BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1397
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1397 ( Veterans Affairs Committee)
As Amended August 13, 2014
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(May 24, 2013) |SENATE: |34-0 |(August 20, 2014) |
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(vote not relevant)
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|COMMITTEE VOTE: |7-0 |(August 27, 2014) |RECOMMENDATION: |concur |
|(V.A.) | | | | |
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Original Committee Reference: V.A.
SUMMARY : Requires the California Department of Human Resources
(CalHR) to collect, maintain, analyze, and report on data regarding
the veterans preference system in state hiring, and other data as
specified regarding veterans in the California state workforce.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill and
instead:
1)Add the veterans preference to the list of selection devices,
which CalHR must review, examine the validity of, and update.
2)Add veteran status to the list of specified data collected in
order to determine underutilization of certain groups.
3)Require analysis of the collected data to include, but not be
limited to, the following with regard to veteran status:
a) Data relating to the utilization of veterans compared to
their availability in the relevant labor force.
b) Separation data by department and major occupational
groups.
c) Data relating to salary administration, including average
salaries for veterans and comparisons of salaries within state
service and comparable state employment.
d) Data on employee age, and salary level compared among
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groups based on veteran status.
e) Data on the number of veterans who participate in and pass
state civil service examinations.
f) Data on the recruitment efforts, major occupational groups,
geographic locations, separations, salaries, and other
conditions of employment that provide additional information
about veterans in the state civil service workforce.
EXISTING LAW :
1)For state civil service positions, veterans preference can be
applied to a veteran's eligibility for qualifying open and open,
non-promotional examinations. As of January 1, 2013, veterans
preference is awarded as follows:
a) Any veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a
100% disabled veteran, who achieves a passing score in an
entrance examination, shall be ranked in the top rank of the
resulting eligibility list. Any veteran who has been
dishonorably discharged or released is not eligible for
veterans preference.
b) An entrance examination is defined, under the law, as any
open competitive examination.
c) Veterans preference is not granted once a person achieves
permanent civil service status.
2)If a veteran competes in a state civil service examination for
which veterans preference are granted, the veteran will
automatically be added to the top rank, provided that the
individual's application for veterans preference is approved
before the eligible record is created.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee,
pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS : Last year, military and veteran status was added to the
Fair Employment and Housing Act as a protected status similar to
race, sex, and sexual orientation, and others.
Existing law requires CalHR to review state examinations, hiring
and other employment practices to see if they work. The department
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is also required to maintain statistics designed to yield the
analysis necessary for the evaluation of equal employment
opportunity within the state civil service with regard to race,
ethnicity, gender, and disability. The department already collects
information on veterans that is the same or substantially similar
to that which it collects for other protected groups.
Veteran unemployment remains an issue of concern, especially regard
to the veterans of the most recent decade of conflict. The State
of California has had a veterans preference system in the state
hiring process for many years. However there has never been any
analysis of whether that system works. In short, we do not know if
the state has effective practices to reach, hire, and retain
veterans. This bill would address that analysis gap to inform
executive and legislative branch decisionmakers as to whether we
have an effective system in place.
Analysis Prepared by : John Spangler / V.A. / (916) 319- 3550
FN: 0005525