Gov. Jerry Brown today vetoed legislation that would have required state agencies and departments to post all examination and job vacancies on the State Personnel Board's website.
Assembly Bill 1395 passed 37-0 in the Senate and 77-0 in the Assembly. Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Alameda, said the measure would level the playing field for laid-off state workers who sought other government jobs.
Along with the mandate for online posting of tests and vacancies, the measure would have required the names of laid off employees in narrowly-defined, department-specific job classifications be placed on employment lists for comparable statewide classifications.
"Although the layoff process in the government code recognizes years of state service as a key factor in layoffs and reemployment rights," Swanson said in his justification for AB 1395, "the proliferation of department-specific and 'parenthetical' classifications in recent years has reduced the importance of state service as a factor and has reduced the likelihood of a laid-off employee being hired."
SEIU Local 1000 sponsored the measure, saying that it would keep agencies from opting out of posting job vacancies on SPB's website. SPB was also onboard. There was no listed opposition.
Despite the support, Brown's veto letter faulted the bill for increasing the likelihood that employees might be placed in jobs for which they're not qualified and "may delay the layoff process and reduce the anticipated savings from future layoffs."
Gov. Jerry Brown's AB 1395 Veto letter
PHOTO: Gov. Jerry Brown leaves a Senate Democratic Caucus meeting on June 21 after budget talks. Hector Amezcua / Sacramento Bee.
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