NEWS

Think this election doesn't matter? Think again.

AD 40 Candidate Marc Steinorth (left), ACSS Legislative Committee Chair Richard Synder, ACSS VP of Governmental Affairs Frank Ruffino, Assemblymember Scott Wilk, and ACSS VP of Membership Development Todd D'Braunstein

As the 2014 primary election draws closer, ACSS leaders have stepped up their review of assembly and senate candidates to find the best potential advocates for state supervisors, managers, and confidential employees.

Slideshow - Lobby Day 2014

ACSS' 14th annual Lobby Day was a great success.

With a record turnout, the stage was set to continue our goal of resolving salary compaction once and for all.

Thanks to the efforts of state supervisors, managers, and confidential employees just like you, our elected officials are finally addressing this inexcusable issue - our staff making more than us - that has plagued us for so long.

Thanks to your hard work - and the dillgence of ACSS leaders who have met and discussed the issue with Gov. Brown and his administration for the past few years - there is an historical line item in the governor's revised budget that attempts to resolve salary compaction for the first time.

ACSS' model of improving your career works because we give you the tools to get in front of your elected officials and hold them accountable.

Click the photo above to see a slideshow of the day's events, and mark your calendars for next year's annual lobbying event on March 11, 2015.

ACSS talks compaction with Governor Brown

ACSS Vice President of Governmental Affairs Frank Ruffino sat down with Governor Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Brown to discuss salary compaction and the governor's future plans for California.

For the first time, the governor's budget includes earmarked funds - $98.6 million - to begin rectifying the long standing issue of salary compaction.

Ruffino called the historic funds "a positive first step" and called on Gov. Brown to continue his dedication to end the harmful practice of paying supervisors and managers less than their staff.

"I'm encouraged that you've started changing the culture in the Capitol toward supervisors and managers," said Ruffino.

"There's no rush, Governor," joked Ruffino, "we've only been dealing with this issue for about 14 years."

Slideshow - Lobby Day training and kickoff

100+ supervisors, managers, and confidential from around the state gathered at our 2014 Lobby Day Training & Kickoff to learn the ins and outs of sitting down with their elected officials and to network with their peers.

We've prepared a slideshow of the event for your enjoyment. If you'd like to save any of the pictures, simply click the camera icon in the top left of the slideshow when it's on the photo you'd like and you'll be able to download the picture.

Reed drops pension attack after unfavorable ruling

As expected, a Sacramento Superior Court judge adopted a tentative ruling on Friday shutting down San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's frivolous lawsuit against Attorney General Kamala Harris. Reed then formally announced that he was withdrawing his Constitution-altering pension attack, from which several of his fellow mayors had already distanced themselves.

Though the California Constitution establishes the Attorney General as the sole person responsible for preparing ballot intitiative titles and summaries, Mayor Reed's attorney - Jim Sutton - argued that the court should instruct the Attorney General to change the wording of her official summary.

Sutton stated that Mayor Reed and his campaign favored the word "remove" instead of the word "eliminate" in the first sentence of Harris' summary.

When pressed by Judge Allen Sumner, Sutton admitted that he was unable to find precedent for the court intervening in the ballot initiative summary process.

Mayor Reed's camp also argued that the public was "unlikely to understand" what pensions are.

Judge Sumner closed the proceedings by officially adopting his tentatve ruling, stating that "just because the word 'remove' polls better" he could not justify the court "injecting itself" into ballot language.

Perez will fight for defined benefit pensions as Controller

In his address at the 2014 Lobby Day kickoff, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez discussed his intentions toward public employee retirement benefits as the state's next controller.

With regard to pension security, the Speaker stated "We are at a critical moment as a state, and quite frankly as a nation."

"I want to fight to keep the promise of a defined benefit pension."

Click on the video above to see a 10 minute excerpt from the Speaker's address.

Tentative ruling against pension lawsuit

EDIT: This post has been updated to reflect that Mayor Reed's attorneys argued the case at a hearing on Friday.

It appears the saga of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed's pension attack is drawing to a close.

Reed et al fired off a hasty lawsuit in February against Attorney General Kamala Harris, claiming her summary of their constitution-altering ballot initiative was "false" and "misleading" and calling on the Sacramento County Superior Court to force Harris to alter the wording.

A tentative ruling from the Sacramento County Superior Court released on Thursday, March 13th, appears to have ended the argument by denying Reed's petition to force Harris to change her summary.

LAO calls for greater compaction fix

In its report on the Governor's proposed 2014-15 budget, the Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO) calls on the Brown Administration to take additional action to resolve the salary compaction crisis plaguing state supervisors, managers, and confidential employees.

The report notes that there has not been a "consistent or coordinated process" to analyze the extent of the issue.

Furthermore, the LAO notes that though the proposed budget attempts to fix the problem for identified classifications the Administration "would need to review managerial and supervisorial classifications and propose pay increases for affected managerial state workers beyond what is proposed in the 2014-15 budget."

ACSS has been working extensively for the past few years with CalHR and the legislature to end salary compaction.

Senate Bill 216 - sponsored by ACSS - had unanimous support through the Senate in 2013 and is currently pending review by the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Our bill would maintain the State's recommended 10% pay differential between supervisors and managers and their staff, and would establish a consistent process to analyze and identify current and emerging compaction issues.

Will CUIAB cuts impact you?

Citing likely expiring federal funding and decreasing workload, the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB) has announced its intention to cut costs through several measures.

Several cuts have already been implemented, including:

• Reducing use of retired annuitants;
• Reducing travel;
• Reducing training; and
• Reducing overtime

CUIAB has also said it will reduce its workforce through attrition - not filling positions as employees leave, unless those positions are "absolutely critical to mission."

If you have concerns about the impact of these cuts on your career, please contact ACSS Senior Labor Relations Representative Nellie D. Lynn at nlynn@calcsea.org

ACSS leader re-elected president of Nursing Board

ACSS Vice President of Membership Development Todd D'Braunstein has been re-elected to a third consecutive term as president of the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, on which he has served since 2010.

D'Braunstein has worked in multiple positions at Patton State Hospital since 2009, including program assistant and unit supervisor. D'Braunstein also held various positions - including unit supervisor, psychiatric technician instructor and senior psychiatric technician - at Patton from 1997 to 2005.

He was a crisis team member at Tri-City Mental Health Center from 1995 to 1996 and a psychiatric technician at Lanterman Developmental Center from 1993 to 1995.

D'Braunstein has been an ACSS member since 2005.