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Committee hears DSHS request to modernize exempt positions from civil service law
Summary
House Bill 1013 would update the list of Department of Social and Health Services positions exempt from state civil service law to reflect contemporary agency organization; DSHS staff said the bill aligns statute with current practice and does not move represented employees into exempt status.
The Senate State Government, Tribal Affairs & Elections Committee on March 14 heard House Bill 1013, a DSHS-request bill that revises which positions within the Department of Social and Health Services are exempt from the state’s civil service statutes.
Committee staff summarized that the bill lists specific senior positions — including the secretary, assistant and deputy assistant secretaries; chief of staff and deputy chief of staff; senior directors; division directors and deputies; regional and district managers; executive officers; superintendents; and executive assistants — as exempt from civil service law.
Representative Suzanne Schmidt, the bill’s sponsor, said the change would permit DSHS more flexibility for internal reorganization and improve agency efficiency.
Andrew Colvin and Joanna Tatarian of DSHS Human Resources told the committee the listed positions are currently treated as exempt; the bill is intended as a statutory cleanup to align the law with modern agency structure. Tatarian said positions exempt from civil service are treated like at-will appointments and are appointed by the agency secretary. In response to questions, DSHS staff stated the bill would not move positions covered by collective bargaining agreements into exempt status.
The committee heard two in-person DSHS witnesses and recorded a single non-testifier in the record opposing the bill; the committee closed the hearing on HB 1013 without a final vote at the March 14 meeting.
