BILL ANALYSIS Ó
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 129|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 129
Author: Committee on Budget
Amended: 8/31/15 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE BUDGET & FISCAL REVIEW COMMITTEE: 14-0, 8/27/15
AYES: Leno, Nielsen, Allen, Anderson, Beall, Block, Hancock,
Monning, Moorlach, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Stone, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mitchell, Nguyen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Not relevant
SUBJECT: State civil serviceState civil service.
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill provides for statutory changes to the state
civil service system.
ANALYSIS: This bill makes the following statutory changes to
laws governing the civil service system for state employees.
Specifically, this bill impacts two key areas of law governing
1) the competitive ranking of state civil service employees and
applicants, and 2) eligibility and hiring of state employees in
"Career Executive Assignments (CEA).
Ranking of Civil Service Employees and Applicants
In general, state employment is based on a system of merit
achieved through competitive examination. Applicants for
AB 129
Page 2
promotion or employment are ranked based on exam scores and
employers may promote or hire from either the top three names or
ranks, as specified. An employee may receive a passing score on
an exam, but not score high enough to place in the top three
ranks, and therefore, may not be eligible for hire or promotion.
As people in the top three ranks are hired, promoted, or
otherwise fall off the hiring list, individuals who have passed
the exam may move up into the top three ranks and become
eligible for hire or promotion. Specifically, this bill:
1) Eliminates the "Rule of Three Names," which requires hiring
managers to consider only the top three individuals on
promotional hiring eligibility lists whose examination scores
result in them being in the top three names.
2) Eliminates the "Rule of Six Ranks," which requires all
managerial hiring eligibility lists to be organized into six
ranks, depending on the scores applicants receive on the
classification's exam, and limits a department's hiring
manager to only consider applicants whose examination scores
result in them being in the top three ranks.
3) Eliminates the "Rule of One Rank," which requires
departmental hiring managers to only consider individuals
whose examination scores result in them being in the first
rank for supervisory positions.
4) Consolidates various hiring eligibility list requirements
into a single process, the "Rule of Three Ranks", which would
apply to all promotional or open state jobs. This change will
allow hiring managers to consider eligible persons whose
examination scores result in them being in the top three
ranks for rank and file and managerial lists, as specified.
CEA Assignments
CEAs are state employees in high-level managerial positions that
serve at the top levels in a department. Their responsibility
includes developing and implementing policy, and may serve in a
department director's cabinet or form a department's executive
staff.
In general, CEAs in state employment must be hired from among
individuals with permanent civil service status. In addition,
AB 129
Page 3
CEA applicants can include legislative employees, executive
branch appointees (i.e., exempt employees), or former military,
as specified. CEAs are not subject to the same job protections
or hiring and disciplinary standards as apply to non-executive
state civil service employees. CEAs may be terminated "at will."
CEAs must be hired or promoted via a competitive process that is
overseen by the State Personnel Board (SPB). Former civil
service employees who become CEAs and are subsequently
terminated have certain rights to return to civil service
positions following termination, as specified.
This bill expands the pool of CEA candidates by making the
following changes:
5) Eliminates the requirement that a former legislative or
non-elected exempt employee be separated from employment for
no more than 12 months prior to applying for the CEA
position.
6) Expands the pool of eligible candidates that can be
appointed to a CEA position to include individuals from the
private sector who meet the requirements of the applicable
position.
7) Provides terminated CEAs hired from outside state civil
service the right to appeal to the SPB for restoration of
their assignment.
8) Clarifies that terminated CEAs who were previously employed
by the state and had permanent civil service status, have
return rights to a (non-CEA) civil service position, with at
least the same salary level as the last position they held.
If the employee had a minimum of five years of state service,
he or she may return to a position that has the same salary
level as the last position or at least the same salary level
that is at least two steps lower than the CEA position from
which the employee is being terminated. These provisions are
consistent with existing law.
Additionally, this bill states that terminated CEAs hired
from outside civil service would be eligible for deferred
examination for any open position at the department they were
employed at and meet the minimum qualifications.
AB 129
Page 4
9) Eliminates rules prohibiting a CEA applicant from competing
in multiple civil service promotional exams at more than one
department in the same class.
10) Provides $300,000 one-time General Fund for the Department
of Finance (DOF) to post all budget requests included as a
part of the Governor's Budget on DOF's website. The funds
will be used to purchase high-speed industrial scanners and
additional software programming.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Yes Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified8/28/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/28/15)
None received
Prepared by:Anita Lee / B. & F.R. / (916) 651-4103
8/31/15 10:56:48
**** END ****