BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1501
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 28, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 1501 (V. Manuel Perez) - As Introduced: February 27, 2009
SUBJECT : Boards and commission: salaries full time.
SUMMARY : Requires the salary of a board member making $100,000
or more to be prorated to actual hours worked in any given month
where the board member does not work full time, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "board member" as a member of a board, commission,
committee, or similarly constituted body created by executive
order or statute.
2)Does not apply to a board member who is paid an annual salary
on or after January 1, 2010 of less than $100,000.
3)Requires the salary of a board member set by statute to be
based on the board member serving full time as a board member,
and if the board member does not work full time in any given
month, the board member's salary shall be prorated to the
actual hours worked.
4)Requires the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) to
determine which activities constitute service as a board
member and the minimum number of hours required to deem a
board member as serving full time, which shall be no less than
160 hours per month.
EXISTING LAW specifies the salaries of certain members of
various state boards and commissions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of the bill . According to the author's office, "Boards
and commissions play several important roles in California's
state government. Their duties range from providing advice to
departments, programs or other commissions to enacting
regulations. Other boards are responsible for licensing and
disciplining professionals such as physicians. Some boards and
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commissions' members are appointed by the Governor, while others
are appointed by Legislative leaders. Several boards and
commissions are made up of volunteer members who may
occasionally receive reimbursement for travel expenses incurred
while performing their assigned responsibilities. However,
there are boards and commissions in California that provide a
salary compensation of $100,000 a year or more contingent upon
the member's attendance of a few meetings. According to the
California Performance Review Report (which focused on the
Evaluation of California's Boards and Commissions) there are 17
boards and commissions whose members are the highest paid in
California; their salaries cost the state more than $9 million.
"While the cost of California's boards and commissions is of
concern, it is more important that appointees be held
accountable for their responsibilities to serve the public. It
is the intent of AB 1501 to ensure that board members who earn
$100,000 or more a year are following through with their
duties."
Background . According to information provided by the author's
office, the following boards currently have at least one member
with a salary in excess of $100,000:
Agricultural Labor Relations Board
Air Resources Board
Energy Resource Conservation and Development Committee
Fair Political Practices Commission
Gambling Control Commission
Integrated Waste Management Board
Occupational Safety & Health Appeals Board
Parole Hearings, Board of
Public Employment Relations Board
Public Utilities Commission
Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board
Water Resources Control Board
Worker's Compensation Appeals Board
AB 1501 requires the DPA to adopt regulations defining full time
board membership, but the bill does not specify any mechanism
for reporting or monitoring the actual hours worked of affected
board members, nor does it address other potential ramifications
associated with paying board members on an hourly basis. For
example, assuming 160 hours is defined as a full time month,
would a board member whose salary was prorated for working 120
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hours in one month, be entitled to additional compensation if
that member worked in excess of 160 hours in a future month?
Numerous studies have scrutinized boards and commissions on
issues of effectiveness, accountability, and cost, but as the
Little Hoover Commission stated in its 2004 report titled
Historic Opportunities: Transforming California State
Government, "At a minimum, situational analysis should produce
agreement on the problem to be addressed, an assessment of the
costs and benefits of the existing system and potential
alternatives, and a clear understanding of the disruptions
associated with change and how to mitigate or minimize those
disruptions. Only then can a strategy for improvement be
developed. An appropriate strategy must thoroughly document how
particular proposals will result in improved outcomes and
productivity, who is responsible for bringing about changes and
when and how they will be achieved. Information and a
commitment to make fact-based decisions are essential to
improving performance. That discipline needs to be applied by
policy-makers and program managers."
Related legislation . AB 579 (Huber) of 2009 eliminates the
current salary authority for paid boards and commissions,
directs the State Auditor to assess the workload of these boards
and commissions, and requires the Governor to establish salaries
for affected board members and commissioners at a level that
does not exceed their workload, as determined by the State
Auditor
Previous legislation . AB 309 (Tran) of 2008, AB 38 (Tran) of
2006, and AB 556 (Strickland) of 2004 provide that members
appointed to specified state boards and commissions that pay
salaries to board members in excess of $100,000 shall receive no
salary for 3 fiscal years, except that they may receive a per
diem payment during that time. These bills all died in the
Assembly Business and Professions Committee.
AB 2539 (Strickland) of 2008 prohibits a member of a state board
or commission from receiving any salary in 2007 or later, if the
position of the member on the state board or commission received
or would receive a salary totaling at least $100,000 per year,
and the members of the state board or commission are required to
meet 2 or less times per month. AB 2539 died in the Assembly
Business and Professions Committee.
AB 1501
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Taxpayers' Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Whitney Clark / B. & P. / (916)
319-3301