prompted a desire to streamline rules and regulations and  
                 to simplify the hiring process. 

          The proposal eliminates the entire point system as to veterans  
          (including spouses and surviving spouses), so long as they pass  
          the exam. Under the current system veterans are ranked in terms  
          both of status (disabled veteran/veteran/surviving  
          spouse/military law enforcement) combined with their performance  
          on the exam. Under the new system, the different amount of  
          points awarded based on status to disabled vets, non-disabled  
          vets, and surviving spouses is eliminated, as is the ranking in  
          terms of actual performance on the exam.

          Thus, assuming passing scores:

             §    A vet who achieves the absolute minimum passing score  
               and a vet who achieves the maximum score will be placed in  
               the top rank;

             §    A disabled vet, a non-disabled vet, and a surviving  
               spouse will all be placed in the top rank.

          According to the author: 

               This proposal simplifies the system and gives every  
               veteran, disabled veteran, and widow of a veteran an equal  
               advantage. The revised law would provide simply that any  
               one of those individuals who passes an open examination  
               would be automatically moved to the top rank of the list,  
               meaning all of those individuals would be eligible for  
               consideration for hire. With more reachable veterans,  
               departments are more likely to find a veteran who meets the  
               particular needs of the job they need to fill.

          The proposal presents an evolution in policy and a balancing  
          choice: It does simplify the current system. Further, it clearly  








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          would make more veterans and surviving spouses reachable  
          assuming passing scores. At the same time it alters current  
          policy which retains both the status and performance based  
          aspects of the examination process. It also alters, within the  
          status based part of current policy, the graduated award of  
          points from surviving spouses to disabled veterans.

           Proposed Amendments:  
           
          The author proposes to amend the bill after it is heard by this  
          committee as follows:

          1.   The author did not intend to delete Government Code Section  
          18979.  That deletion will be amended and the section should  
          remain in code as is.

          2.   Findings and declarations were inadvertently deleted in the  
          second version of the bill.  The author intends to amend the  
          bill to include findings and declarations in the form:

               SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the  
               following:
               (a) Though unemployment has fallen among veterans  
               nationwide, the unemployment rate of veterans of post-9/11  
               conflicts is 11.1 percent, exceeding that of the general  
               population, which is 7 percent.
               (b) Educational attainment of veterans continues to rise,  
               and there has been a significant increase in the post-9/11  
               era in the proportion of veterans who have completed  
               bachelor's degrees.
               (c) The percentage of veterans in California with  
               bachelor's degrees exceeds the national average.
               (d) Veterans tend to be enrolled in college at older ages  
               than nonveterans, and are thus older than nonveterans when  
               they enter the educated workforce.
               (e) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this  
               act to expand employment opportunities for veterans and to  
               improve the application of veterans' preferences in state  
               hiring.

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          American Legion-Department of California








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          AMVETS-Department of California
          California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
          California State Commanders Veterans Council
          VFW-Department of California
          Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Council
          Veterans Democratic Club of Sacramento County


           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :  John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550