Veto message cites interference in collective bargaining process as basis for veto for AB 2872
SACRAMENTO – On September 20, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom returned AB 2872 to the Legislature by way of veto. The bill would have required immediate pay equivalency between California Department of Insurance (CDI) Investigators (which are presently included in a Statewide class with other Unit 7 peace officers) and California Department of Justice (DOJ) Special Agents (which are designated by a separate class code). The bill also would have required that ongoing parity be maintained indefinitely between the CDI and DOJ peace officers.
Historically, DOJ Special Agents have been paid more than other Unit 7 peace officer classes, in theory based on the relative complexity of their job duties. However, for the past several years, CalHR has been attempting to shrink the gap between DOJ Special Agents and the other investigative classifications due to complaints from agencies that they are constantly losing employees to DOJ because of the pay disparity. That policy goal recently changed when DOJ was faced with significant recruitment and retention problems which were compounded by the law which now requires DOJ to investigate all local agency unarmed subject Officer Involved Shootings (OIS). In order to attempt to address the shortages, in August 2021, CalHR and CSLEA negotiated a mid-contract side letter increasing DOJ pay by 12%. Similarly, though the CDI and other Statewide Investigators received a 5% Special Salary Adjustment (SSA) in the current collective bargaining agreement which runs from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2026, the DOJ Special Agents classifications received an 8% SSA.
Based on CDI’s frustration over the pay disparity, in March of this year the Insurance Commissioner sponsored AB 2872. In support of the bill, CDI noted its 34% vacancy rate in the Investigator classification and the fact that 11 of the 15 investigators who had most recently laterally transferred from CDI had all migrated to DOJ. Ironically, at the time the bill was introduced, the vacancy rate in the DOJ Special Agent class was 35%, even higher than CDI’s. Given the poor history of attempting to legislate pay increases outside of the applicable collective bargaining process, CSLEA was not optimistic of the likelihood of passage of AB 2872. This is especially true in the face of a current budget deficit of $38 billion (which has been adjusted down since the bill was introduced).
Despite its pessimism as to the chances of the bill’s success, CSLEA supported its goal to attain pay equivalency between the CDI Investigators and the DOJ Special Agent classes. CSLEA did, however, initially take positions of support if amended and later oppose unless amended with respect to the ongoing parity requirement of the bill. CSLEA, as well as its affiliate Association of Special Agents, Department of Justice (ASA-DOJ) did not want to have the two classifications’ pay tied to each other in outgoing years due to the concern that future differences in vacancy rates might jeopardize SSA’s for an impacted class based on the requirement that the two receive the same increase regardless of justification.
The other major argument in support of the bill was the claim that because CDI was a Special Fund agency, it could absorb all of the funding obligations for the costs of the legislation. However, as astutely pointed out in the Senate Appropriations Committee analysis, 12 of the CDI positions are General Fund with ongoing annual costs of $356,000. The analysis further noted “the bill would result in cost pressures of an unknown magnitude to increase salaries for other lateral classifications to maintain parity.” As such, the fact that there are two higher paying classifications with significant vacancies could lead other Statewide investigators to migrate from their agencies which might necessitate pay adjustments impacting the General Fund to stem the tide of movement.
As is standard practice, CSLEA will continue to monitor ongoing Unit 7 vacancies during the term of the current MOU and will support side letters similar to the 2021 DOJ agreement where an agency makes the case that staffing levels are mission critical supporting an immediate need for mid-contract equity adjustments. This would require the support of CalHR.
