Boss Tweed’s plan to do away with the civil service merit selection system to get fast-tracked this week

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Remember how Tea-Publicans incessantly whined about how the Affordable Care Act was being "rammed through" and "jammed through" the Congress? (Despite the fact that there were dozens of committee hearings and hundreds of Tea-Publican amendments — also it was originally a Republican proposal and based heavily on Romney Care).

That was then and this is now. Those same whiny Tea-Publicans who are in the Arizona legislature have been abusing their super-majority status to "ram through" and "jam through" their ideologically driven agenda items on a fast-track with limited opportunity for public testimony or time for thoughtful consideration, and no opportunity afforded to the minority Democrats to propose amendments.

The theme of the week this week is Gov. Jan Brewer's aka Boss Tweed's number one legislative priority, doing away with the civil service merit selection system and returning to the political Spoils system of political patronage and the days of Tammany Hall. Boss Tweed's plan to do away with the civil service merit selection system. What was only an outline last week is now a bill to be heard in the House Employment and Regulatory Affairs Committee on Thursday. (The Goldwater Institute and ALEC must have had to work over the weekend).

The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Committee to hear Brewer’s state-worker overhaul plan – Arizona Capitol Times:

Gov. Jan Brewer’s long-awaited personnel reform plan, which will overhaul the state’s employment practices and make it easier to fire government employees, will finally get its first hearing in the Legislature on Thursday.

The House Employment and Regulatory Affairs Committee will hear a strike-everything amendment to HB2571, titled “state personnel system.” Brewer spokesman Matthew Benson said the text of the amendment will be released Tuesday. [We wouldn't want the public to have time to digest what is in it, now would we?]

The plan would eliminate civil service protections for most state employees and make it easier to fire them by making them at-will employees and limiting the appeals process for disciplinary actions.

[A]ll new hires, supervisors, attorneys and IT employees would be at-will, or “uncovered,” employees, and current employees would be offered a 5 percent raise to become at-will. [aka a bribe to forgo their employee rights under economic duress]

The at-will plan would exempt law enforcement and correctional officers, though it would replace the Law Enforcement Merit Council and replace it with a new five-member Law Enforcement Personnel Board. Brewer’s proposal would limit overtime pay to law enforcement or probation employees, unless mandated by the federal government.

Brewer’s plan would consolidate nine state personnel systems into one and limit the State Personnel Board’s ability to overturn disciplinary actions toward employees. The board would no longer be allowed to modify penalties against employees and can only reverse the penalty if there were no just cause. The plan would also prohibit state agencies from using seniority as a factor when laying off employees.

The plan would authorize agencies to limit employees’ hours if it were needed to implement furloughs. Under the plan, all state agency heads serve at the pleasure of the governor and their preexisting terms of office would be eliminated, except for the Department of Public Safety Director, who would serve concurrently with the governor and could only be fired for cause.

The plan would also eliminate the state law requiring search committees be created to find new directors for the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health Services, Department of Economic Security, Department of Weights and Measures, Department of Revenue and Arizona Department of Administration.

If approved, the plan is scheduled to go into effect on Sept. 29.

The House Employment and Regulatory Affairs Committee will meet on Thursday, February 16 at 2:00 p.m.  in HHR 3. Agenda.