BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: ACR 178
Author: Niello (R)
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
WITHOUT REFERENCE TO COMMITTEE OR FILE
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0 (Consent), 8/17/10 - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : State employee merit awards
SOURCE : Department of Personnel Administration
DIGEST : This resolution authorizes the payment of State
Merit Awards approved by the Department of Personnel
Administration to five individuals whose proposals resulted
in eliminating or reducing state expenditures or improving
state operations.
ANALYSIS : Existing law establishes the State Merit Award
Program which provides cash awards and honorary awards to
active and retired state employees who propose ideas that
are implemented and result in savings to the state, an
improvement in state operations, or improvements in the
safety of a state program. The program is administered by
the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA).
This resolution authorizes the following State Merit
Awards:
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1.A payment of $2,662 to Lorraine Plummer, an employee of
the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation, for designing an electronic medical
billing system to automatically calculate discounts for
standardized health services as allocated by the
California Medical Fee Schedule, which resulted in a
first year savings of $76,615.07.
2.A payment of $7,547 to Randy Villareal, an employee of
the Department of Food and Agriculture, for suggesting
that all marketed cotton in the San Joaquin Quality
Cotton District carry the State Feed Code in lieu of bale
and module tags. Eliminating bale and module tags saved
printing costs of the tags and the need for a state
vehicle, and also saved salaries and benefits for a
Biologist, an Agricultural Technician II and two
Agricultural Aides, which resulted in first year savings
of $126,647.00.
3.A payment of $8,947 to Shirley Pertle, an employee of the
Employment Development Department, for suggesting
automating the mailing process at the Work Opportunity
Tax Credit processing center, resulting in reduced
postage rates and decreased overtime which resulted in
first year savings of $139,468.
4.A payment of $11,433 to be shared equally between John
Yessen and Eric Zimmerman, employees of the California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, for using a
folding/inserting machine to prepare outgoing
correspondence mail from the Office of Selection and
Standards which processes Correctional Officer
applications and secured a state surplus machine, at no
cost to the department, as an alternative to purchasing a
new machine, resulting in reduced workload volume,
reduced staff hours, and elimination of the need to hire
an outside agency for mass mailings, which resulted in
first year savings of $164,433.
Comments
According to the sponsor, the Department of Personnel
Administration, "The State Merit Award Program has provided
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tremendous value to taxpayers through innovative
suggestions made by State employees which have resulted in
millions of dollars in savings. ACR 178 would recognize
three individuals whose combined suggestions have resulted
in a first year savings to the State of $$507,063."
The state employees specified in this resolution have
already received awards of $5,000 from their respective
departments, as authorized under the Government code, for
suggesting procedures or ideas that have been implemented
and resulted in savings or improved efficiencies. This
resolution authorizes awards to these individuals in excess
of the $5,000.
DPA states, "This resolution will not create budgetary
increases. Per Merit Award Program regulations, awards to
employees for adopted suggestions are paid from the funds
or appropriations available to the state agencies
benefiting from the adopted suggestions unless payment from
another source is authorized by the Department of Finance.
The affected departments have achieved significant savings
from the suggestion. A portion of these savings may be
used to funds he awards.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/24/10)
Department of Personnel Administration (source)
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Bass, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Carter, Chesbro,
Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller,
Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gilmore,
Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber,
Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande,
Niello, Nielsen, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin,
Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra
Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran,
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ACR 178
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Villines, Yamada, John A. Perez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Charles Calderon, Norby,
Vacancy
CPM:cm 8/24/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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