BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 619
Author: Yee (D), et al.
Amended: 1/6/14
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 4/3/13
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Huff,
Jackson, Monning
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT COMM : 3-0, 4/22/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 1/23/14
AYES: De León, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters
SUBJECT : State employees: civics orientation
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill 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 submit a certification
statement to an appointing power or supervising official, to be
kept and made available as specified.
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ANALYSIS : The Superintendent of Public Instruction, who is
elected by voters on a nonpartisan ballot for a four-year term,
leads the CDE and together, they are responsible for
administering K-12 public education programs, reporting to the
federal government, and providing technical assistance to local
education agencies. The functions in administering education
programs include the allocation of funds to local education
agencies, curriculum and management leadership, assessment and
program review, school improvement intervention, and the
development of policies and practices to close the state's
student achievement gap.
The Department of Human Resources (HR) was created on July 1,
2012, consolidating the state's two personnel departments - the
Department of Personnel Administration with certain programs of
the State Personnel Board. HR has responsibility for all issues
related to salaries and benefits, job classifications, civil
rights, training, exams, recruiting, and retaining.
Existing law requires HR 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.
Existing law also authorizes HR 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.
This bill 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.
This bill requires, 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 complete that training, as specified, and submit a
certification statement to the appointing power or other
supervising official. This bill requires the appointing power
or other supervising official to maintain the certification
statement for a period of three years and make it available to
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HR upon demand.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Develop and host orientation: Potentially significant costs
to the CDE, 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.
Certification records: Likely minor costs to each department
to ensure that employees self-certify completion of the
required orientation, and supervisors maintain the
certification statement for a period of three years.
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/23/14)
ACLU
AFSCME
California Chamber of Commerce
California Council for the Social Studies
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Labor Federation
Los Angeles County Federation of Labor
San Diego Bar Association
SEIU Local 1000
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author's office has indicated that
even with 22.2 million people working for state and federal
governments in the United States, only a third of Americans are
able to name the three branches of government. Further, the
Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement National Task Force
recently reported that the United States ranked 139th out of 172
democracies in voter participation and that only 10% of citizens
contacted a public official in 2008-09. According to the
author's office, this bill makes California a leader in civic
engagement and guarantee that a larger segment of the population
would be better informed of the functions of their state and
federal government, empowering them to participate in and
strengthen our democracy.
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PQ:nl 1/23/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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