BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1290
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Date of Hearing: April 22, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, RETIREMENT AND SOCIAL
SECURITY
Ed Hernandez, Chair
AB 1290 (Conway) - As Amended: April 15, 2009
SUBJECT : Public employment: internship program.
SUMMARY : Directs the State Personnel Board (SPB) to establish
a state internship program to facilitate the hiring of college
graduates in the state civil service. Specifically, this bill :
1)Places responsibility for establishing a state internship
program with the SPB and requires the SPB to establish rules
and procedures to implement the program.
2)Defines "intern" for purposes of these provisions as a person
who has entered into an internship agreement with an
appointing power and specifies that interns are hired on a
provisional basis and do not acquire permanent civil service
status.
3)Defines "internship" as the employment of an intern from a
recognized four-year accredited college or university in an
approved program of on-the-job training and education.
4)Specifies that eligibility for an internship classification
would be based upon a competitive assessment.
5)Requires the appointing power to prepare written job
performance evaluations for each intern including a final
evaluation which will contain a recommendation to the SPB as
to whether or not to appoint the intern to the related civil
service classification. Upon approval of the SPB, the
appointing power may appoint the intern to that
classification, without further examination.
EXISTING LAW establishes the SPB to oversee the state's civil
service selection system, which is a merit-based system. The
basic tenant of the state's merit system requires that
individuals hired into and promoted within the civil service be
selected on the basis of their job-related qualifications and
that such selection decisions be free of illegal discrimination
AB 1290
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and political patronage.
The selection process used for hiring and promoting employees in
the civil service is designed to assess the knowledge, skills,
abilities, and other characteristics required for successful
performance in the job classification for which the selection
process is conducted.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown.
COMMENTS : According to the sponsor, the SPB, "The state is
facing a human resource crisis as California state government is
beginning to experience its largest wave of retiring state
employees in history. The data indicates over 53% of the
state's current workforce is over 45. Additionally up to 35% or
more than 70,000 employees will be eligible to retire in the
next five years. Independent studies have estimated that this
number could be even higher, ranging up to 49%, or 100,000
employees.
"This drastic loss of knowledge and expertise must be addressed.
One way to bridge this gap is by creating a statewide intern
program to bring college students into state service. A student
internship program has been recommended by the California
Performance Review and the Little Hoover Commission. The
concept also fits into the goals of the Human Resources
Modernization efforts to enhance recruitment and simplify the
selection process.
"The current student assistant workforce is temporary in nature
with no established career tracks to move into permanent civil
service positions. Currently, students who receive training and
mentoring are lost because we cannot get them into the system
fast enough. The present system does not value the experience
the student gained while working for the state, nor provide an
avenue to permanent employment."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Personnel Board (Sponsor)
Opposition
AB 1290
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None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Karon Green / P.E., R. & S.S. / (916)
319-3957