BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  AB 692
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   April 13, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                  AB 692 (Hall) - As Introduced:  February 17, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                              Public Employees, 
          Retirement and Social Security                Vote: 4-1

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              

           SUMMARY  

          This bill requires that state employee termination hearings or 
          investigations take priority over all other cases that were 
          initiated within the previous six months by the State Personnel 
          Board (SPB).  

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Increased costs of approximately $250,000 to the State Personnel 
          Board for processing cases within the time frames specified in 
          this bill.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  According to supporters, the SPB has over 3,800 
            SPB employee cases to hear and not enough judges to hear them. 
             When an employee is terminated they and their family suffer 
            the loss of their income and health benefits.  Many of the 
            terminated employees have to wait up to 18 months to receive a 
            hearing date, but many terminated employees win their SPB 
            cases.  If the employee is reinstated, the state has to pay 
            the employee back wages, which more often than not are for a 
            period of at least two years and the employee is allowed to 
            charge the state 7 % interest.

           2)Background.   Adverse actions are formal disciplinary measures 
            taken against state civil service employees. They include 
            dismissals, suspensions, demotions, reductions in salary, 
            disciplinary transfers and formal reprimands.  SBP reports 
            that it received 1,273 appeals of adverse actions in 2008.  Of 
            that total, 316 were sustained, six were revoked, eight were 








                                                                  AB 692
                                                                  Page  2

            modified, and the remaining 603 were disposed of through 
            pre-hearing settlement agreements.  
           
            The SPB is responsible for administering a merit system of 
            civil service employment within California state government.  
            As part of its responsibility, the SPB has established 
            administrative procedures to resolve appeals of alleged 
            violations of civil service laws and rules.  The SPB is 
            required to issue a decision within a reasonable time after 
            the conclusion of the hearing or investigation.  For most 
            appeals, the SPB has six months from the filing of an appeal 
            or 90 days from its submission, whichever is less, to decide 
            the case.  The SPB may extend this period by 45 days, as 
            specified. 


          Analysis Prepared by  :    Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081