Bill Text: MS HB317 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State Personnel Board; require to create process for state employees to suggest improvement for state agency operations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-02-04 - Died In Committee [HB317 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2014-HB317-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2014 Regular Session
To: Appropriations
By: Representative Moak
House Bill 317
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD TO CREATE AND MAKE AVAILABLE TO ALL STATE EMPLOYEES A PROCESS AND AN APPLICATION TO ALLOW STATE EMPLOYEES TO SUGGEST IDEAS TO IMPROVE STATE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS; TO REQUIRE THE APPLICATION TO BE POSTED ON THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD'S WEBSITE; TO DIRECT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STATE PERSONNEL BOARD TO DEVELOP A METHOD OF EVALUATING STATE EMPLOYEE SUGGESTIONS WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF EACH STATE AGENCY; TO REQUIRE AGENCY EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS TO RESPOND TO EMPLOYEE SUGGESTIONS IN A TIMELY MANNER AND TO CALCULATE THE PROJECTED SAVINGS OF THE SUGGESTION BEFORE ACCEPTING OR REJECTING THE SUGGESTION; TO REQUIRE THE STATE AUDITOR TO SUBMIT TO THE LEGISLATURE A REPORT OF A REVIEW OF THE CALCULATED SAVINGS; TO ESTABLISH THE INCENTIVE OF AN HONORARY MONEY AWARD FOR EMPLOYEES WHOSE SUGGESTION IMPROVES AGENCY OPERATIONS AND REALIZES SAVINGS; TO AMEND SECTION 25-9-134, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. It is the policy of the State of Mississippi to concentrate on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of state government in order to provide better service to the residents and taxpayers of the state, to increase state government productivity and to decrease state government costs and waste. The Legislature recognizes that one (1) method of achieving a more efficient and effective state government is to encourage the involvement of state employees in the development of innovative ideas that will increase the productivity and service level of state government while decreasing the costs of state government. The Legislature realizes that employee incentive programs that reward state employees for innovative ideas by allowing and incentivizing the employees to share the cost savings resulting from their innovative ideas will help encourage employee involvement in making state government more efficient and effective. The Legislature further recognizes that rewarding state employees' ideas may also increase employee morale and enthusiasm, decrease employee turnover, and improve customer service.
SECTION 2. As used in this act, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Employee" means all state employees, including state service and nonstate service employees, as defined in Section 25-9-107. The term "employee" does not include:
(i) An elected official or member of the Legislature;
(ii) The executive director, program manager, division director, or budget officer of a state agency; or
(iii) An employee of the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning or an employee of a state institution of higher learning.
(b) "Executive director" means a state agency's executive director or similar senior level manager or managing director.
(c) "Idea application" means the application described in Section 3(1) of this act.
(d) "Projected savings" means an amount calculated by a state agency that may be realized by the agency directly as a result of an employee's idea application.
(e) "Savings realized" means an amount calculated by a state agency that was actually realized by the agency directly as a result of an employee's idea application.
(f) "State agency" means any agency, department, board or commission of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the state government. The term "state agency" does not include a state institution of higher learning.
SECTION 3. (1) (a) No later than October 1, 2014, the Executive Director of the State Personnel Board shall create and make publicly available to all employees on the board's website an idea application, substantially similar to the Air Force form AF 1000, to allow employees to suggest state agency improvements that may result in cost savings at the state agency where the employee works. Each state agency executive director shall create agency-specific supplemental submission materials to the idea application if those materials are deemed necessary by the executive director to manage the submission process. Each state agency shall post the materials on its respective website.
(b) The idea application shall not be used for ideas that:
(i) Would result from obvious and progressive normal business practices, such as a foreseeable expectation that the idea would be implemented in a reasonable time frame as a result of evolving business or industry practice;
(ii) Are obvious solutions to mandated budget cuts, such as abolishing vacant funded positions or reducing staff through layoffs;
(iii) Result in cost avoidance as the method of documenting cost savings, such as no or lowered increases in costs for staff, supplies, or equipment;
(iv) Result in revenue enhancement as the method of documenting cost savings, such as new or increased fees for services; or
(v) Simply shift the cost from one state agency to another.
(2) No later than October 1, 2014, the Executive Director of the State Personnel Board shall establish standard evaluation criteria substantially similar to the evaluation criteria used to evaluate the Air Force form AF 1000, by which all idea applications will be evaluated. The executive director shall make the criteria available to all state agency executive directors, who may establish additional evaluation criteria specific to their agency if those criteria are deemed necessary by the executive director to manage the submission process.
