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Joint Budget Personnel
November 9, 2022
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman. Item B, is prosecutor coordinator’s office. Act 12 of 2022, authorizing 12 positions. They’re requesting four MFG positions that were granted last December. Brings their request to 16. That’s an increase of those four MFGs. And the executive rec provides for their request. Mr. Chairman, that’s all I have for prosecutor coordinator’s office.
Sen Wallace: Now you can probably hear me better. I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? Anybody opposed? And it passes.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman. Next item is item C, Court of Appeals. I should note that the rest of these items, C through M, will not have an executive recommendation of the executive agencies and the judicials. Court of Appeals is authorized 49 positions under Act 35 of 2022. They’re requesting a two-grade increase for all their titles that are in their current act. It’s to give them flexibility for growth and to retain personnel. And there’s no other changes for a total of 49 positions. Mr. Chairman, that’s all I have for Court of Appeals.
Sen Wallace: I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it passes.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairma,. Item D is the Administrative Office of the Courts, AOC, Acts 172 and 206 of 2022 authorizing 400 positions. They’re requesting a new title. They plan to reclass to a higher-graded position. It’s an AOC development specialist at GSO9. Similar to Court of Appeals, they’re requesting 59 upgrades. All but four of those will go up two grades. This will give AOC flexibility for growth and to adjust pay to retain personnel. And these run from page one to page four. AOC requests a reclass, a development specialist at GS07 to AOC development specialist at GSO9. And this is the new title they were requesting previously. If you’ll note, there’s a letter attached revising their request. It adds one new position, a Spanish interpreter at GSO8. It brings their total request to 401 positions. Mr. Chairman, that’s all I have for AOC.
Sen Wallace: I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? Seeing none. It has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman, item E is the Supreme Court, Act 20 of 2022 authorizing 73 positions. They’re requesting one new title of Supreme Court Human Resource Coordinator at GS12. Similar to AOC’s request, they wish to upgrade 47 titles by two grades to allow for flexibility for growth and to adjust pay to retain personnel. These start on the first page, and they run to the third. They’re requesting two title changes on page three, and requesting one additional position, a Supreme Court Human Resource Coordinator at GS12. That’s the new title they’re requesting. Brings their request to 74 positions and increases the one additional. Mr. Chairman, that’s all I have for Supreme Court.
Sen Wallace: Members, do I have a motion? Do I have a second? I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed.
BLR Staff: Next item is item F. Attorney General’s Office. They’re currently authorized 167 positions, and they’re requesting no change for a total of 167 positions.
Sen Wallace: I have a motion. And I have a second. Do I have anybody opposed? I’m sorry. I got out of line there. All in favor? Now, do I have anybody opposed? And it has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman, item G is the Office of the Land Commissioner, Act 51 of 2022, authorizing 45 positions. They’re requesting a 2% line item maximum increase for all their positions for the first fiscal year of the biennium. They are planning on a 2% increase in the second year. That’d be a total of 4% over the two years. If you look on your report, you’ll see this on the two different columns. That’s a little different than the other reports. And these are catch-up colas for the colas that were given this past spring. There’s no other position– excuse me, request for changes for a total of 45 positions.
Sen Wallace: Members, are there any questions? Do I have a motion? I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? Anyone opposed? Seeing none, it has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman, item H is the Secretary of State’s Office. They’re authorized 162 positions, Act 138 of 2022. They’re requesting a 2% line item max increase for all their positions. They’re requesting these colas because they didn’t ask for any increases last time around. So we’re requesting these as a catch-up. And it’s similar to the Land Commission. Secretary of State has no other changes. Total request of 162 positions. There is a piece of special language. It’s continuing language in Section 15 that allows salary payments to employees who have gotten law enforcement certifications above that of basic certification. It only applies to four titles at their office. And that’s all I have for Secretary of State, Mr. Chair.
Sen Wallace: I have a motion, and I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman. Item I is the Auditor’s Office, Acts 10 and 173 of 2022, authorizing 295 positions. They have a 2% line item max increase for the 17 positions in the Auditor’s Office in the report, and there are no other changes for a total of 295 positions. That’s all I have for them, Mr. Chair. I have a motion. I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman, the Governor’s office is item J. They’re currently authorized 60 positions and they’re requesting no changes for a total of 60. That’s all I have. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it is passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman. Item K is Lieutenant Governor’s office. They’re currently authorized three positions and they’re requesting no changes for a total of three.
Sen Wallace: Members, do I have a motion? I have a motion. I have a second. Any opposed? I’m sorry. All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed.
