Senate Rules Committee advances Mark Krauss for Public Employment Relations Board

The California State Senate Rules Committee voted to advance Mark Krauss’s nomination to the Public Employment Relations Board to the Senate floor after a June 25 committee hearing and public support testimony.

Krauss told the committee he was “honored to have been appointed by Governor Newsom to the Public Employment Relations Board,” and described his nearly nine months of service and learning at the agency.

The nomination hearing included three minutes of opening testimony from Krauss, committee questions about how he approaches balanced decision‑making, and brief public comments in support from labor and employer representatives. Tim Carmichael of the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance said he had “had the pleasure of working with Mister Krauss for the best part of a decade” and described Krauss as “incredibly hardworking.” Al Fortier of IBEW Local 1245 said the union supported Krauss’s “fair minded approach to the applications of the rule of law.”

Committee members asked Krauss about handling cases that touch on social or constitutional issues. Krauss said the board’s work so far had been to “apply the law” to facts rather than to resolve social questions, and that he and his colleagues approach cases by examining facts and legal standards.

A motion to advance Krauss’s nomination was made on the floor of the committee; the roll call later recorded a final committee vote of 5–0 to move the nomination to the Senate floor for confirmation.

Krauss acknowledged staff support and introduced family members and an advisor who helped him learn the agency’s 18 adjudicated acts. The committee did not take additional policy actions tied to the nomination.

The nomination will next be considered by the full California State Senate.