(3) (a) Any employee may complete an idea application. For processing, the employee shall submit the idea application to the executive director of the employee's state agency. An employee shall not be retaliated against for submitting an idea application.
(b) The identity of an employee who submits an idea application shall remain confidential and shall be redacted from the application until the employee has been determined to be eligible for an honorary award as specified in subsection (5)(d) of this section, except that the identity of the employee may be made known to the executive director, or his or her designee, for purposes of obtaining reasonably necessary additional information related to the idea application.
(c) (i) The executive director, or his or her designee, shall provide notification of receipt of the idea application to the employee within fifteen (15) days after submission of the application. The executive director, or his or her designee, may automatically deny an idea application if he or she deems the application to be duplicative of another application that was submitted within the previous twelve-month period or duplicative of a recommendation contained in an audit report from the State Auditor's Office or any privately contracted auditor, a Joint Legislative Budget Committee staff document, a Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) report or document, or any other published evaluation of Mississippi state government. The executive director, or his or her designee, shall provide notice of an automatic denial within fifteen (15) days under this paragraph.
(ii) The executive director, or his or her designee, shall cause, within forty-five (45) business days from the date of submission of an idea application that was not automatically denied for reasons listed in this section or agency-specific evaluation criteria as developed by an executive director, a projected savings calculation to be made.
(iii) The executive director shall respond with a decision either approving or denying the employee's idea application within sixty (60) business days after the date of submission of the idea application. For any idea application that is approved, the executive director, or his or her designee, shall identify, to the extent possible, any state laws or rules that would need to be changed as part of the review and approval process. The executive director, or his or her designee, shall submit a request for legislation to the Legislature regarding any approved idea application that requires legislation for implementation. Idea applications that do not require legislation for implementation shall be implemented by the state agency as soon as reasonably possible, and no later than July 1 of the fiscal year following acceptance of the idea application.
(d) A copy of any employee's idea application that is not approved, along with a copy of the executive director's response, and any document indicating the projected savings shall be submitted by the director to the Department of Finance and Administration Office of Budget and Accounting, within sixty (60) business days after submission of the idea application for the Office of Budget and Accounting to review.
(e) The executive director, or his or her designee, shall maintain copies of all idea applications that are submitted, along with the following information for approved idea applications:
(i) A description of the innovative idea implemented;
(ii) The total savings achieved in the first fiscal year or first full twelve-month period after full implementation;
(iii) The total dollars awarded as an incentive to the employee who submitted the idea application;
(iv) Any affected general appropriations act line item, if applicable; and
(v) An evaluation of the effectiveness in achieving the goals set forth in Section 1 of this act of the implemented idea and the honorary award to the employee.
(3) Beginning on or after October 1, 2014, all state agencies shall advertise that the idea application is available on the State Personnel Board's website on any type of electronic payroll statements issued to employees and in any electronic broadcast communication made to employees, so long as the advertisement for the idea application occurs at least monthly.
(4) The idea application and the advertisement described in subsection (3) of this section shall include information related to the honorary award specified in subsection (5)(d) of this section that an employee may earn.
(5) (a) Once an idea application is submitted, reviewed, and accepted by the executive director, or his or her designee, the employee shall be informed of the honorary award that he or she may earn.
(b) Thirteen (13) months after the innovative idea described in the idea application is fully implemented, the executive director shall calculate the savings realized for the first twelve (12) months of full implementation. All documentation of the savings realized calculation shall be forwarded to the State Auditor for review and verification no later than two (2) months after the twelve (12) months of full implementation of the innovative idea described in the idea application. The State Auditor shall have one hundred twenty (120) days from receipt of the savings realized calculation to:
(i) Conduct the review and verification of the savings realized calculation; and
(ii) Submit a report with his or her findings, recommendations, and conclusions to the Legislature, which shall hold a public hearing for the purposes of a review of the report.
(c) The State Auditor's report described in paragraph (b)(ii) of this subsection shall be submitted to the executive director who approved the idea application and to any members of the Legislature who introduced any legislation to implement the idea.