BLR Staff: Item L is the Office of the Treasurer. They’re currently authorized 35 positions and they are requesting no change for a total of 35.
Sen Wallace: Members, I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman, item N– excuse me– M is the Governor’s Mansion. They’re currently authorized 10 positions. They’re requesting no changes, and that’s a total of 10 positions. Members, I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Any opposed? It has passed.
BLR Staff: Mr. Chairman, we’re at DHS now, and there are two divisions within this section of the packet that will have revised reports. They’re on your desk, and I’ll note these when we get to them. The first division is item N. It’s Administration and Shared Services. They’re currently authorized one position. It’s a secretary position only and there are no other changes. And executive rec provides for this.
Sen Wallace: Members, is there any discussion? Seeing none, do I have a motion? Have a motion. Do I have a second? Members? All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed. Okay, Mr. Angel, go ahead and do N1 through N9 altogether.
BLR Staff: Yes, sir. Item N1 is the secretary’s office. They’re currently authorized 672 positions. They’re requesting a swap pool position. DHS, assistant director for Quality Assurance at GS13. The executive rec provides for this. They have 41 out-of-family reclasses that are recommended. They’re requesting four reclasses that are not. You start on page one, and they’ll go to page three. The office is requesting 13 transfers, 11 out and 2 in to the division. These are all recommended, and they’re on page three. And they go all the way to the end of this section of the report. This brings their request and recommendation to a total of 661 positions. There’s a piece of special language. It’s Section 14, and it’s continuing language that requires the division to undertake an employee survey to determine employee engagement at the State’s Human Development Centers, that’s due the 1st of December of this year. The executive rec provides for this piece of special language. Next division is N2, county operations or county ops. Currently authorized 1,841 positions. They request to not renew and eliminate an MFG position: a DHS DCO Assistant Deputy Director at GS13. The executive recommendation provides for this. County ops requests seven reclasses. The executive rec provides for four out-of-family reclasses only. The division requests 17 transfers, 6 in to the division and 11 out. The executive rec provides for these and county op’s total request is for 1,835 positions and the executive rec is as well. Item N3 is Aging Adult and Behavioral Health Services Division. They’re currently authorized 1,163 positions. If you look at page 10, you’ll see the Division has 13 swap pool positions that they’re requesting. And the executive rec provides for these. On page 11, that’s where the reclasses begin. They run to page 13. The executive rec provides for the 22 out-of-family reclasses only. The division request to transfer six positions out to other divisions and seven in. Executive rec provides for these. After the swap pools and transfers, the division total request is for 1,153 positions. The executive rec is also for 1,153. There are two pieces of special language. Section 14 is continuing language. It allows the division to offer special allowance to three titles. These may include allowances also allowed for UAMS personnel, and these allowances cannot exceed two and a half times that of the authorized salary for that position. It requires approval from the state CEO and review by personnel committee. Executive rec provides for this piece of special language. The next piece is Section 21, it’s continuing language. It allows a specific employees at the state hospital salary adjustments and the set work days per the division director. And it applies to two titles only there, in the pay grid and workdays for teachers at the deaf and blind school, is the template they use for this. The executive rec provides for this piece of special language.
BLR Staff: Next item is N4: Division of Mental Disability Services, or DDS. They’re currently authorized 2,586 positions. If you look on page 18, you’ll see the DDS added seven pool positions in the interim. These were from a 7 for 28 swap. The Executive Rec provides for these. The division is requesting to eliminate 37 positions. You start on page 18 and they go to to page 20. The executive rec provides for these. The next sections of the report has 20 requested reclasses and 307 out-of-family reclasses. Only these out-of-family reclasses are recommended. This begins on page 20, goes all the way to page 36. DDS requests to transfer 3 positions out and 10 positions into the division and the executive rec provides for these. DDS’s request after the swap pool, the eliminated positions and the transfers is for 2,535 positions. The executive rec is also for 2,535. Next division is N5. And this is one of those that has the revised report. If you look on your desk outside of the packet, there was a revision to one of the out-of-family reclasses. Excuse me. And that was the need for the new report was this revision to the out-of-families. They’re currently authorized 211 positions. They have six recommended out-of-family reclasses. Division is requesting, and the executive recommends six transfers: two out and four in to the division. And the executive rec recommended total of the 213 positions. I didn’t give the name of this division. It’s DPSQA, or provider services and quality assurance. Next item is N6: Medical Services currently authorized 103 positions. If you look on page 40 of this section of your packet, division requests one pool position that was granted in March. It’s a DHS DMS business operations manager at GS12. The executive rec provides for this. Medical Services is requesting two reclasses that would be transferred. There are 10 out-of-family reclasses and only these are recommended. Division requests transfer six positions, two in to the division and four out. The executive rec provides for these and these are on page 41. The division total request is for 99 positions, same as the executive rec. There’s a piece of special language, and it’s section 10, it’s continuing language that says tobacco-funded positions can’t continue with non-tobacco funds if they run out unless the General Assembly approves it as well as– appropriated by General Assembly approved by the governor. This information is made available to new and current hires that they’re working in tobacco-funded positions, and the executive rec provides for this agency request for special language.
