Senate Bill S8209

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8209

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to directing the president of the state civil service
commission to conduct a study on job vacancies across state agencies

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

Directs the president of the state civil service commission to conduct a
study on job vacancies across state agencies.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 directs the president of the State Civil Service Commission to
conduct a comprehensive study on the number of job vacancies within
state agencies to determine which agencies are currently understaffed.

Section 2 defines the scope of the study.

Section 3 authorizes the president of the State Civil Service Commission
              

to request, receive, and utilize resources and data from all state agen-
cies as is necessary to conduct this study.

Section 4 requires the president of the State Civil Service Commission
to report the result of this study within one year of the law's effec-
tive date.

Section 5 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Legislators throughout New York State have heard repeated reports of
agencies being significantly understaffed - from agency employees them-
selves struggling to complete their necessary duties with smaller
numbers of co-workers and from constituents trying desperately to
contact these agencies to discuss vital issues ranging from applying for
licenses, to begin their careers to obtaining financial assistance after
income loss, and everything in between. Indeep, constituents have even
reported making weekly phone calls to agendisqor months at a time with-
out any sort of response. Without adequate staffing, our State agencies
cannot fulfill the crucial responsibilities they have in serving New
Yorkers, and without data as to these vacancies, we cannot successfully
address these substantial shortages.

This study would empirically establish the vacancies in our State agen-
cies as well as make recommendations to more successfully fill these
vacancies. This data is crucial to fix the problem of substantial worker
shortages with which our State agencies are currently struggling.

Despite volumes of anecdotal data, obtaining specific information about
the numbers of unfulfilled positions has been difficult to find. Nota-
bly, the limited data we do have indicates a significant problem. The
FY22-23 Executive Budget estimated 182,230 full-time employees as of
March 31, 2022, but the Department of Budget's Mid-Year Update in Novem-
ber 2022 shows that the actual count was 169,340 - almost 13,000 employ-
ees short. This data appears to be the most specific information avail-
able without tasking each agency head to perform their own internal
assessment. A study led by the president of the State Civil Service
Commission will streamline such inquiry and ensure compliance across all
agencies, which will allow for holistic, universal - and not piecemeal
solutions to the State's worker shortage.

 
PRIOR HISTORY:

2024: Same Bill (A.3236A/Lunsford) Died in Ways & Means

2023: Similar Bill (A.3236/Lunsford) Died in Ways & Means

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.