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The Triennial event for ACSS Elections and Policy Changes
In his address at the 2014 Lobby Day kickoff, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez discussed his intentions toward public employee retirement benefits as the state's next controller.
With regard to pension security, the Speaker stated "We are at a critical moment as a state, and quite frankly as a nation."
"I want to fight to keep the promise of a defined benefit pension."
Click on the video above to see a 10 minute excerpt from the Speaker's address.
EDIT: This post has been updated to reflect that Mayor Reed's attorneys argued the case at a hearing on Friday.
It appears the saga of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's pension attack is drawing to a close.
Reed et al fired off a hasty lawsuit in February against Attorney General Kamala Harris, claiming her summary of their constitution-altering ballot initiative was "false" and "misleading" and calling on the Sacramento County Superior Court to force Harris to alter the wording.
A tentative ruling from the Sacramento County Superior Court released on Thursday, March 13th, appears to have ended the argument by denying Reed's petition to force Harris to change her summary.
In its report on the Governor's proposed 2014-15 budget, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) calls on the Brown Administration to take additional action to resolve the salary compaction crisis plaguing state supervisors, managers, and confidential employees.
The report notes that there has not been a "consistent or coordinated process" to analyze the extent of the issue.
Furthermore, the LAO notes that though the proposed budget attempts to fix the problem for identified classifications the Administration "would need to review managerial and supervisorial classifications and propose pay increases for affected managerial state workers beyond what is proposed in the 2014-15 budget."
ACSS has been working extensively for the past few years with CalHR and the legislature to end salary compaction.
Senate Bill 216 - sponsored by ACSS - had unanimous support through the Senate in 2013 and is currently pending review by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Our bill would maintain the State's recommended 10% pay differential between supervisors and managers and their staff, and would establish a consistent process to analyze and identify current and emerging compaction issues.
Citing likely expiring federal funding and decreasing workload, the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB) has announced its intention to cut costs through several measures.
Several cuts have already been implemented, including:
CUIAB has also said it will reduce its workforce through attrition - not filling positions as employees leave, unless those positions are "absolutely critical to mission."
If you have concerns about the impact of these cuts on your career, please contact ACSS Senior Labor Relations Representative Nellie D. Lynn at nlynn@calcsea.org
ACSS Vice President of Membership Development Todd D'Braunstein has been re-elected to a third consecutive term as president of the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, on which he has served since 2010.
D'Braunstein has worked in multiple positions at Patton State Hospital since 2009, including program assistant and unit supervisor. D'Braunstein also held various positions - including unit supervisor, psychiatric technician instructor and senior psychiatric technician - at Patton from 1997 to 2005.
He was a crisis team member at Tri-City Mental Health Center from 1995 to 1996 and a psychiatric technician at Lanterman Developmental Center from 1993 to 1995.
D'Braunstein has been an ACSS member since 2005.
A report released on Feb. 27 by the Little Hoover Commission has detailed key areas that have fallen behind in Gov. Brown's reorganization effort, including the State's continuing recruitment and retention issues.
Though the Commission have covered the issue of salary compaction and its negative impact on retaining a skilled workforce, this report focuses instead on maze-like hiring practices, excess classifications, and lateral transfers.
Though the Commission's report finds many areas that are still in need of improvement after the merger of DPA and SPB into CalHR, special note is made of CalHR's expanded training efforts and successful physical merger.
Read the full report for additional details.
Former CalHR Director Julie Chapman (left) and Acting CalHR Director Richard Gillihan
CalHR Director Julie Chapman will be retiring immediately, effective as of close of business Friday, Feb. 28th, as announced in a press release on Feb. 27th by CalGovOpps Secretary Marybel Batjer. Deputy Director Howard Schwartz will be stepping down as well.
Department of Finance Program Budget Manager Richard Gillihan will step in as acting director of CalHR. CalHR Labor Relations Assistant Deputy Director Pam Manwiller will act as interim deputy director.
As excluded employees rely on the Legislature and CalHR to set their compensation and working conditions, any time there is a shift in leadership we are presented with the potential for new gains and new losses.
ACSS will continue working with our existing and new contacts at CalHR to maintain and improve their response to excluded employee needs throughout this transition.
In response to a shooting involving a supervisor in Riverside, SCIF has dispatched CHP officers to their locations in Riverside, Glendale, Monterey Park, and Santa Ana.
SCIF has confirmed with ACSS that every effort will be made to provide access to counseling services to employees in Southern California via the free Employee Assistance Program.
If you are contacted by the media regarding this incident, SCIF has asked that you direct them to SCIF Communications Director Gina Simons.
If you have concerns about this incident please contact ACSS Senior Labor Relations Representative Nellie D. Lynn at nlynn@calcsea.org
If you registered for Lobby Day, you should have received a confirmation email from us within a few minutes, containing all the details of your registration.
If for some reason you never received your confirmation email - or received an email with incorrect information - please check your spam folder then call ACSS HQ at (800) 624-2137 ASAP to let us know.
We'll see you at the training on March 11th!
ACSS has relocated to new offices. We're still within the historic Golden1 Building, but we've moved into a larger space to accomodate our growing organization.
Our new address is:
ACSS 1108 O St Suite 400 Sacramento, CA 95814
Please update your address books accordingly.
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