WFSE/AFSCME BILL TO ELIMINATE WASHINGTON MANAGEMENT SERVICE GETS GOOD RESPONSE IN HOUSE HEARING

The Federation-initiated bill (HB 2049) to eliminate the Washington Management Service came to a simple question posed by its prime sponsor at a hearing Friday in the House State Government and Tribal Affairs Committee.

“Is WMS now serving the needs which we originally started out to assign it?” asked Rep. Larry Seaquist of the 26th District.

WMS was created in 1993 to give the state some flexibility in the hiring of managers. But it’s lost its way, Seaquist said. Many WMS positions have been created for technical, not managerial, skills, he said.

His intent in sponsoring the bill is to “radically downsize” the managerial corps and take a “serious whack at the numbers here.”

WMS started out with just 400 positions, and now has 4,609 positions. It has decreased from a high of about 5,312 in 2003.

Mike Sellars of the Department of Personnel opposed the bill because Gov. Gregoire has taken steps to cut its size. By 2006, 1,100 management positions, the bulk in WMS, had been trimmed, he said. In 2005, WMS made up 9.2 percent of state employees; that’s now 7.5 percent, he said.

“This legislation is not necessary,” Sellars said.

Dennis Eagle, the Federation’s director of legislative and political action, called WMS “modern-day patronage” and it’s time for it to go.

“There have been over the years repeated attempts to reform the Washington Management Service and it’s our belief that none have really succeeded…,” Eagle said.

“As it was originally intended, there would be an opportunity to create a core of professional managers. But our experience has been too often it’s simply an opportunity to circumvent regular civil service rules and grant promotions and salaries to select employees above and beyond what you would be able to do otherwise.

“We believe the time has come to put the Washington Management Service back on the shelf and maybe we try something else in the future.”

HB 2049 would also make it easier to get information on bonuses and other special pay granted to WMS and exempt managers, Eagle said.

Ecology members recently did a study of WMS pay, but getting the information was not easy.

The bill would require twice-yearly reports on the number of classified and non-classified employees and the number and cost of special pay.

The bill would also make it harder for agencies to convert vacant classified positions to exempt and WMS positions.