At acting CalHR Director Julie Chapman's confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Rules Committee, Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) briefly addressed the long standing issue of salary compaction - the phenomenon in which California state supervisors make less than those they supervise.

"As the economy improves and more jobs open in the private sector, it will be hard to retain higher level state employees because we're not matching the financial opportunities [they offer]," said Sen. Jackson.

"What do you think CalHR might be able to do to keep those skilled people in state service?"

Read Ms. Chapman's questionable response and what ACSS is doing to rectify compaction.

Governor Brown released his revised budget on May 14th.

Though we expected the revised budget would be conservative, Gov. Brown seems to be anticipating a bleak few years for California.

In recent weeks, the Legislative Analyst's Office and State Controller John Chiang have stated that California is enjoying unanticipated revenues of $4.5 billion; however, Gov. Brown's new budget claims just $2.8 billion in revenues for this year.

Brown's budget focuses mainly on education spending, and largely avoids the hot button issue of state employee compensation, though the 3% top step raise for excluded and rank and file employees is still earmarked. Additionally, the budget confirms the end of the PLP 2012 program effective June 30th, 2013.

The budget will now be reviewed and adjusted by the Legislature. The Governor is constitutionally mandated to sign the budget by June 30th.

Both the summary and detailed budget breakdown are available via www.ebudget.ca.gov

ACSS has written to Gov. Brown urging him to end a DMHC policy that burdens state employees with autistic children with unneccessary costs and inadequate treatment.

Nearly 3,700 children of state employees enrolled in CalPERS-funded HMO plans currently are denied prompt and affordable treatment for autism due to an existing California law that forces parents to obtain an autism Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) administered by a state-licensed therapist, when no state licensing technically exists for ABA therapists.

From the letter to Gov. Brown:

In order to comply with the DMHC's troubling rule, parents of autistic children enrolled in CalPERS funded health care programs must instead seek ABA from uncertified, but state-licensed, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and speech therapists.

Read the full letter to Gov. Brown for additional details.

With a looming 5% premium increase for Long Term Care (LTC) policy holders scheduled to start in July 2013, CalPERS has released another official statement outlining various options for the 60,000 affected policy holders.

CalPERS stipulates that the change only impacts "Long Term Care Policy holders who purchased LTC Insurance between 1995 and 2002 with lifetime coverage and built-in inflation protection."

If you have any questions regarding your options, please call 888-877-4934 during working hours, or email your questions to calpersltc@ltcg.com

Click to view more including the official release from CalPERS.

CalHR's new "Executive Perspectives" series presents new conversations weekly with leaders in public service that provide some interesting insights for state employees in leadership roles.

The first Executive Perspectives includes candid interviews with State Controller John Chiang, Franchise Tax Board Executive Director Selvi Stanislaus, and others.

The interviews cover topics such as creating an environment of success and cultivating creativity among the employees you supervise.

CalHR released a PML this week announcing the end - effective immediately - of additional appointments for state supervisors and managers.

The PML outlines acceptable alternatives to additional appointments.

Furthermore, CalHR states that it will be reviewing current additional appointments and will contact individual departments as needed to discuss their findings and "an action plan."

If you have any questions regarding the PML or additional appointments, please contact ACSS Senior Labor Relations Representative Nellie D. Lynn.

As part of their ongoing efforts to increase transparency and accountability, CalPERS has produced its first ever "State of the System" video address.

The State of the System outlines not only the financial health of the CalPERS fund, but also the organization's goals for the coming year and role in pension reform and retiree healthcare.

See the embedded video for the full message, or read this transcript.

The Senate Appropriations Committee held a preliminary hearing on ACSS' anti-compaction bill - SB 216 (Beall) - on April 22nd, and has since placed the bill on a "suspense file".

Though it may sound negative, the action is not unusual, nor is it necessarily a sign that ACSS' bill will face greater hurdles from Appropriations.

Any bill with an estimated cost greater than $150,000 is automatically placed on the Committee's suspense file for a hearing after the Governor's revised budget is presented in mid-May.

Read the full details of the Committee's analysis.

Want more photos of Lobby Day?

Chapter 509 member Brian Adams created this nifty slideshow showcasing some of his own photographs from ACSS Lobby Day 2013.

Thanks, Brian!

When Gov. Brown relseased his official Reorganization Plan, the Department of Real Estate (DRE) told its employees they would not be impacted, and that the plan was to move DRE under the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) in name only.

However, when implementation began, it quickly became apparent that multiple excluded employees would be impacted.

Your ACSS labor relations team requested a meet and confer with DRE, DCA, and CalHR in order to ensure no excluded employees' rights were being violated, and to prevent further misinformation.

Read more about the meet and confer.

CalHR has published a new guide for supervisors and managers who need to discipline employees who are not performing to their full potential.

CalHR's new Supervisors Guide to Addressing Poor Performance is available online for your review.

The Guide is broken into three key sections:

• Preventive Phase

• Corrective Phase

• Formal Adverse Action Phase

CalHR's new manual is intended for basic guidance only. If you have questions re: employee performance or discpline you should contact your department's HR office.

And as always, if you are the target of discplinary action, you should immediately contact your regional ACSS labor relations representative for a consultation.

CalHR's revised training program has some upcoming free online sessions for state supervisors and managers.

Click the links below for more information and free registration:

May 8th: Performance Management in Practice - Maryland's "StateStat" Lessons Learned

May 15th: From Hierarchies to Networks - Collaborative Leadership for Government

June 26th: For Exceptional Results... Focus on the People

The Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee voted unanimously (5-0) at a hearing on April 8th to pass ACSS' anti-compaction legislation - SB 216 (Beall) - to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

SB 216 seeks to end salary compaction - the phenomenon in which supervisors make less than those they supervise - and maintain a long recommended 10% differential between supervisors and rank and file.

Read more about ACSS' bi-partisan supported bill.

ACSS will be holding regional meetings in April and May to address our anti-compaction bill (SB 216) and the Governor's revised budget.

Regional meetings are a great way to network with your peers and get involved with the fight for better careers for state supervisors and managers.

Check our calendar frequently as we continue adding meeting dates.

Due to a clerical error, ACSS' legislation that would resolve salary compaction - the phenomenon in which state supervisors make less than those they supervise - was filed incorrectly with an old bill's text.

SB 216 (Beall) has now been amended to correct the error.

SB 216 is currently in the Senate Public Employment and Retirement Committee and is set for hearing on April 8th.