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Committee agrees to add central-office position on paper, debates reclassification and market-factor approach for certain staff
Summary
The conference committee discussed adding a central-office position for the state’s attorneys’ office without immediate funding, and debated whether reclassifying some positions as exempt (with a market-factor pay adjustment) or keeping them classified is the correct approach.
Members of the H.493 conference committee on May 8 agreed to add a position for the state’s attorneys’ central office to the position sheets but not to provide money for it in the budget; staff said the office will “figure it out” on funding. The committee asked the Joint Fiscal Office to examine the structure of the state’s attorneys offices, which are organized differently than typical state agencies because of multiple district attorneys.
Separately, the committee discussed a proposal to reclassify a set of positions (described in discussion as roles such as “pension analysts” and similar classifications) and to allow the Department of Human Resources to conduct a market-factor review to increase pay. Committee staff raised concerns that creating exempt positions could be a way to avoid the classified-employee process and union protections, and said some members did not support making positions exempt without more information about impacts. A staff member described the alternative as reclassifying the positions through the existing classified process so that employees retain protections and could receive pay adjustments from the market-factor process.
The transcript shows committee members asking JFO to review structural issues and to prepare for more detailed discussion over the summer. No formal vote or change in statute was recorded in the transcript; members instructed staff to prepare language and to have JFO check staffing counts and the implications of a reclassification approach.
Why it matters: The matters relate to pay and classification of state employees and to the structure and staffing of multi-district offices; committee direction to JFO and the Department of Human Resources could affect later budget or bill language.
Next steps: Committee staff will ask JFO to analyze positions and structural differences in the state’s attorneys’ offices and will bring draft language or options back to the committee; additional consideration may occur over the summer.
