BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 757
          Author:   Roger Hernández (D)
          Amended:  6/26/13 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE  :  11-0, 6/11/13
          AYES:  Wright, Nielsen, Berryhill, Calderon, Cannella, Correa,  
            De León, Galgiani, Hernandez, Lieu, Padilla

           SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WATER COMMITTEE  :  8-0, 6/25/13
          AYES:  Pavley, Cannella, Evans, Fuller, Jackson, Lara, Monning,  
            Wolk
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Hueso

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  72-0, 5/23/13 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT :    Department of Parks and Recreation:  payroll review  
          report

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill requires the Department of Parks and  
          Recreation (DPR) to report to the Legislature on DPRs  
          implementation of the recommendations contained in the "State  
          Controller's Payroll Review Report of the Department of Parks  
          and Recreation."  Sunsets the provisions of this bill on  
          December 31, 2014.

                                                                CONTINUED





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           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1. Grants DPR control of the state park system, and charges it  
             with responsibility for administering, protecting, developing  
             and interpreting state parks for the use and enjoyment of the  
             public.  

          2. Requires the Controller to supervise the fiscal concerns of  
             the state, audit all claims against the state, and authorizes  
             the Controller to audit the disbursement of any state money  
             for correctness, legality and lawful payment.

          3. Delegates to state departments the authority to approve  
             employee "out-of-class" assignments, subject to limitations,  
             rules and procedures set out in administrative regulations  
             and various Department of Human Resources and state civil  
             service manuals.

          This bill requires DPR to report on its implementation of the  
          recommendations of the Controller contained in the "State  
          Controller's Payroll Review Report of the Department of Parks  
          and Recreation," dated December 18, 2012.  Specifically, this  
          bill:

          1. Requires the DPR to report to the Legislature on or before  
             July 31, 2014, on the extent to which it has implemented the  
             Controller's recommendations.

          2. Sunsets the provisions of this bill on December 31, 2014.

           Background
           
          The author's office notes that, between July 1, 2009 and June  
          30, 2012, DPR had 203 employees assigned to work in positions  
          outside their job classification, usually with a pay increase.   
          In many of these cases, state parks officials circumvented  
          normal payroll rules by assigning employees to out-of-class  
          positions without adequate documentation.

          As a result, at least 17 employees violated policy by working in  
          out-of-class positions longer than the maximum 120 days, and 20  
          did so for more than a year. In other cases, parks officials  







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          failed to properly adjust out-of-class pay for employees who  
          were furloughed or not working because of disability.

           State Controller's recommendations  .  In the recent audit,  
          contained in the "State Controller's Payroll Review Report of  
          the Department of Parks and Recreation," the Controller listed  
          the following policy suggestions regarding compensation for  
          employees working in out-of-class assignments:

          1. All of the out-of-class assignments should be forwarded to  
             DPR's Classification and Pay Unit for approval.  The DPR's  
             Transactions Unit should ensure that all of the proper  
             approvals are obtained before entering assignments into the  
             payroll system.  Approvals should occur before the assignment  
             start date.

          2. The DPR's Classification and Pay Unit should review  
             bargaining unit contracts before approval of the out-of-class  
             assignment to ensure that compensation is not paid beyond the  
             end of an assignment period or that compensation does not  
             exceed 120 days within 12 consecutive months or 365 days, or  
             both, depending on the employee's classification.

          3. The justification documentation or approval sheet, or both,  
             should include language stating that approval for managers to  
             receive out-of-class assignments occurs only after the  
             manager already has worked out of class for 90 days.

          4. The DPR's Transactions Unit should provide training to staff  
             to ensure that they are aware that out-of-class pay should be  
             adjusted for employees on nonindustrial disability insurance.

          5.The DPR's Transactions Unit managers or supervisors should  
             provide tools and training to staff to ensure that payment  
             calculations are calculated correctly.  The calculation  
             should be adequately documented using a state form STD 671  
             and a legible calculation sheet.

          6.DPR's Internal Audit Unit should conduct regular reviews of  
             out-of-class assignments to determine whether the assignments  
             are in accordance with state law, bargaining unit agreements,  
             and department policies.

          7. DPR should seek reimbursement from employees who received  







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             out-of-class payments to which they were not lawfully  
             entitled.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  No   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  7/18/13)

          State Controller John Chiang
          AFSCME

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author's office, the  
          purpose of this bill is to ensure that DPR adheres to existing  
          law and regulations governing employees, particularly in  
          instances where employees are working outside their job  
          classification.  The author's office states that out-of-class  
          work assignments may have cost taxpayers tens of thousands of  
          dollars beyond the misuse of funds that has been previously  
          reported at the department.  For most rank-and-file employees,  
          out of class work is defined as performing the full range of  
          duties and responsibilities allocated to an existing  
          classification more than 50% of the time.

          AFSCME states that this bill "will fence off potential abuse  
          through reform.  This means requiring proper documentation  
          before OOC [out-of-class] assignments begin."

          State Controller John Chiang states, "The review my office  
          conducted looked at DPR's payroll processes for the period of  
          July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2012, and identified numerous  
          internal control weaknesses and/or violations of DPR and State  
          policies that create a risk of abuse, fraud, and overpayments to  
          employees for OOC assignment pay.  Further, we also identified  
          additional violations of DPR and State policies and procedures  
          that resulted in inappropriate amounts paid to DPR employees.   
          As the State's chief fiscal officer, I strongly believe this  
          legislation will help ensure that the recommendations outlined  
          in the review are implemented by DPR in a meaningful and prompt  
          manner."

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR :  72-0, 5/23/13
          AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,  
            Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,  







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            Cooley, Dahle, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,  
            Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer,  
            Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor,  
            Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi,  
            Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, 
          Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon,  
            Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez
          NO VOTE RECORDED: Daly, Grove, Holden, Jones, Waldron, Weber,  
            Vacancy, Vacancy


          MW:d  8/8/13   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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