BLR Staff: Item N7 is Children and Family Services DCFS. They currently authorized 1,389 positions. They received 30 pool positions in the interim. All of these are recommended. If you look on page 43, that’s where they start and they go all the way to the next page. These were granted in October of last year. The executive rec is to eliminate one position, a child abuse and neglect prevention board director, GS07. This position is vacant. There are 21 out-of-family reclasses that are recommended. Those are on page 45 and 46. DCF requests and executive recommends the two transfers into the division. The total request for DCFS is 1,421 positions. The executive rec is for 1,420. The next division is childcare and early childhood. And this is the other division that has the revised report that’s on your desk. For the same reason, has an out-of-family reclass that was revised. They’re currently authorized 181 positions. Division has six recommended out-of-family reclasses and requests three transfers into the division. The executive rec provides for these. The total request and recommendation for the division is 184 positions. Item N9 is Division of Youth Services Act 99. Excuse me–Act 214 of 2022 authorized them 99 positions. Division has two out-of-family reclasses that are recommended. Youth services request to transfer in two with one outgoing. The executive rec provides for this. And division is requested 100 positions, and the executive rec is also for 100. There’s a piece of special language in section 12 and it’s continuing language that allows Division of Youth Services to use up to 320 extra help as contingent positions in the residential services settings. These are governed by the class and compact, and they’re to be used in a non-contracted services situation. And they’re exempt from a limitation of hours. And the executive rec provides for this piece of special language. Mr. Chairman, that’s all I have for DHS.
Sen Wallace: Senator Hammer, you’re recognized, sir.
Sen Hammer: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me start off with staff, if I may, first. On page 11 and 12, on the registered nurses under the Division of Aging Adult Behavioral Health, all those registered nursing positions, are those what they’re requesting, or is that what they’re willing to trade in? Or could you repeat that please?
BLR Staff: Mr. Hammer, I was going to find the report. Could you repeat your question, please?
Sen Hammer: Yes, sir, on page 10, 11, and 12, and it’s on Aging Adult Behavioral Health. All the registered nursing positions that are listed there, are those being reclassified? Or can you just clarify what those are again, please?
BLR Staff: It appears that they are, but I think Kay is ready to answer your question.
Sen Hammer: Okay.
Barnhill (OPM): Yes, Senator Hammer, what they have asked basically here is that we take hospital off the registered nurse title. At this particular time, there’s no grade change, no difference in grade with these requests. So it’s kind of a neutral type action. So we’re good with that.
Sen Hammer: Okay, and by taking the title hospital, you’re talking about the Health Service Center at Benton, or is that the one you’re talking about?
Barnhill (OPM): Yes, sir. That would be in the State hospital. Either one of those two spots would be where those positions are.
Sen Hammer: And would that allow them to use them in other places other than the hospital? Is that kind of the idea behind removing the title?
Barnhill (OPM): Yes, sir.
Sen Hammer: Okay. Could we maybe get the agency at appropriate time, Mr. Chairman?
Sen Wallace: And is there a member from the agency? Mark, how are you today, sir?
White (DHS): I’m good.
Sen Wallace: And if you would please recognize yourself, sir.
White (DHS): Thanks, Senator. Mark White, Department of Human Services. So, Senator Hammer, I can give you– let me give you the brief explanation of that and then actually let Jay introduce himself as well because he can correct me if I misstate anything.
Hill (AABH): Jay Hill, director for Aging Adult Behavioral Health.
White (DHS): So the simple explanation is for reasons that I don’t quite fully understand, historically, there have been two different titles for registered nurses. One is just registered nurse. One is registered nurse hospital. The difference is that one has a higher set of qualifications than the other, even though the grade and the salary are the same. So we’re changing the grades we use within the state hospital and I believe within health center as well. We need to change some of those to just the basic registered nurse to help us in recruiting.
Sen Hammer: All right, so it’s just pretty much clean-up language, but you’re not intending to take nurses away from the state hospital down there or anything like this or just give you a little clean-up?
White (DHS): No, sir. We need more nurses at both state hospital and the health center, so we certainly are not taking any way.
Sen Hammer: Mr. Chairman, can I get one more question? Mr. Chairman, can I get one more question?
Sen Wallace: Yes, sir. Go ahead.
Sen Hammer: Thank you. All the moving around, I’m just curious what the rationale behind it is between eliminating the positions, re-classifying, is it just the traditional trying to move people around to where the greatest need is that? I’m just curious what the overall mindset is of the agency.
White (DHS): Sure, I mean, there are several different explanations as you go through them. There’s some where there’s just issues with the title or trying to switch the title. There are other cases where we have moved positions around between divisions. That’s part of the authority we have to move not only positions, but also appropriation and funding between our divisions with y’all’s permission. And that helps us keep our overall numbers lower because when we have an need in one place, we can fill it from somewhere else and not have to try and have cushion within all our divisions to meet those needs. There are also some areas where we’re trying to do some restructuring. So for example, within the Division of Developmental Disabilities, we had some reclassifications where we’re going to actually increase some grades. And that was tied to two things: one, was we think clinically we can probably use more registered nurses than LPNs. And so we’re going to try and replace some of the LPN titles with RNs. And then also we’re trying to create some positions in the 8 to 10 grades to create a career path for our administrative staff at the Human Development Centers. But of course, those are on hold pending the approval of the next governor. And of course, also we have that workforce study that we’re in the midst of right now from the special language. And so we’re going to work through that, finish through that, see if that changes anything in terms of recommendations. And then we’ll come back to you all in the session with any recommendations.
Sen Hammer: And so when you move a position, does the appropriation move with it automatically?
White (DHS): When we do a resource for allocation, typically we will move the position and the appropriation. Not always, but typically.
Sen Hammer: Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Sen Wallace: You’re welcome, sir. And the chair recognizes Senator Chesterfield.
Sen Chesterfield: Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move we batch N 1 through 9 and move executive rec.
Sen Wallace: I’m going to take that into consideration now, but I have a few more questions up here, Senator Chesterfield. And the chair recognizes my co-chair, Representative Wooten.
Rep Wooten: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Secretary White, we gave you all 109 new positions last session or in the fiscal. Of the 1,704 that show vacant, how many of those are that 109?
White (DHS): Talking about across the agency?
Rep Wooten: Yes.
White (DHS): If I can have my Chief of Human Resources come up and give us a little more detail on that rather than me rely on my memory on that, if I may.
Rep Wooten: Mainly the new positions of 109 work for the child care and adoption so they can team work. I just wondering where we are on that.
White (DHS): Sure. So we had some new positions within Division of County Operations and we made good progress on filling those. They are, I think, almost back to normal staffing with those positions. We’ve made good progress there. We also have new positions within the Division of Children and Family Services, and that one we’ve been working to fill, but those are not totally filled yet.
Rep Wooten: Okay.
Sen Wallace: And sir, if you would announce yourself, please.
Hicks (DHS): Damian Hicks, Chief of Human Resources at DHS. Those we’re currently working on recruitment efforts to fill those. I don’t know an exact number that has been filled, but we can get you that information for those.
Rep Wooten: Okay, well, I want to commend you all for your efforts in that area. I mean, it’s so vital to deal with those foster homes and the adoptions. And I think you all are doing a good job under a difficult situation because of the labor market out there. But of the 1,704, what primarily do they make up, the vacant positions that you have? Is that involved in the state hospital or child services?
White (DHS): We do have quite a few vacancies within our facilities, which would be the Human Development Center, as well as the state hospital, and the health center. Of course, we’re constantly looking for nurses and other clinical staff there. We do have again, vacancies within DCFS where we’re again struggling to get those positions in and get those filled again because of the state of the economy, the state of the labor market, and also just that is just very hard work that we’re asking people to come in and do. Those are the areas where I think we’re having the greatest vacancies. Let me have Damian add to that.
Hicks (DHS): Well, I was going to also say, Director Martin had said right now in DCFS they have around 322 vacancies. But they are having great success in filling a lot of the program assistant positions, which are GS03s right now.
Rep Wooten: Well, following up on Senator Hammer very quickly, you indicated that you’re changing LPN to RNs and we got a shortage with RNs. How do you think that’s going to flow?
White (DHS): Well, I know during the pandemic we actually were having an easier time recruiting RNs than LPNs. That’s not quite as true now as it was, but there was for, I’d say a good year, year and a half there, where we were still having good success bringing RNs there and LPNs were where we were struggling. And so that’s where we started replacing LPNs with RNs. But as we did that, we saw that there were clinical benefits to doing that as well and it was helping us deliver better care. And so that’s what led us to continue those efforts.
Rep Wooten: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Sen Wallace: Yes, sir. Members, I have a motion from Senator Chesterfield to batch item N1 through N9. Do I have a second? I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And it has passed. Thank you, sir. And moving on to Department of Corrections, and Mr. Robinson will do that from right here next to me. Go ahead, Tony.
Robinson (BLR): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Department of Corrections on page one of this is exhibit O. This is their Shared Services division. There are 219 authorized positions. The final executive recommendation is for 217 positions. You’ll see on line eight of page one, there is one continuation of a pool position that they received in the interim. They’re requesting to eliminate one position. You’ll see that on line 14. And then starting on line 20 of page one and going to page two, these are the positions that have been recommended to be reclassified because these are out-of-family reclasses. And Mr. Chairman, this takes them to 217 positions. There is a piece of special language on page three. This is continuation of their existing holiday compensation language. However, the agency had requested to codify this language. The executive recommendation was not to codify the language. Part of that is due to the fact that there are titles and grades in here that may fluctuate over time. Also, this provides the agency the ability to pay employees for their unused holiday pay and allows employees to bank some of their holiday pay up to 150 hours. Excuse me. Now, there’s one more piece of special language on page five. This is where the agency is wanting to take existing language from the Division of Corrections and the Division of Community Correction, merge them together, and then move them up into their Shared Services Division. So it’s the same language that exists currently, but it shows as underlying and new because they’re wanting to move it to their Shared Services Division. We also see on page seven that there’s is a revised executive recommendation. This is a technical correction for the title to the left of where you see that handwritten that secretary admin assistant. That’s not the right title for that class code. It should be an administrative specialist three. With that, Mr. Chairman, we go on to exhibit O1. This is on page nine. This is for the Department of Correction, Parole Board Division. They have no requests, so they’re staying at 22 positions total.
Robinson (BLR): The next item is O2. This is on page 10. This is the Arkansas Sentencing Commission. They currently have three authorized positions. They’re staying at three. There was one out-of-family reclass that’s been recommended for this agency. Going on to page 11. Exhibit O3. We’re with the Division of Correction. They currently have 4,591 authorized positions. They’ll be going to 4,529 positions. Starting on line eight, you’ll see three pool positions that are being continued. These were given to them in the interim. And then starting on line 16 of page 11 and going through the end of page 14, these are transferred positions that are being transferred out to the Division of Community Correction. That takes them to 4,529 positions. And then if you go to page 15, this is the language that we saw that was being rolled up into the Division of– excuse me, the Shared Services Division at the Department of Correction. And so we would be eliminating this language. And the executive recommendation does provide for moving this up to the Shared Services Division. Moving on to page 18. This language is continuing language, with the exception of a name change. We’re also moving this language up to the Shared Services Division. The language will remain the same. It’s just being moved. That’s on page 18. Moving on to item O4. This is on page 19. This is the Division of Community Correction. The authorized positions currently are 1,467. They’ll be going to 1,540 under the executive recommendation. Starting on page eight, you will see 10 additional positions that were requested. However, these were denied under that blanket denial by the Executive Branch. Starting on page 20– excuse me, line 23, you’ll see pool positions that were granted to them in the interim. They’re requesting for these to continue. The executive has provided for that. That goes through page 20. Moving on, page 21, you have the transfer of positions that are coming in to the Department of Community Correction from the Division of Correction. That takes us through to page 25, where we have holiday compensation pay. They’re rolling this up. Also putting under 9903 shared services under the Department of Corrections. The language will still exist. It will just be in a different place. That’s page 25. Going on to page 27. This is like the previous page. It’s being rolled up under Shared Services and Department of Correction. It will still exist, just in a different place. And same as on page 28, same as the previous language. It’s being eliminated here because it’s being moved up into a different area, in a different business area. Mr. Chairman, that’s all I have for the Department of Correction.
Sen Wallace: Members, do I have any questions? Seeing none, do I have a motion? I have a motion. Do I have a second? I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? This has passed. Thank you. And moving on to Department of Education.
Mercado (BLR): Thank you, Mr. Chair. Angelica Mercado, Bureau of Legislative Research. We are in Exhibit P, Department of Education, Administration and Shared Services on page one. They currently have 75 authorized positions. They requested five new classifications, but the exec rec did not provide for this request. They also requested additional positions, and again, the exec rec did not provide for that request. They received one position from the growth pool during the interim and executive rec provides for this one. The agency also requested a reclassification of 14 positions. However, it was also not provided by the exec rec. Lastly, the agency received nine positions transferred from other agencies from within the Department: two are from Career Ed, and the rest from the Department of Education. The exec rec provides for these requests. The net effect of these changes will increase the number of total authorized positions of 9 from 75 to 84. They also have a piece of special language on page four. The special language asks for the continuation of the establishment of a position pool of no more than five information tech positions, a continuation of the pool of 10 general salaries positions at up to a grade GS15. Any growth pool positions requested to continue through FY 2023/2024 must be requested as new positions in the agency’s budget request. Exec rec provides for the agency’s request for this special language. Moving on to the Martin Luther King Commission on page seven. They are currently at four authorized positions and they have no changes and will remain at four. Next is the Department of Education General Ed, page eight. They currently have 326 authorized positions. They requested four new classifications, but the exec rec did not provide for this. They also requested a grade change on line 17, but that was also not provided. They also received one position from the growth pool during the interim and exec rec provides for this request. They also requested a reclassification of 26 positions. However, they did not provide for this request. Lastly, the agency transferred seven positions to Shared Services and the Exec rec provides for that request. The net effect of these changes will decrease the number of total authorized positions of seven through 320.
Mercado (BLR): Moving on to page 11. That is the Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation. It currently has 31 authorized positions. They requested four new classifications and they also requested for a grade change request on line 17, but neither one of these, the exec rec provided for this request. There are no changes to the total authorized position and they will remain at 31. Exec rec provides for the agency’s request. Moving on to page 12 is the Public School Fund. You currently have 52 authorized positions. The agency requested four new classifications on lines 9 through 12. The exec rec does not provide for this request. They also requested a grade change for nutritionist consultant from GS08 to GS09. However, the exec rec did not provide for that. They also received one position from the growth pool during the interim and the exec rec provided for this request. The net effect of these changes will increase the number of authorized positions of 1 from 52 to 53. Moving on to the School of the Blind, page 14. They currently have 98 authorized positions. They requested six additional positions, but the exec rec did not provide for that. They also requested a reclassification of positions on lines 20 and 22. The exec rec provides for these requests due to them being out-of-family reclasses. The net effect of these changes will stay at 98. The agency has four pieces of special language that is being requested for continuation. First one is on page 16. Employees in the classification listed who work in the summer shall be authorized additional compensation an amount not to exceed one twelfth of their annual salary for each of the month worked. The second piece of special language is on page 17. This language allows that the salary of teachers may be adjusted to rate of pay closest to the annual salary they would have received from their previous employer upon employment at School for the Blind. Next, on page 18, language states that if the General Assembly provides public school districts with teacher raises, the School for the Blind shall be included.
Mercado (BLR): And lastly on page 19, employees in the classification listed as authorized by the School of the Blind to adjust current or new employees to at least the minimum level of compensation for public school employees. The school may also implement salary adjustments to maintain equity between their teachers’ salaries and those of the Central Arkansas Public School System. The exec rec provides for the agency’s request for the Special Language. Moving on to the School for the Deaf. They currently have 150 authorized positions. They requested four additional positions, but did not get that request. They also requested three classifications of positions on page 21, line 18, page 22, line six. The exec rec does provide for six of these positions due to them being out-of-family reclasses. The net effect of these changes will stay the same at 150 positions. The agency has three pieces of special language starting on page 23. Those who work in the summer shall be authorized additional compensation not to exceed one twelfth of their annual salary. The next one is very similar to School of the Blind, which states that the salary of their teachers may be adjusted to a rate closest to the annual salary they would have received upon implement at School for the Deaf. And then the last one is on page 25. It is implementing salary adjustments to maintain equity between their teacher’s salaries and those of the Central Arkansas Public School System. Exec rec provides for the agency’s request for the special language. Moving on to the State Library. They currently have 49 authorized positions. They requested nine reclassifications, however, exec rec did not provide for this request and will remain at 49. Next up is Northwest Tech on page 28. They requested one new classification on page 28 and the exec rec did not provide for this. They also requested additional positions and again exec rec did not provide for that. They did request a reclassification to 41 positions starting on page 29 through page 31. The exec rec does not provide for these requests with the exception of a computer support analyst to career and tech faculty on page 29, line six. This is due to it being out-of-family reclass. The net effect of these changes will keep the number of total authorized positions at 81.
Mercado (BLR): Next one is on page 32, which is Career Education. They currently have 44 authorized positions. They requested a title change from an ACE deputy director Career Tech ed to an ACE director Career and Tech ed. The executive rec does provide for this request. They also received two positions from the growth pool during the interim, and the executive recommendation provides for this. Lastly, the agency transferred two positions to admin services. The exec rec provides for these. The net effect of these changes will keep the total number of authorized positions at 44. And lastly, I have Higher Ed on page 33. They currently have 47 authorized positions. They requested one grade change. However, the exec rec did not provide for this. They received four positions from the growth pool and one MFG position during the interim, and executive recommendation provides for this request. Lastly, the agency requested 10 reclassifications that the exec rec did not provide for this. The net effect of these changes will increase the number of total authorized positions from 47 to 52. And that is all I have for Department of Education.
Sen Wallace: Thank you. Members, are there any questions? And chair recognizes my co-chair, Representative Wooten.
Rep Wooten: Ms. Barnhill, how many new positions are they requesting out there total? Just a total new positions. Do what?
Barnhill (OPM): Excuse me. Representative Wooten, I didn’t bring that with me today.
Rep Wooten: Is that department here?
Sen Wallace: If you would recognize yourself, sir– announce yourself, rather.
Lennett (ADE: Talitha Lennett , Department of Education. Human Resources.
Rogers (ADE): Greg Rogers, Department of Education.
Rep Wooten: Can you all share with us how many new positions you’re requesting?
Rogers (ADE): I don’t know that we have the total of new positions that we requested.
Rep Wooten: You come to a personnel committee meeting and you don’t have–
Rogers (ADE): It wasn’t that many, because most of them– I think it was three pool positions that we just asked for continuation. But most of what we’re asking for is just to change job titles or class codes on most of our positions.
Rep Wooten: Well, some of them show four or five or six positions.
Sen Wallace: 17.
Rep Wooten: 17?
Sen Wallace: We have a document here that says 17.
Robinson (BLR): Mr. Chairman, if you just add up the additional positions requested in the document that Ms. Mercado just went through, just the additional positions requested, all of those were denied by the executive. There’s 17 additional positions. That doesn’t account for things they received in the interim, the reclassifications. If you’re just asking about truly additional positions that don’t exist yet, there were 17 requested with none of them recommended.
Rep Wooten: Well, let me ask you a question. Why are you increasing 17 new positions when you got 224 positions over there that are vacant and 43%, 96 of those are over two years old? So why are you requesting new positions when you got positions that you can reclassify?
Rogers (ADE): I would have to see which division we’re requesting those in, whether it was at Higher Ed, Northwest Technical, because if you take it all in the total, then it does– I don’t know. So I need to look at which ones we’re talking about, which one we’re asking.
Rep Wooten: I don’t understand coming to a personnel committee meeting and not being able to answer the questions. And I don’t understand why you’re asking for 17 new positions when you got 224 vacant. Can’t they reclassify some of those 224 to fulfill–
Lennett (ADE: Some of those positions that are two years or older are lower grade, grades two, three’s, and four’s, and some of the reclass are to allow for flexibility, for growth [crosstalk].
Rep Wooten: What about the 17? What I’m asking is, why can’t you reclassify some of the 224 total vacancies that you have vacant? And then on top of that, you got 43% or 96 of the 224 that are already vacant. I don’t understand why we come in and ask for new positions when we got empty positions that we’re not filling or not using. Why can’t you reclassify those, change up the pay grade, and not add to the already bloated situation over there with 224 vacancies?
Rogers (ADE): And that’s why we were agreeing with the executive recommendations. Some of the stuff that we were requesting were grades that we were asking for new grades, new positions in them, because the old grades–
Rep Wooten: I realize that, but you’re asking for 17 new positions. You’re not answering my question. Why don’t you use the other positions?
Rogers (ADE): I’m trying, sir. We are going to use those positions. With the proposal that OPM put forward with the new pay plan, we are going to use the positions that we exist have to try to make it fit where we were. Before that, we were trying to increase the salaries because some of those positions have people in them that are topped out, that we can’t recruit. We have an internal audit position that I can’t get anyone to apply for because that position is classified too low. But we are going to with– the proposal that OPM put forth, try to use that proposal, our existing positions, and see if we can get those positions taken care of.
Rep Wooten: All right. You understand where I’m coming from?
Rogers (ADE): Yes, sir.
Rep Wooten: Okay. Thank you.
