BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 2294


                                                                    Page  1





          Date of Hearing:  May 4, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          AB  
          2294 (Gomez) - As Introduced February 18, 2016


           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |Policy       |Higher Education               |Vote:|10 - 3       |
          |Committee:   |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------|
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
          |             |                               |     |             |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  NoReimbursable:  No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill:


          1)Requires the California State University (CSU) to grant any  
            employee, upon request, a leave of absence without loss of  
            compensation for the purpose of enabling the employee to serve  
            as an elected officer of any CSU campus public employee  
            organization, or of any statewide or national public employee  








                                                                    AB 2294


                                                                    Page  2





            organization with which the university campus organization is  
            affiliated.


          2)Provides that, following payment of the employee for the leave  
            of absence, CSU shall be reimbursed by the employee  
            organization for all such compensation.


          FISCAL EFFECT:


          Net minor costs or savings to CSU. Unlike the bargaining  
          agreement described below, this bill does not limit the number  
          of employees who could be granted leave. To the extent more  
          employees take leave, CSU could experience increased  
          administrative costs to fill the additional vacant positions. It  
          is assumed that the replacement employee would generally receive  
          less, or at most, the same compensation as the employee on  
          leave, whose compensation (salary, retirement contribution,  
          health care benefits) would be fully reimbursed by the union.


          COMMENTS:


          1)Background. CSU faculty union leave is governed by the  
            CSU/California Faculty Association (CFA) Collective Bargaining  
            Agreement, which requires, upon the request of CFA, that CSU  
            grant leave without loss of compensation. Up to the equivalent  
            of 16 full-time positions per year of such leaves can be  
            granted. Any employee on such leave continues to earn all  
            campus service and retirement credit. CFA is required to  
            reimburse CSU for all compensation paid to the faculty unit  
            employee on leave and for any incidental costs, including the  
            cost of benefits in an amount equal to the cost of CSU  
            contributions for PERS retirement and an additional 10 percent  
            of salary. Additionally, the agreement reads, "whenever  
            possible, the foregoing shall be implemented only if the CFA  








                                                                    AB 2294


                                                                    Page  3





            notifies the CSU of the names of faculty unit members  
            requesting leave thirty (30) days before the start of each  
            academic term during which the leave will occur. The CFA  
            agrees to meet with the CSU to discuss concerns regarding how  
            release time under this provision impacts departmental  
            instructional requirements."


          2)Purpose. According to the author, this bill brings statutory  
            parity to the CSU it does not currently have with K-12  
            teachers and community college faculty. The author notes that  
            CSU faculty participation in a union elected leadership  
            position is subject to the discretion of the CSU, under  
            relevant MOUs and Bargaining Agreements, and is not currently  
            guaranteed in statute.


          3)Opposition. CSU argues the measure sidesteps the collective  
            bargaining process and would impact 13 collective bargaining  
            units, hindering the system's ability to consider the leave  
            request in the context of its impact on campus operations and  
            instruction.


          4)Comment. Aside from the question of whether the current  
            process reached through collective bargaining is reasonable  
            and generally working well for CSU and the unions, it would  
            seem that this bill should at least require prior notification  
            of a pending leave of absence, to allow the university time to  
            adjust accordingly.


          Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081













                                                                    AB 2294


                                                                    Page  4