The finally tally is in for the Yee-haws. We had 14 bills signed into law (and 4 vetoed) in 2008 and 25 chaptered in the two-year session.
Highlights since Tuesday:
Illegal Taxicabs Hit Dead End with New Law
Local Bills Vetoed by Governor
Bill to Ease Bay Area Traffic, Reduce Auto Pollution Vetoed by Governor
Governor Leaves Whistleblowers Vulnerable with ‘Cut and Paste’ Veto
Yee’s bill to protect public employees who report waste, fraud, and abuse vetoed by Schwarzenegger
SACRAMENTO – Despite bipartisan support, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) vetoed legislation to increase and better define the legal rights of state whistleblowers – public employees who report waste, fraud or abuse within state agencies. Among a number of reforms, Senate Bill 1505 would have cut down on the length of administrative hearings, resulting in considerable savings for whistleblowers and taxpayers.
“State employees have a fundamental right to report without retaliation instances of waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), the bill’s author. “Without whistleblowers, government works in a vacuum and is often not accountable to the people it is supposed to serve. With his veto, the Governor has left whistleblowers vulnerable to years of administrative hearings at the expense of themselves and taxpayers.”
The Governor did not provide a policy reason for his veto, but instead gave the same message he has used for several of his vetoes, “The historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year’s legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time.”
The veto is disheartening for whistleblowers like Ruby Cornejo and Michelle Dille, who had a combined 66 years of experience within the Department of Social Services (DSS) when they openly criticized a lax policy on criminal background checks for foster parents and childcare and senior home licensees, which they argued risked the lives of already vulnerable citizens.
The vocal criticism didn’t sit well with the department’s management. Cornejo and Dille reported their criticisms to the Bureau of State Audits in January 2003, only to consequently be retaliated against by their superiors. According to Cornejo and Dille, they faced four years of “continuous and unabated hostilities, harassment, and retaliation from DSS management.”
The response from DSS management is a clear violation of the California Whistleblower Protection Act, which is designed to protect civil servants from improper retaliation or intimidation and is supposed to provide a timely review and resolution of complaints regarding “waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violation of law, or threat to public health and safety.”
However, the State Personnel Board has still not reviewed or resolved the cases, and Cornejo and Dille have faced combined legal costs of approximately $500,000. As a result, Senator Yee introduced SB 1505.
The cases of Cornejo and Dille are apparently not isolated cases. According to the State Personnel Board’s report to the Governor and Legislature, of the 106 whistleblower retaliation complaints accepted by the Board between 2003 and 2005, none were resolved in favor of the complainant within the year they were submitted. 58 of the complaints were denied, 5 resulted in a “stipulated agreement” and 42 were “still pending.”
“Not only do these delays result in unfair costs to whistleblowers, but they also result in burdens to the state, and in essence, render the current California Whistleblower Protection Act useless,” said Yee. “It is our duty to ensure whistleblowers are protected and that their contentions receive prompt and impartial investigations. SB 1505 would have allowed public servants, without reservation, to best serve the residents of California.”
Yee’s bill would have eliminated the unnecessary and duplicative “notice of findings” process; limited hearings to 10 hearing days, not to be extended absent good cause; entitled the State and the injured party to seek reimbursement for their expenses, costs, and attorney fees when liability is established; and provided protections for former employees, not just current employees.
“If California is serious about having people play a vital part in the continuing exposure and correction of government abuses, it must provide the credible protections that will allow whistleblowers to come forward with some confidence,” said Terry Francke, General Counsel for Californians Aware. “There is no greater deterrent to a potential whistleblower than the example of an actual whistleblower who experienced disaster in speaking out.”
Yee has already committed to introducing legislation in the next legislative session to protect whistleblowers at the University of California. Components of SB 1505 may be incorporated into that bill.
Highlights since Tuesday:
Illegal Taxicabs Hit Dead End with New Law
Local Bills Vetoed by Governor
Bill to Ease Bay Area Traffic, Reduce Auto Pollution Vetoed by Governor
Governor Leaves Whistleblowers Vulnerable with ‘Cut and Paste’ Veto
Yee’s bill to protect public employees who report waste, fraud, and abuse vetoed by Schwarzenegger
SACRAMENTO – Despite bipartisan support, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Los Angeles) vetoed legislation to increase and better define the legal rights of state whistleblowers – public employees who report waste, fraud or abuse within state agencies. Among a number of reforms, Senate Bill 1505 would have cut down on the length of administrative hearings, resulting in considerable savings for whistleblowers and taxpayers.
“State employees have a fundamental right to report without retaliation instances of waste, fraud, and abuse,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), the bill’s author. “Without whistleblowers, government works in a vacuum and is often not accountable to the people it is supposed to serve. With his veto, the Governor has left whistleblowers vulnerable to years of administrative hearings at the expense of themselves and taxpayers.”
The Governor did not provide a policy reason for his veto, but instead gave the same message he has used for several of his vetoes, “The historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year’s legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time.”
The veto is disheartening for whistleblowers like Ruby Cornejo and Michelle Dille, who had a combined 66 years of experience within the Department of Social Services (DSS) when they openly criticized a lax policy on criminal background checks for foster parents and childcare and senior home licensees, which they argued risked the lives of already vulnerable citizens.
The vocal criticism didn’t sit well with the department’s management. Cornejo and Dille reported their criticisms to the Bureau of State Audits in January 2003, only to consequently be retaliated against by their superiors. According to Cornejo and Dille, they faced four years of “continuous and unabated hostilities, harassment, and retaliation from DSS management.”
The response from DSS management is a clear violation of the California Whistleblower Protection Act, which is designed to protect civil servants from improper retaliation or intimidation and is supposed to provide a timely review and resolution of complaints regarding “waste, fraud, abuse of authority, violation of law, or threat to public health and safety.”
However, the State Personnel Board has still not reviewed or resolved the cases, and Cornejo and Dille have faced combined legal costs of approximately $500,000. As a result, Senator Yee introduced SB 1505.
The cases of Cornejo and Dille are apparently not isolated cases. According to the State Personnel Board’s report to the Governor and Legislature, of the 106 whistleblower retaliation complaints accepted by the Board between 2003 and 2005, none were resolved in favor of the complainant within the year they were submitted. 58 of the complaints were denied, 5 resulted in a “stipulated agreement” and 42 were “still pending.”
“Not only do these delays result in unfair costs to whistleblowers, but they also result in burdens to the state, and in essence, render the current California Whistleblower Protection Act useless,” said Yee. “It is our duty to ensure whistleblowers are protected and that their contentions receive prompt and impartial investigations. SB 1505 would have allowed public servants, without reservation, to best serve the residents of California.”
Yee’s bill would have eliminated the unnecessary and duplicative “notice of findings” process; limited hearings to 10 hearing days, not to be extended absent good cause; entitled the State and the injured party to seek reimbursement for their expenses, costs, and attorney fees when liability is established; and provided protections for former employees, not just current employees.
“If California is serious about having people play a vital part in the continuing exposure and correction of government abuses, it must provide the credible protections that will allow whistleblowers to come forward with some confidence,” said Terry Francke, General Counsel for Californians Aware. “There is no greater deterrent to a potential whistleblower than the example of an actual whistleblower who experienced disaster in speaking out.”
Yee has already committed to introducing legislation in the next legislative session to protect whistleblowers at the University of California. Components of SB 1505 may be incorporated into that bill.
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Attention all CA State whistleblowers:
Please go to www.whistlebusters.org. If you are interested in obtaining more information or would like to other whistleblowers, write to the email address listed.
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