BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 619 (Yee) - State employees: Civics orientation
Amended: May 6, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0, PE&R
3-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 13, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 619 requires the California Department of
Education (CDE), if private funds are secured for this purpose,
to develop and make available online a state employee civics
orientation on federal and state government by January 1, 2015.
This bill requires employees hired or promoted after July 1,
2015, to complete the orientation, and for an appointing power
or supervising official to annually certify employee completion
to the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR).
Fiscal Impact: This bill will result in significant ongoing
costs to the state, the extent of which will be determined by
the details of regulations developed for its implementation.
This bill leaves vague its certification requirement, which is
likely to be the primary cost driver.
Develop and host orientation: Potentially significant costs
which cannot be incurred until private funds in an amount
sufficient to fully support the creation and online hosting
have been deposited in a specified account for that purpose.
Annual certification: Potentially substantial costs to the
state to develop and implement a plan, including
promulgating regulations, to certify completion of the
orientation for every new or promoted state employee each
year. Significant ongoing costs for CalHR to track
certifications from supervisors in all state departments.
Background: The CDE is responsible for administering K-12
public education programs, reporting to the federal government,
and providing technical assistance to local education agencies
(LEAs). The functions in administering education programs
include the allocation of funds to LEAs, curriculum and
management leadership, assessment and program review, school
SB 619 (Yee)
Page 1
improvement intervention, and the development of policies and
practices to close the state's student achievement gap.
CalHR was created on July 1, 2012, as a consolidation of the
Department of Personnel Administration and certain programs of
the State Personnel Board. CalHR is responsible for issues
related to salaries and benefits, job classifications, civil
rights, training, exams, recruitment, and retention.
Existing law requires CalHR to devise plans for and cooperate
with appointing powers and other supervising officials in the
conduct of employee training programs so that the quality of
services rendered by persons in the state civil service may be
continually improved. (Government Code § 19995)
Existing law also authorizes CalHR to prescribe regulations and
conditions for the purpose of meeting the needs of the state
service for continuing employee educational development, the
upgrading of employee skills, and improving productivity and
quality service.
Proposed Law: SB 619 requires the CDE, on or before January 1,
2015, to develop and make available online a state employee
civics orientation on federal and state government, subject to a
determination by the Department of Finance that sufficient
private funding has been secured to support those activities.
The bill would require, if the orientation is developed as
prescribed, an appointing power or other supervising official
for an employee hired, promoted, or reclassified after July 1,
2015, to certify annually to CalHR that the employee has
completed that orientation.
Staff Comments: This bill requires the CDE to develop and make
available online a state employee civics orientation on federal
and state government if sufficient private funds are secured to
do so. The language of the bill seems to leave it to the CDE to
determine how extensive the orientation curriculum will be, and
the specific topics to be covered "to facilitate a basic
understanding of the responsibilities and operation of the three
branches of government and the importance of civic engagement."
The CDE will have to collaborate with the Department of Finance
to determine the level of funding required to complete the
project, and then will only be required to do so if private
funds of that amount are received.
SB 619 (Yee)
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If those private funds are received and the CDE creates and
makes available online the specified orientation, "the
appointing power or other supervising official" for an employee
hired, promoted, or re-classified after July 1, 2015 will be
responsible for annually certifying to CalHR that the employee
has completed the training. It is not clear how the training
requirement would be implemented or enforced by supervisors, nor
is it clear what information departments would have to
coordinate and track to report compliance to CalHR. It is also
not clear who is actually responsible for certifying to Cal HR
completion by a particular employee, as the bill specifies only
"the appointing power or other supervising official."
CalHR has indicated that it does not have existing processes or
resources to implement this bill. According to CalHR,
departments self-certify other training requirements and keep
records in case of an audit, but do not annually certify
completions of orientation or related training to CalHR. Such
ongoing reporting is likely to drive additional workload to all
departments, and especially to CalHR; it is not clear if CalHR
would have an enforcement role in the event that the "the
appointing power or other supervising official" does not certify
employee completions.
The Administrative Procedure Act (beginning at Section 11340 of
the Government Code) prohibits state agencies from issuing or
enforcing any rule, regulation, order, or standard of general
application unless it has been issued as a regulation under the
Administrative Procedure Act. In order to clarify the
requirements of this bill, CalHR will most likely have to adopt
implementing regulations.