BILL ANALYSIS �
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Date of Hearing: April 2, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS
Al Muratsuchi, Chair
AB 372 (Eggman) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Civil service: veterans' preference in hiring.
SUMMARY : This bill changes the way veterans preference is
handled in state employment. Specifically, this bill :
1)Deletes the specific treatment of veteran applicants for
police or watchmen positions.
2)Defines certain terms:
a) "Veteran" has the same meaning as defined in Section
18540.4.
b) "Disabled veteran" has the same meaning as defined in
Section 18541.
c) "100 percent disabled veteran" means any veteran as
defined in this section who is currently declared by the
United States Veterans Administration to be 100 percent
disabled as a result of his or her service
3)Deletes the existing point system for awarding veterans
preference points.
4)Mandates that whenever any veteran, widow or widower of a
veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran achieves
a passing score on an entrance examination, he or she shall be
ranked in the top rank of the resulting eligibility list.
5)Prohibits application of the preference to any veteran who has
been dishonorably discharged or released.
6)Deletes the provisions of Government Code Section 18978
pertaining additional points for military law enforcement
trained applicants to peace officer positions.
7)Deletes the provisions of Government Code Section 18979
pertaining to appointment preference order for the Disabled
Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP).
EXISTING LAW : Provides for a competitive examination process
for most state employment. Applicants take some kind of
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examination; Examinations shall be competitive and of such
character as fairly to test and determine the qualifications,
fitness, and ability of competitors actually to perform the
duties of the class of position for which they seek appointment.
Applicants who take an examination receive a score.
Examinations have a passing score.
Veterans who have not received a dishonorable discharge and
certain others related to them may have points added to their
scores, as follows: Disabled veterans, 15 points; veterans, 10
points, widows or widowers of veterans; and spouses of 100
percent disabled veterans, five points. All ties shall be
decided in favor of veterans and widows or widowers of veterans.
Applicants are ranked according to their scores into six ranks.
The first rank shall consist of eligibles who receive a score of
95 percent or higher. The second rank shall consist of eligibles
who receive a score of 90 to 94 percent. The third rank shall
consist of eligibles who receive a score of 85 to 89 percent.
The fourth rank shall consist of eligibles who receive a score
of 80 to 84 percent. The fifth rank shall consist of eligibles
who receive a score of 75 to 79 percent. The sixth rank shall
consist of eligibles who receive a score of 70 to 74 percent. In
general, applicants must be hired first from the top three ranks
and are said to be "reachable."
Current law specifies a separate preference order for the DVOP.
Current law gives extra points for military law enforcement
trained personnel who apply to peace officer positions.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown at this time.
COMMENTS : According to the author:
The current process does not provide any advantage to veterans
who pass the exam but do not score in the highest three ranks,
and have the minimum qualifications for the job, because they
will never be in the higher ranks on the list. As a result the
true objective, to get veterans jobs in state government, is
frustrated.
� This legislation will ensure that more veterans will
be competitive for state positions by allowing veterans
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who pass exams to automatically be placed in the top
rank.
� Preferences for veterans are set in Government Code
and are under the purview of CalHR.
� The merger of the State Personnel Board (SPB) and
the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) into the
new California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) has
prompted a desire to streamline rules and regulations and
to simplify the hiring process.
The proposal eliminates the entire point system as to veterans
(including spouses and surviving spouses), so long as they pass
the exam. Under the current system veterans are ranked in terms
both of status (disabled veteran/veteran/surviving
spouse/military law enforcement) combined with their performance
on the exam. Under the new system, the different amount of
points awarded based on status to disabled vets, non-disabled
vets, and surviving spouses is eliminated, as is the ranking in
terms of actual performance on the exam.
Thus, assuming passing scores:
� A vet who achieves the absolute minimum passing score
and a vet who achieves the maximum score will be placed in
the top rank;
� A disabled vet, a non-disabled vet, and a surviving
spouse will all be placed in the top rank.
According to the author:
This proposal simplifies the system and gives every
veteran, disabled veteran, and widow of a veteran an equal
advantage. The revised law would provide simply that any
one of those individuals who passes an open examination
would be automatically moved to the top rank of the list,
meaning all of those individuals would be eligible for
consideration for hire. With more reachable veterans,
departments are more likely to find a veteran who meets the
particular needs of the job they need to fill.
The proposal presents an evolution in policy and a balancing
choice: It does simplify the current system. Further, it clearly
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would make more veterans and surviving spouses reachable
assuming passing scores. At the same time it alters current
policy which retains both the status and performance based
aspects of the examination process. It also alters, within the
status based part of current policy, the graduated award of
points from surviving spouses to disabled veterans.
Proposed Amendments:
The author proposes to amend the bill after it is heard by this
committee as follows:
1. The author did not intend to delete Government Code Section
18979. That deletion will be amended and the section should
remain in code as is.
2. Findings and declarations were inadvertently deleted in the
second version of the bill. The author intends to amend the
bill to include findings and declarations in the form:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(a) Though unemployment has fallen among veterans
nationwide, the unemployment rate of veterans of post-9/11
conflicts is 11.1 percent, exceeding that of the general
population, which is 7 percent.
(b) Educational attainment of veterans continues to rise,
and there has been a significant increase in the post-9/11
era in the proportion of veterans who have completed
bachelor's degrees.
(c) The percentage of veterans in California with
bachelor's degrees exceeds the national average.
(d) Veterans tend to be enrolled in college at older ages
than nonveterans, and are thus older than nonveterans when
they enter the educated workforce.
(e) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this
act to expand employment opportunities for veterans and to
improve the application of veterans' preferences in state
hiring.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Legion-Department of California
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AMVETS-Department of California
California Association of County Veterans Service Officers
California State Commanders Veterans Council
VFW-Department of California
Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Council
Veterans Democratic Club of Sacramento County
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V. A. / (916) 319-3550