Legislature(1999 - 2000)
03/09/2000 08:20 AM House STA
| Audio | Topic |
|---|
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 317-STATE EMPLOYEE HIRE AND PROMOTION Number 2674 CHAIR JAMES announced the next order of business is HOUSE BILL NO. 317, "An Act relating to recruitment, selection, appointment, and promotion of state employees and the duties of the Department of Administration concerning those and other related functions; and providing for an effective date." Number 2655 DAVE STEWART, Personnel Manager, Division of Personnel, Department of Administration, presented the sponsor statement for HB 317. He said that HB 317 is a clean-up bill designed to refresh the Personnel Act with respect to the state's recruitment and selection process. He noted that for a long time the state has used a paper and labor intensive method for accepting and reviewing applications and preparing an eligible list for hiring managers in the state system. He explained that Workplace Alaska is an electronic system that allows job seekers to file a single electronic resume which is attached to vacancy announcements filed by hiring managers. He commented that the response time for both applicants and managers is virtually instantaneous. He mentioned that HB 317 changes references to "examination" and "registers" to "assessment" and "lists of qualified individuals." Number 2582 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN commented that a bill was passed last year dealing with the point system. He asked if HB 317 was cleanup to conform with last year's bill. CHAIR JAMES replied that HB 317 is to streamline applications and review of applicants for state jobs. MR. STEWART agreed. He noted that Representative Ogan was referring to a bill that established a fixed point system for two categories of veterans. He explained that HB 317 changed the fixed point system to a percentage of total assessment. He commented that HB 317 maintains the same relationship but under the former examining system a veteran was awarded five or ten points to the total of the examination score. He mentioned that with the percentage system there is a variable assessment based on the vacancy and the criteria for that vacancy. Number 2501 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN asked if the new percentage system favors veterans. Number 2483 MR. STEWART replied that it was a "wash" for most of the veterans. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON said that the state used to hire from registers. He asked if HB 317 conforms to the change to the electronic system; he presumes the employee unions were satisfied with that change. MR. STEWART answered in the affirmative. He noted that all of the collective bargaining units have referenced Workplace Alaska. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON asked when did the department do that. MR. STEWART replied that the last of the bargaining unit agreements were amended during the latest negotiations. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON asked if the bargaining unit agreements were amended during that last round of negotiations. Number 2396 MR. STEWART answered in the affirmative. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON said then that HB 317 was the first change in the statutes to comport to the new system. MR. STEWART replied in the affirmative. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON inquired if HB 317 was necessary. MR. STEWART answered that it was necessary in that the references to "register" preclude the use of "hiring lists," and HB 317 allows the department to fully implement Workplace Alaska. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON asked if there was any language in HB 317 that provides any governor with the power to expand the exempt and the partially exempt employees program without legislative approval. Number 2358 MR. STEWART replied that the exempt and partially exempt service is only defined in statute and requires legislative action to expand or change. Number 2353 REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON said he had mentioned this because in reading through HB 317, he had seen some relationship to the exempt and partially exempt service. MR. STEWART answered that there is a reference in the statute to the use of eligible lists as part of partial exemption. He reiterated that an employee "can be" appointed to a partially exempt position without going through a register, but the statutory amendment changes that language so that an employee "does not have to be" appointed from a list of eligible candidates. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON asked if exempt or partially exempt employees have rehire rights, or do they flow into the new system so that they are eligible to take a numerical position within that list in so far as the next opening is concerned. MR. STEWART replied that there is nothing in HB 317 that advantages that group. Number 2300 REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON said he understood then that there is no change to exempt or partially exempt provisions. MR. STEWART answered in the affirmative. CHAIR JAMES asked where the amendment came from. MR. STEWART replied that the amendment came from the hearing with the House Special Committee on Military and Veteran's Affairs. CHAIR JAMES said she understood then that the amendment was just clean-up language of the amendment that was put in to Military and Veterans' Affairs legislation. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if there was anything in current statute that precludes the department from using this method [Workplace Alaska]. MR. STEWART answered that reference in statute to "registers" and "eligible lists" would limit the ability to enact regulations to fully operate Workplace Alaska because the department is not establishing master lists of Workplace Alaska. He said that the department is shifting from maintaining eligible lists to a vacancy-based recruitment system where the department only collects a list of applicants when a vacancy occurs and is going to be filled. Number 2181 MR. STEWART noted that use of the system [Workplace Alaska] allows people who are actually interested in the vacancy to apply and be considered by the hiring manager. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON explained that the state used to have provisions for people who qualified under minority hire. He asked if minority hire and underutilized was maintained in the new Workplace Alaska program. MS. STEWART replied in the affirmative and those candidates who are considered underutilized through specifics provided by the office of Equal Employment Opportunity are still marked as a requirement of consideration. REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON commented that some people were on 12 registers when the state maintained the register program and were blocking other people from getting jobs. Therefore, he stated that he believes HB 317 is the right way to go and it surprises him that it has taken this long to change the statutes to comply with the new procedure. Number 2079 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN asked if HB 317 makes a major change in how people are hired as far as potential abuses on the part of administration are concerned. MR. STEWART answered that the fundamental change of HB 317 is that rather than being tied to a costly time and paper manual process, the state hiring process has now become electronic. He said that the competitive nature of hiring and the merit system are maintained. He noted that all of the hires in the classified system are still based on an applicant's measure against the minimum qualifications that are established through the classification system and the collective bargaining unit process. Number 1984 REPRESENTATIVE OGAN said then that there is nothing to fear in HB 317 as far as nepotism or "who you know" system. MR. STEWART replied there was nothing to fear. CHAIR JAMES acknowledged that does not mean that there are not employees who are political appointees. Number 1933 REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON offered Amendment 1, 1-GH2050\G.1, Cramer, 3/4/00, which read: Page 5, following line 12: Insert new bill sections to read: "*Sec. 5. AS 39.25.155(c) is amended to read: (c) Applicants shall be placed on [ELIGIBLE] lists for the vocational classification indicated in their applications [SUBMITTED TO THE DIVISION OF PERSONNEL IN THE ORDER OF THEIR RELATIVE RANKING] based on an assessment of their vocational [TECHNICAL] ability and [,] place of residence [AND WITHOUT WRITTEN EXAMINATION. APTITUDE OR OCCUPATIONAL TESTS MAY BE GIVEN IF A POSITION REQUIRES A SPECIFIC ABILITY]. *Sec. 6. AS 39.25.155(e) is amended to read: (e) The director of personnel shall embody a concept combined of vocational [TECHNICAL] ability, place of residence, local hire, and area unemployment in the personnel rules to accomplish the intent of this section." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 9, line 26: Delete "secs. 1-14" Insert "sec. 1-16" Page 9, line 27: Delete "Section 15" Insert "Section 17" Number 1915 CHAIR JAMES announced Amendment 1 is before the committee. She directed attention to line 12 and said that the repealer was repealed in the House Special Committee on Military and Veterans' Affairs. She asked if there was any opposition to Amendment 1. Hearing no objection, Amendment 1 was adopted. Number 1850 REPRESENTATIVE HUDSON made a motion to move CSHB 317(MLV), version 1-GH2050\G, as amended out of committee with attached zero fiscal note, individual recommendations, and asked for unanimous consent. There being no objection, CSHB 317(STA) moved from the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|