BILL ANALYSIS
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 863
Author: Niello (R)
Amended: 4/14/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/17/09
AYES: Wiggins, Cox, Aanestad, Kehoe, Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/18/09 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Public utilities: municipal districts
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill increases the maximum percentage of
exempt employees the board of a utility district meeting
specific criteria may appoint, from two percent to five
percent of the total civil service positions of the
district.
ANALYSIS : Current law requires the general manager of a
municipal utility district (MUD) to establish a civil
service system for the district's employees. In a MUD with
at least 600 employees, the board of directors can appoint,
and exempt from civil service, up to 15 employees to fill
positions requiring peculiar and exceptional
qualifications, including scientific, professional, expert,
or managerial backgrounds (SB 122, Breed, 1943). If a MUD
has owned and operated an electric distribution system for
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AB 863
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at least eight years and has a population of at least
250,000, its board can exempt additional employees from the
district's civil service if the total number of exempt
positions is not more than two percent of the district's
total civil service positions (SB 107, Greene, 1987).
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) owns an
electric distribution system, has 2,180 civil service
employees, and serves a population of approximately 1.4
million people. Of the state's five MUDs, SMUD is the only
one that can exempt more than 15 employees from civil
service, up to the two percent maximum. SMUD wants the
Legislature to raise the limit on the number of employees
it can exempt from civil service.
This bill increases, from two percent of a district's civil
service positions to five percent of a district's civil
service positions, the maximum number of positions that a
MUD which has owned and operated an electric distribution
system for at least eight years and has a population of at
least 250,000 can exempt from civil service.
Comments
To help it respond to the competitive demands of the
rapidly changing energy industry, SMUD wants greater
flexibility in hiring non-civil service employees. The
District has nearly filled the maximum number of exempt
positions it is allowed under current law. This bill
allows SMUD to respond to complex and highly-technical new
statutory and regulatory requirements relating to
greenhouse gas emission reductions and the use of renewable
energy sources by designating additional exempt positions
for employees who possess unique qualifications.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/18/09)
Sacramento Municipal Utility District
California Special Districts Association
AB 863
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong,
Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani, Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick,
Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning,
Nava, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel
Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Eng, Price, Saldana
AGB:nl 6/18/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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