Panel advances personnel-cabinet cleanup bill that redefines interns, adjusts KERS membership

The Senate State and Local Government Committee advanced Senate Bill 79 at its second meeting, moving the measure to the full Senate with a favorable expression.

The bill, presented by Senator Chris McDaniel (state senator, 20 third district) and explained by Robert Long, deputy secretary of the Personnel Cabinet, makes a series of cleanup and clarification changes to Personnel Cabinet law. "The bill that you see in front of you today is very, very similar to something that you voted on last year," Long said, and he summarized the measure as primarily addressing definitions, reemployment rights, appeals and other implementation details.

The changes listed in the bill include adding interns to the definition of employee while excluding them from the definition of a full-time employee; defining the "intern employee" and the "intern employee position"; removing the Secretary of the Personnel Cabinet as an ex officio member of the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS) board; removing fines and suspensions without pay as a form of punishment; and removing rehires from probationary periods in specified circumstances. The bill also clarifies that an elected classified employee serving on the personnel board loses the active employee member status if no longer employed with the commonwealth.

Long told the committee the bill aligns provisions with prior legislation such as Senate Bill 153 and with existing guidance on layoffs and furloughs. He said the measure would preserve the Personnel Cabinet's authority to promulgate regulations on layoffs if necessary but that, given existing statutory guidance, the cabinet might not need to issue those regulations immediately. The bill also directs the secretary to promulgate regulations for scholarship, internship and other educational assistance programs meant to aid recruitment and retention.

Other provisions explained to the committee: only employees with evaluations "below satisfactory" may appeal evaluation results; layoffs would apply only to merit staff, interim employees and probationary employees without merit rights (in those cases termination rather than layoff would apply); boards and commissions could choose to employ either merit or at-will staff for their commissions; reemployment rights for career employees would terminate two years after separation and upon acceptance of a classified position or retirement; accrued sick and annual leave could be donated to eligible employees on resignation or retirement; remote work allowed for a position could not be performed from outside the Commonwealth without express permission from the Personnel Cabinet secretary; state-issued equipment could trigger deductions if not returned after termination; and supervisors at Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) facilities would be designated non-merit positions.

"Mr. Chairman, that is the essence of Senate Bill 79," McDaniel said as he concluded the presentation.

Committee members moved and seconded the bill; a roll call recorded affirmative responses and the committee chair announced that the bill "passes with favorable expression" and will be carried to the Senate floor. The transcript does not record a detailed named vote tally for each member in the committee beyond the chair's announcement.

The changes affect Personnel Cabinet administrative practice and employee rights across state government programs, including retirement-board representation and rules for evaluation appeals, reemployment and remote work. The committee did not attach additional amendments during the meeting.