AB 2138 Assembly Bill

BILL NUMBER: AB 2138	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 10, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 2, 2014

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Gatto

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2014

   An act  to  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 amended, 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
eligible participants in innovation contests. The bill would require
each designated  state  agency to establish and administer
an innovation contest, as prescribed, and, on or before January 1,
2016, award a  $25,000  prize  of up to $25,000
 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.
 The bill would require, if the designated state agency deems
that no participant has addressed the subject of the contest, or if
it awards a prize of less than $25,000, that unawarded prize money
revert to the General Fund. 
   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  in  this article.
   (c) The innovation contests shall be open to all residents of
 California, 18 years of age or older,  
California  who are not employees of the state.
   (d) The innovation contests shall be held in 2015.
   (e) 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,  but  not limited
to, streamlining an existing process or system of the state agency
or the design of a feedback system for the state agency.
   (f) 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.
   (g) On or before January 1, 2016, each designated state agency
shall award a  twenty-five-thousand-dollar ($25,000)
 prize  of   up to twenty   -five
thousand dollars ($25,000)  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.  If the designated state agency deems that no
participant has addressed the subject of the contest in accordance
with this subdivision, or if it awards a prize of less than twenty
  -five thousand dollars ($25,000), unawarded prize money
shall revert to the General Fund.