BILL NUMBER: AB 2138	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2014

   An act add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 12045) to Chapter
1 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, relating
to innovation awards, and making an appropriation therefor.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2138, as introduced, Gatto. Innovation awards.
   Existing law authorizes the Department of Human Resources to make
awards to current or retired state employees for proposing procedures
or ideas that are adopted and put into effect and result in
eliminating or reducing state expenditures or improving operations,
or for making exceptional contributions to the efficiency, economy,
or other improvement in the operations of state government.
   This bill would require the Governor to designate 3 state agencies
to participate in a pilot program in 2015 to award cash prizes to
participants in innovation contests. The bill would require each
designated agency to establish and administer an innovation contest,
as prescribed, and on or before January 1, 2016, award a $25,000
prize to a participant the state agency determines to have submitted
the entry that best addresses the subject of the contest, in
accordance with standards established by the state agency, and has
the highest likelihood of being adopted and placed in effect. The
bill would appropriate $75,000 from the General Fund to the Governor
for allocation to the designated state agencies for those awards.
   Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 12045) is added to
Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code,
to read:

      Article 4.5.  Innovation Awards


   12045.  (a) The Governor shall designate three state agencies to
participate in a pilot program to award cash prizes to participants
in an innovation contest established by each designated agency
pursuant to this article.
   (b) A sum in the amount of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000)
is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Governor, for
allocation to three state agencies designated by the Governor in
accordance with subdivision (a), for the award by each designated
state agency of a twenty-five-thousand-dollar ($25,000) prize in the
contests described this article.
   (c) The innovation contests shall be held in 2015.
   (d) Each state agency designated by the Governor in accordance
with subdivision (a) shall determine the specific subject of the
innovation contest to be held by the agency, which may include
proposals that detail a procedure, plan, design, or idea to
contribute to the efficiency, economy, or other improvement in the
operations of the state agency, including, not limited to,
streamlining an existing process or system of the state agency or the
design of a feedback system for the state agency.
   (e) Each designated state agency shall administer its innovation
contest, including, but not limited to, publicizing the contest and
determining the standards for participation and award. Each
designated state agency may adopt rules and regulations to carry out
this article.
   (f) On or before January 1, 2016, each designated state agency
shall award a twenty-five-thousand-dollar ($25,000) prize to the
participant the agency determines to have submitted the entry that
best addresses the subject of the contest, in accordance with the
standards established by the agency, and has the highest likelihood
of being adopted and placed in effect.