BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
ACR 98 (Beth Gaines) - State employee merit awards
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| |
| |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Version: July 16, 2015 |Policy Vote: P.E. & R. 5 - 0 |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Urgency: |Mandate: |
| | |
|--------------------------------+--------------------------------|
| | |
|Hearing Date: June 20, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: ACR 98 would authorize the payment of State Merit
Awards approved by the California Department of Human Resources
(CalHR) to three state employees in two departments whose
proposals resulted in the reduction of state expenditures or
improvement in state operations.
Fiscal
Impact: The resolution would authorize the payment of $64,709.67
to three state employees. Awards are paid by the individual
departments from the savings generated from implementation of
the award recipients' respective suggestions. No appropriation
of additional funds is necessary.
Background: Current law authorizes CalHR to make merit awards to current or
retired state employees who (1) propose procedures or ideas that
ACR 98 (Beth Gaines) Page 1 of
?
are subsequently adopted and that result in eliminating or
reducing state expenditures or improving operations, provided
the proposals are placed in effect, (2) perform special acts or
special services in the public interest, or (3) by their
superior accomplishments, make exceptional contributions to the
efficiency, economy or other improvement in the operations of
the state government. The awards are made pursuant to standards
and procedures established by CalHR.
Current law authorizes awards to be paid from the appropriation
available to the impacted state agency, and requires that any
award over $5,000 have legislative approval.
Proposed Law: This bill would authorize the payment of state
merit awards approved by CalHR to three individuals whose
proposals resulted in eliminating or reducing state expenditures
or improving state operations. Specifically, this resolution
provides that the following merit awards be made:
A payment of $21,640 to an employee of the Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), for suggesting that
the department automate the Earliest Possible Release Date
and the Minimum Eligible Parole Date and creating an Excel
spreadsheet to do so. The spreadsheet simplified the
process of calculating release dates, reduced the chance of
error, and increased productivity. Automating this process
has resulted in annual savings to the State of $133,198.
The employee's award totals $26,640, $5,000 of which has
already been paid.
A payment of $4,646.67 to an employee of the Department
of Health Care Services (DHCS), for suggesting and
reformatting specified consumer guides that are mailed
monthly to Medi-Cal beneficiaries to help them choose the
best health care plans for themselves and their families.
Reformatting the guides resulted in less paper being used,
less mailing weight and decreased printing costs that saved
the State $48,233.36 annually. The employee's award totals
$9,646.67, $5,000 of which has ready been paid.
A payment of $38,423 to an employee of CDCR for
ACR 98 (Beth Gaines) Page 2 of
?
suggesting that two institutions, the California State
Prison, Corcoran and the California Substance Abuse
Treatment Facility, Corcoran, eliminate their contracted
trash service and instead utilize existing staff and
resources to share trash collection costs and services.
This suggestion resulted in annual savings to the State of
$434,226. The employee's award totals $43,423, $5,000 of
which has already been paid.
Related Legislation: ACR 61 (Gaines, Chapter 138, Statutes of
2013), ACR 178 (Niello, Chapter 159, Statutes of 2010), and ACR
116 (Blakeslee, Chapter 85, Statutes of 2006) are examples of
concurrent resolutions authorizing previous awards made to state
employees.
-- END --