BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1062
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Date of Hearing: June 19, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Marty Block, Chair
SB 1062 (Liu) - As Amended: May 8, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 33-1
SUBJECT : California Community Colleges: board of governors.
SUMMARY : Expands the existing authority of the California
Community Colleges (CCC) Board of Governors (BOG) to appoint
persons without permanent civil service status to vice
chancellor and assistant vice chancellor positions, if the
individuals meet specified criteria. Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes the BOG to appoint persons without permanent civil
service status to vice chancellor and assistant vice
chancellor positions, if the individual meets any of the
following:
a) Has a minimum of five years of work experience in any of
the following:
i) A local CCC,
ii) A higher education policy position, or,
iii) A technical or occupational capacity for which there
is a shortage of qualified workers.
b) Previously held permanent status in the civil service;
c) Was employed by the Legislature for two or more
consecutive years; or,
d) Held for two or more consecutive years one or more
nonelected exempt positions in the executive branch.
2)Specifies the changes above, do not limit the application of
any law applicable to career executive assignments, including
provisions of the Government Code and rules of the State
Personnel Board, except as to authorize appointments as
described above.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the CCC BOG to employ and fix the compensation, in
accordance with law, of assistants, clerical, and other
employees as it deems necessary for the effective conduct of
the work of the Board and the Chancellor's office. (Education
Code � 71092)
2)Authorizes the Governor, with the recommendation of the BOG,
to appoint up to a total of six deputy and vice chancellors,
who are exempt from state civil service. (EC � 71090.5)
3)Outlines a comprehensive personnel system for state civil
service, encourages the development and effective use in the
civil service of well-qualified and carefully selected
executives, and, for this purpose, establishes a category of
civil service appointment called a "career executive
assignment" (CEA). Until January 1, 2013, eligibility for
appointment to a CEA includes: 1) persons with permanent
status, or who previously had permanent status, in the civil
service; 2) persons employed by the Legislature for two or
more consecutive years; and 3) persons holding, for two or
more consecutive years, nonelected exempt positions in the
executive branch. (Government Code � 19889.3) After January
1, 2013, eligibility for CEA appointments is reserved
exclusively for persons with permanent civil service.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal by Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS : Background . Under current law, appointments to the
CCC Chancellor's executive management team are made by a
gubernatorial appointment or through the CEA process. However,
in past years, key appointments from the Governor's office have
often taken months before being approved. As a state agency,
the BOG also has the authority to hire individuals who have, or
had, permanent civil service status, or former or nonelected,
exempt executive employees into a CEA position.
Need for this bill . Current law precludes the appointment of
individuals who may have significant CCC, higher education, or
industry-related experience. According to the author, the
Chancellor needs the flexibility to hire the most qualified
individuals he or she can to fill leadership positions in the
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Chancellor's office. Currently, the Chancellor is limited to
hiring from civil, legislative, or non-elected executive service
or to going through the Governor's appointment process, which
can be lengthy, time consuming, and sometimes fruitless. The
delay has resulted in the loss of qualified candidates and
prolonged vacancies in key positions.
Student success recommendations . At the direction of the
Legislature �SB 1143 (Liu), Chapter 409, Statutes of 2010], the
Chancellor established a task force to develop recommendations
by early 2012 to promote and improve student success. The
20-member the Student Success Task Force (SSTF) included CCC
leaders, faculty, students, researchers, staff, and external
stakeholders and spent a fully year researching, studying, and
debating the best methods to improve student outcomes. Their
plan resulted in 22 recommendations that identify key strategies
to invest in student success and enable students to reach their
goals, including the recommendation for a stronger Chancellor's
office to improve sharing of data, common goal setting, and
fidelity to statewide efforts to improve student outcomes.
The Little Hoover Commission in it February 2012 report
recommended that the state strengthen the governance of the CCC
by creating a stronger, more independent Chancellor's office
that is empowered to establish policy directives, create
accountability metrics, and hire senior-level staff.
Who is affected ? This bill expands the BOG authority to hire
persons outside the civil service into a position classified as
a CEA. According to the Chancellor's office, 11 vice chancellor
positions are currently eligible to be filled by persons outside
the civil service system. Three of these are currently
classified as CEA positions. Eight positions are classified as
exempt positions. The expanded authority would apply only to
those positions classified as CEAs.
Arguments in support . According to the Community College League
of California, "SB 1062 gives the State Chancellor the authority
that he/she needs to recruit and hire educational professionals
in a manner equal to those at CSU, UC and other higher education
entities. The current provisions requiring gubernatorial
approval have delayed appointments for as long as 18 months.
These delays have caused excellent qualified candidates to seek
and obtain other employment opportunities."
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Arguments in opposition . The California Labor Federation argues
that adding the three prior experience options "?would set a
precedent unlike any other in California government and conflict
with the well-established system in place for appointing CEAs.
The civil service process ensures an ample pool of knowledgeable
and qualified candidates who are not only familiar with
governmental operations, but also have private sector work
experience, as well as former military service and local
community college administrative history."
Prior legislation . SB 1456 (Lowenthal), to be heard by this
Committee on June 19, would implement two recommendations from
the SSTF. SB 629 (Lowenthal) of 2011, which passed the Senate
but has not been set for hearing in this Committee, is very
similar to SB 1062. AB 2109 (Ruskin) of 2010, which was
withdrawn from this Committee without further action, would have
removed the CCC from the definition of "state agency" for all
legislation enacted after January 1, 2011, and would have
provided the CCC Chancellor's Office with expanded personnel
hiring authority.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Association of California Community College Administrators
Bay Area Council
Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
College of the Canyons, Santa Clarita
Community College League of California
Glendale Community College District
Inland Empire Economic Partnership
Kern Community College District
Little Hoover Commission
Long Beach Community College District
Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Los Angeles Community College District
Los Rios Community College District
North Bay Leadership Council
Peralta Community College District
Orange County Business Council
Regional Economic Association Leaders Coalition
San Diego Community College District
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
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San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership
San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District
State Center Community College District
Yosemite Community College District
West Kern Community College District
Opposition
California Correctional Peace Officers Association
California Labor Federation
California Teachers Association's Community College Association
Service Employees International Union Local 1000
Analysis Prepared by : Sandra Fried / HIGHER ED. / (916)
319-3960