California Senate Bill SB1025 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 1025INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Torres FEBRUARY 14, 2014 An act to amend Section 2266 of the Vehicle Code, relating to public employment. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1025, as introduced, Torres. Department of the California Highway Patrol: Department of Human Resources. Existing law authorizes the Department of Human Resources, when determining compensation for communications operators in the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to consider the total compensation for communications operators in comparable positions in the police departments of the Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Jose, and the City and County of San Francisco. This bill would delete references to communications operators and would refer instead to public safety dispatchers and public safety operators. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 2266 of the Vehicle Code is amended to read: 2266. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The  communications   public safety dispatchers and public safety  operators of the Department of the California Highway Patrol are among the lowest paid when compared to operators employed by other law enforcement agencies in the state. The department's communication centers suffer from significant staff shortages and high turnover rates. Increasing the wages paid to these  communications   public safety dispatchers and public safety  operators will increase their professionalism while reducing their rate of turnover. (2) The recruitment and retention problem is especially evident in the classifications of  Communications  Public Safety Dispatcher I and II and Public Safety  Operator I and II. (3) In order for the state to recruit and retain the highest qualified and capable communications operators, those employees should be compensated in an amount equal to the estimated average total compensation for the classifications corresponding to  Communications Operator   Public Safety Dispatcher I and II and Public Safety Operator  I and II within the police departments in the Cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, and San Jose and the City and County of San Francisco. (4) According to the Department of the California Highway Patrol, it costs the department thirty-six thousand one hundred ninety-eight dollars ($36,198) to train a  Communications   Public Safety Dispatcher I and Public Safety  Operator I and sixty-five thousand two hundred two dollars ($65,202) to train a  Communications   Public Safety Dis   patcher II and Public Safety  Operator II to their respective classifications. After the department has trained  an   a public safety dispatcher or public safety  operator, all too often the new, fully trained  dispatcher or  operator will move to a local agency to a higher wage. (5) This section is not in violation of the Ralph C. Dills Act (Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 3512) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code), which requires that changes for salaries and benefits be collectively bargained between representatives of the state and the employee's union. This section does not circumvent that process. This section simply authorizes the Department of Human Resources, when determining compensation for communications operators in the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to consider the total compensation for communications operators in other jurisdictions. (b) When determining compensation for  communications   public safety dispatchers and public safety  operators in the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Human Resources may consider the total compensation for  communications   public safety dispatchers and public safety  operators in comparable positions in the police departments specified in paragraph (3) of subdivision (a).