SLS 17RS-215 ORIGINAL 2017 Regular Session SENATE BILL NO. 247 BY SENATOR MORRELL WATER/SEWER OPERATORS. Provides relative to classification of personnel. (8/15/17) 1 AN ACT 2 To amend and reenact R.S. 33:4076, relative to the New Orleans Sewerage and Water 3 Board; to provide for classification of board; to provide for civil service 4 classification of certain employees; to provide regarding civil service exam; to 5 require written reasons for termination for cause; to provide for an effective date; and 6 to provide for related matters. 7 Notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published. 8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana: 9 Section 1. R.S. 33:4076 is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows: 10 ยง4076. Employees of board; civil service 11 The board may employ all necessary clerks, engineers, firemen, and other 12 skilled and unskilled employees necessary and proper to the efficient administration, 13 operation and control of the public sewerage, water, and drainage systems. The 14 board shall not be considered to be an instrumentality of the state for purposes 15 of Article X, Section 1, Paragraph (A) of the Constitution of Louisiana, and the 16 employees of the board shall not be included in the state civil service. All the 17 employees, except unskilled laborers, hired on and after August 15, 2017, shall be Page 1 of 2 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 247 SLS 17RS-215 ORIGINAL 1 appointed only after they have passed the civil service examination administered by 2 the civil service commissioners of the city of New Orleans. They All employees 3 shall hold their positions during good behavior and shall be removed only for cause 4 expressed in writing. Nothing herein shall be construed as preventing the board 5 from dispensing with the services of unnecessary employees. Civil service rules 6 shall not apply to the executive director, the general superintendent, or the Board of 7 Advisory Engineers or any employee hired on and after August 15, 2017. 8 Section 2. This Act shall become effective on August 15, 2017. The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Dawn Romero Watson. DIGEST SB 247 Original 2017 Regular Session Morrell Present law provides that the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans may employ all necessary clerks, engineers, firemen, and other skilled and unskilled employees necessary and proper to the efficient administration, operation and control of the public sewerage, water, and drainage systems. Provides that all the employees, except unskilled laborers, shall be appointed only after they have passed the civil service examination administered by the civil service commissioners of the city of New Orleans. Provides that they shall hold their positions during good behavior and shall be removed only for cause. Provides that present law shall not be construed to prevent the board from dispensing with the services of unnecessary employees and provides that civil service rules shall not apply to the executive director, the general superintendent, or the Board of Advisory Engineers. Proposed law adds that the board shall not be considered an instrumentality of the state for purposes of the Louisiana constitutional provisions creating the state civil service system and specifically provides that the employees of the board shall not be included in the state civil service system. Proposed law also specifically adds employees hired on and after August 15, 2017, to the list of employees of the board to whom city of New Orleans civil service rules shall not apply. However, provides that any employee hired on or after August 15, 2017, other than unskilled laborers shall be appointed only after they have passed the civil service examination administered by the civil service commissioners of the city of New Orleans, and regarding employees removed for cause, adds that such cause be expressed in writing. Effective August 15, 2017. (Amends R.S. 33:4076) Page 2 of 2 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions.