AB 455 Vetoed

On July 25, 2011, Governor Brown vetoed AB 455.  AB 455 would have given unions the power to appoint half the members of civil service commisions and personnel boards.  The Governor provided the following veto message:

To the Members of the Califomia State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 455 without my signature.  This bill prescribes how all local merit or personnel commission members should be appointed.  It requires that half of the members be selected by the employer and half by largest employee bargaining unit.  While intended to create more balanced commissions and address concerns relating to individual commissions, this measure imposes a top down, one-size-fits-all solution on all merit and personal commissions statewide.  This measure seeks to impose a level of state control that is inconsistent with my administration's efforts to realign state services and to increase local control. Concerns relating to specific commissions should be addressed on a case-by-case basis at the local level.