Governor Brown Proposes Merger of State Agencies To Save Millions of Taxpayer Dollars

Taking action to trim government bureaucracy and save California taxpayers millions of dollars, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. today announced a long overdue plan to merge the state’s two personnel agencies – the State Personnel Board (SPB) and the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA) – into a single California Department of Human Resources (CalHR).

“Study after study has called for consolidating the state’s redundant and disjointed personnel systems. It’s time to make those recommendations a reality,” Brown said. “As a unified, streamlined department, CalHR will save taxpayers millions of dollars and make government more efficient.”

Since 1995, more than half a dozen reports and studies have been issued by the Little Hoover Commission, Legislative Analyst’s Office, California Performance Review and California Research Bureau, calling for a comprehensive reorganization of the state’s personnel management system. The state’s increasingly complex and outmoded structure and processes have made it difficult to effectively recruit, hire, promote, classify and discipline state employees.

A department planning a reorganization of internal programs, for example, must consult with both DPA and SPB on classification, status and layoff issues; with DPA on pay, labor relations and all terms and conditions of employment; and with SPB on selection, promotional relationships and transfer determinations.

By unifying the SPB and DPA into CalHR, Brown’s plan will reduce positions by 15 to 20 percent, saving up to $5.8 million. Further savings will be achieved as CalHR streamlines operations and replaces outmoded personnel practices. The reorganization, which would take effect July 1, 2012, also calls for a new director to head CalHR and office space to be consolidated.

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