BILL ANALYSIS C.S.S.B. 879 By: Barrientos Intergovernmental Relations 05-10-95 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND Cities with significant diverse populations have been limited by Chapter 143, Local Government Code (State Civil Service Law), in meeting demands of diverse constituencies to hire a diverse professional fire department. Specifically, the law is inflexible and out-moded for use by modern urban Texas cities. Currently, the law qualifies applicants for fire department positions through the use of a test. The law requires employment to be offered to the applicant with the highest score, thus creating a ranking of qualified applicants. While most will agree the test is "fair", the use of the scores to establish a ranking is unfair to minorities and women who score well above minimum but are not amount the highest scoring. While the law establishes a minimum standard of 70 for employment, cities are permitted to hire only the highest ranking. Cities and constituents would be better served by assigning the civil service test as one factor among several job related factors to be considered in employing a qualified workforce. Constituents argue testing alone would not be the sole criteria by the state for hiring, nor should testing alone create a ranking, but rather other factors should be included such as an assessment interview, job-related physical ability, and a background check. Historically, numerous state civil service cities have been successfully sued for discrimination by minority constituencies. Theses cities relied upon Chapter 143 as it is currently written to achieve a balanced workforce, however the current structure of the law resulted in defacto exclusion of minorities and women. These civil service cities have been compelled to enter into consent decrees to remedy the shortcomings of the current law. The cost of defending these law suits has been carried by the local taxpayers. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.S.B. 879 authorizes a municipality with a population of 250,000 or more to implement a program that ensures that the composition of the fire department reflects the demographic composition of the municipality. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 143F, Local Government Code, by adding Section 143.090, as follows: Sec. 143.090. LOCAL CONTROL OF WORKFORCE COMPOSITION IN CERTAIN FIRE DEPARTMENTS. (a) Provides that this section applies only to a municipality with a population of 250,000 or more. (b) Authorizes a municipality with the approval of the recognized employee association to implement a program to ensure that the composition of the workforce of the paid firefighters in its fire department represents the demographic composition of the residents of the municipality. (c) Requires the governing body of the municipality to ensure that the requirements imposed by an implemented program are not lower than the requirements set by this chapter for the appointment or promotion of a paid firefighter. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage.