Relates to unclassified civil service of the state; authorizes the Syracuse Hancock International Airport to hire and promote employees on a permanent basis.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7657A
SPONSOR: Magnarelli TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to unclassified civil
service of the state; and authorizing the Syracuse Hancock International
Airport to hire and promote employees on a permanent basis
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Authorizes Syracuse Regional Airport Authority to permanently hire for
critical aviation positions without the need to hire provisionally.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Directs the Civil Service Commission to place select aviation
positions for the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority into unclassified
service. The new section authorizes the Syracuse Regional Airport
Authority to hire permanently for critical aviation positions without
the need to hire provisionally. The following positions eligible
include: chief operations officer, chief financial officer, chief
commercial officer, deputy chief operations officer, director of person-
nel and labor relations, director of information technology, director of
facilities, director of business development, duty manager, manager of
airfield maintenance, manager of terminal services, airport operations
manager, finance manager, environmental, health and safety manager,
assistant manager of terminal services, airport security manager, secu-
rity and badging specialist, airport operations worker, airport communi-
cations center supervisor, airport communications center specialist,
aviation project officer, airport planner I, airport planner II, airport
project engineer, airport police chief, airport police captain, airport
police sergeant, airport police officer, and aviation contracting offi-
cer.
Section 2: Adds language to the civil service law allowing positions to
be placed in the unclassified service.
Section 3: Establishes a hold harmless provision for existing employees.
Section 4: Establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Hiring in the field of aviation is a very competitive and specialized.
There is a finite pool of qualified candidates nationwide to fill these
highly technical positions. In recent years, the New York State Civil
Service system has made it very difficult for New York airports to hire
aviation professionals. Current Civil Service rules only allow a person
to be hired "provisionally" for a position until they take and pass the
appropriate civil service exam. However, exams for a given position may
take years before being offered. Even then, if a person takes the test
and does not score in the "top-3" they will be out of a job despite
having years of good performance.
This system makes it extremely difficult for the Syracuse Regional
Airport Authority to recruit and retain talent. Potential candidates are
often moving from different parts of the country and will not uproot
their families and careers for a "provisional" position. The net effect
is that critical positions are going unfilled, negatively impacting
airport operations.
This legislation seeks to remedy this issue by reclassifying specialized
aviation positions to the unclassified service. This will put the Syra-
cuse Regional Airport Authority on an even competitive field with other
airports in the United States and allow them to attract top talent to
the State.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7657--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 31, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MAGNARELLI -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Committee on
Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to unclassified civil
service of the state; and authorizing the Syracuse Hancock Interna-
tional Airport to hire and promote employees on a permanent basis
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The civil service commission is hereby directed to place
2 the following Syracuse Regional Airport Authority titles in the unclas-
3 sified service: chief operations officer, chief financial officer,
4 chief commercial officer, deputy chief operations officer, director of
5 personnel and labor relations, director of information technology,
6 director of facilities, director of business development, duty manager,
7 manager of airfield maintenance, manager of terminal services, airport
8 operations manager, finance manager, environmental, health and safety
9 manager, assistant manager of terminal services, airport security manag-
10 er, security and badging specialist, airport operations worker, airport
11 communications center supervisor, airport communications center special-
12 ist, aviation project officer, airport planner I, airport planner II,
13 airport project engineer, airport police chief, airport police captain,
14 airport police sergeant, airport police officer, and aviation contract-
15 ing officer. All such positions shall be placed in the unclassified
16 service no later than December 31, 2025.
17 § 2. Section 35 of the civil service law is amended by adding a new
18 subdivision (l) to read as follows:
19 (l) All persons employed by the Syracuse regional airport authority in
20 a title enumerated in the chapter of the laws of two thousand twenty-
21 four that added this subdivision.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10785-09-4
A. 7657--A 2
1 § 3. Nothing in this act shall result in the displacement of a perma-
2 nently or provisionally appointed employee holding one of the affected
3 titles as of the effective date of this act, nor shall seniority, health
4 benefits, or any other benefits awarded to employees pursuant to the
5 civil service law or the retirement and social security law be affected
6 by the provisions of this act, provided that any person holding provi-
7 sional or otherwise non-permanent appointment may be eligible for perma-
8 nent appointment at the discretion of the appointing authority.
9 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
