Committee recommends SB709 to restore Division of Personnel coverage for three agencies

Senate Bill 709 would repeal five code sections that currently exempt the Department of Transportation, the Tax Division and the Bureau for Social Services from the state Division of Personnel, restoring those agencies to Division of Personnel oversight.

“The division of personnel is a central human resource agency for the state,” Cheryl Webb, director of the Division of Personnel, told the Senate Government Organization Committee. She outlined the division’s role in posting positions, administering statewide policies, training and the employee performance appraisal system and said the division has worked to shorten hiring turnaround times from weeks to an average of less than two days for transactional processing. “Now that our average turnaround time is within a day instead of 4 to 6 weeks,” Webb said, “we have been working over the years to streamline our process to make sure that we don't add to what agencies are doing.”

Steven Todd Rumbaugh, Secretary of Transportation and Commissioner of Highways, told the committee the Transportation Department has used an exemption to establish agency‑specific classification and compensation systems and training programs it says broaden recruitment and career paths. “In my opinion, no. It would not save us money. We use the same system they do, the NEO gov,” Rumbaugh said when asked whether moving back under the Division of Personnel would reduce costs. He described agency recruitment, on‑the‑spot hiring at job fairs and a classification/compensation career plan that offers progression from entry‑level positions through advanced technical roles.

Committee members questioned how moving agencies back under the Division of Personnel would affect locality pay, non‑automatic reallocations and agency autonomy. Webb said the division can and has collaborated with agencies to create specialized compensation plans and said the division could partner on locality pay and agency‑specific career structures while re‑integrating hiring workflow. Several senators said they wanted further input from the Tax Division and the Bureau for Social Services; those agencies were not present at the hearing.

At the vice chair’s motion, the committee voted to report SB709 to the full Senate with a recommendation that it do pass, with the original double committee reference to the Committee on Finance. The chair noted the bill’s effective date is July 1, 2026, giving agencies time to transition if the bill becomes law.