Sen Wallace: Kay, I have a question. If I understand right, the executive did not recommend approval of these positions, right?
Barnhill (OPM): The executive did not recommend any additional positions for any departments at this time. We anticipate we may be coming back to you later with some new recommendations after we meet with the new administration. And if they have some changes they want to approve, we may come back.
Sen Wallace: I’m going to repeat what I think I heard you say: I know you are asking for these, but since the executive branch is not approve, then it’s a moot point.
Rogers (ADE): Correct.
Barnhill (OPM): That’s correct.
Rep Wooten: All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Sen Wallace: Senator, Hammer. Sir, you’re recognized.
Sen Hammer: Thank you, Mr. Chair. A couple of questions. One of the things you just mentioned, Greg, and I just want to see if I’m clear on something. So through the interim, you all come through and ask for positions in the interim, correct?
Rogers (ADE): Yes, sir.
Sen Hammer: Okay. How do we identify the numbers that you’ve been awarded since the last budget hearings that we had a couple of years ago or even back during the fiscal because I’d like to kind of know if you had 200 positions at the beginning, two years going through the interim, you added another 20. And then you come now and you’re asking for, say, another 20, just using rounded-off numbers. How would I know what we’ve given you over the last two years from where we started? Or Kay could maybe answer that.
Barnhill (OPM): Yes, sir. For example, if you look at page 1 of 34, you look at the bottom on line 24, you will see their growth pool positions. So for each division of education, we’ve identified any growth pool positions that they have established. And that would hold true for every division that has established a growth pool position.
Sen Hammer: All right, so there’s 10– would there be 10 growth pool positions? Is that what you’re saying? I’m looking at page 34.
Barnhill (OPM): You’re looking at page 34. Let me get on the same page with you.
Sen Hammer: Or whatever number you want me to look at.
Barnhill (OPM): Okay. I was looking at page one, and there’s just one growth pool position. If you look down here, you’ll see at the bottom on line 26, we established a state systems architect for the Department of Education throughout this biennium. And that’s going to hold true for every department that’s been through here. We identify all the growth pool or MFG positions, so you’ll be aware of which positions we added during the interim.
Sen Hammer: Okay. And then the other question would be this. There’s a difference of opinion between the administrative branch and yourselves or this agency, okay. Would it just be too laborous of a task that if you ask for a position, or am I just missing it, is there an explanation in here written as to why you want those particular positions, or am I just missing it here? Instead of coming up and verbally doing it, is there anything in writing that shows justification from the agency as to why they want that position?
Lennett (ADE: Yes, we do provide a justification to OPM for those positions.
Sen Hammer: Where is that in our handout, Kay? Where am I missing it?
Barnhill (OPM): Senator Hammer, we don’t present that. We just give you the summary reports. Any departments that requested additional positions or reclassifications are required to submit questionnaires or charts or various things that we need to look at to look at the validity of those. I hate to say the validity. Make sure we agree with those particular requests. This time, so many requests came through that were for higher grades, and it was determined that most of these were pay plan related. So that’s why we brought the pay plan proposal to you and decided to hold on any upgrades or reclasses until that particular issue is decided.
Sen Hammer: Okay. All right, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Sen Wallace: Members, are there any other questions? Seeing none, I would like to batch items P1 through P8. Do I have a motion for that? I have a motion, and I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? And that has passed. Thank you. Moving on to item Q. Members, I meant to include all items in P, which would be 1 through 8. So let’s do a revote very quickly. All in favor of items one through eight? Any opposed? It has passed, again. Thank you. Moving to item Q.
Mercado (BLR): Item Q is AETN. They currently have 102 authorized positions. The agency requested one new classification on page one, line nine, but the exec rec did not provide for this request. They also requested 14 title changes, and the exec rec does provide for all of these. The net effect of these changes will keep the total number of authorized positions to 102. They have two pieces of special language that they are requesting for continuation. The first one is on page three, and it states to allow a maximum of five extra help positions, temporary or part-time positions, when needed at a pay, not to exceed those in a class and comp act, and they are exempt from a limitation of hours. The next piece of special language is on page four, and it states to allow a maximum of 46 extra help positions when needed at a pay not to exceed those in a class and comp act. These positions are related to specific projects and are exempt from limitations of hours either by act or by regulation. The exec rec provides for the agency’s request for the special language. And that’s all I have, Mr. Chair.
Sen Wallace: Members, first of all, are there any questions? And seeing none, I have a motion. And I have a second. All in favor? Any opposed? That has passed. Members, is there any other business? Seeing none, members, we are adjourned.