(d) (i) Except as provided in subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of this paragraph (d), and unless otherwise prohibited, the savings realized as verified by the State Auditor as specified in paragraph (b) of this subsection shall be distributed, no later than the last day of the eighteenth month following the implementation of the innovative idea, as follows:
1. Five percent (5%), up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), of the savings realized as a one-time honorary award to the employee who submitted the idea application;
2. Twenty-five percent (25%), up to Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), of the savings realized to the state agency that the employee's idea application directly affects; and
3. The remainder after distributions are made under items 1 and 2 of this subparagraph to the State General Fund.
(ii) If the savings realized result in savings of federal monies, the federal monies saved shall not be distributed as specified in this paragraph (d) but shall either be used for a reallocation of monies within the state agency or shall revert, depending on the use specified for those particular federal monies.
(iii) If the savings realized result in savings of monies from public or private grants, gifts, awards, or donations where the use of the monies is restricted, those restricted monies shall not be distributed as specified in this paragraph (d) but shall either be used for a reallocation of monies within the state agency or shall revert, depending on the use specified for the particular restricted monies.
(e) (i) Except as provided in subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph, the state agency may use the distribution specified in paragraph (d)(i)2 of this subsection for any projects that would increase that state agency's efficiency or improve services provided to state residents, but the distribution shall not be used to hire additional full-time equivalent employees or for personnel services expenditures other than the distribution specified in paragraph (d)(i)1 of this subsection.
(ii) Any savings realized distributed to the Department of Transportation under paragraph (d)(i)2 of this subsection shall be transferred to the Four-Lane Highway Trust Fund established under Section 31-17-127, and shall only be used for material costs of road and bridge repairs.
(6) Nothing in this act shall be construed to provide employees with any grievance, dispute resolution, or appeals process with regard to any idea application submitted by the employee.
SECTION 4. Section 25-9-134, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-9-134. (1) The Legislature finds (a) that effective state and local governmental institutions are essential in the maintenance and development of public administration in an increasingly complex and interdependent society; (b) that since numerous governmental activities administered by district and local governments are related to a statewide purpose and are financed in part by state funds, a state interest exists in a high caliber of public service in state, district and local governments; and (c) that the quality of public service at all levels of government can be improved by the development of innovative systems of public administration.
(2) The State Personnel
Board * * * shall establish a program to
encourage and recognize excellence, innovation and diversity on the part of
state, district and local governmental entities in the design, execution and
management of their own administrative procedures in compliance with the
provisions of Sections 1 through 3 of this act. The State Personnel Board
shall establish by rule and regulation procedures for evaluating * * * examples of improvement in public
administration, and shall provide for an annual awards program to recognize
excellence in government. The board may establish categories of governmental
service in order to recognize these achievements.
(3) Nominations for awards
under the program of excellence in government prescribed * * * in this section shall be made to
the State Personnel Director by the governing authority or board of the
governmental entity employing the particular individual or group of individuals
to be recognized. Such nominations shall be made at such time or times and
shall contain such information as the State Personnel Board may prescribe. All
nominations shall be submitted by the State Personnel Director to the Governor
for review, comments and recommendation at least sixty (60) days prior to final
evaluation by the State Personnel Board. An explanation in writing shall be
sent to the Governor * * * if the State Personnel Board does not concur with
recommendations of the Governor in approving or disapproving * * * the nominations.
(4) Nominations for awards under the program of excellence in government shall set forth clear and practicable actions for the improvement of particular aspects of technical or administrative procedure, such as:
(a) Establishment of personnel systems of general or special functional coverage to meet the needs of urban, suburban or rural governmental jurisdictions that may not be able to provide career inducements to well qualified professional, administrative and technical personnel;
(b) Strengthening one or more major areas of public administration, such as personnel recruitment, personnel training, personnel development and payroll administration; or
(c) Increasing intergovernmental cooperation with respect to such matters as personnel interchange, personnel recruiting, manpower utilization and interchange and fringe benefits.
(5) As part of the program of excellence in government, the State Personnel Board shall authorize and establish guidelines for state agencies to accept and present cash awards and bonuses as part of any federally funded employee awards incentive. The guidelines shall authorize state employees to compete for federal incentives and authorize state agencies to accept federal funds earmarked for incentives. All federal awards and bonuses received by state agencies shall not be designated as part of the agency's yearly budget for the purpose of receiving state appropriations.
(6) The State
Personnel Board may evaluate a nominee under the program of excellence in
government and recommend a monetary award up to the amount authorized under
Section 3 of this act for those suggestions * * * that improve management of
technical or administrative procedures resulting in bona fide cost reduction
for the state or local governmental entity. Upon approval of such an award by
the board, the State Personnel Board may notify the State Auditor or the local
governmental authority, as the case may be, who shall pay the award to the
employee upon receipt of the proper requisition.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2014.
