Lege's GOPers hide from public to prepare next salvo against state workers

The Arizona Capitol Times has a story up, written by Luige del Puerto (subscription required) about how the GOP members of the Arizona Senate went behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss the ways they plan to remove Arizona's few employment protections for state workers.

Among the "highlights" of the scheme, which is pretty much the same as a scheme she pushed at the end of the 2011 legislative session -

- Removal of merit protection for state employees.  All would serve at the governor's pleasure, essentially turning the state government into one giant nest of patronage and corruption.

- Current employees would still enjoy some protections - until they wanted a pay raise or a change in duties.  To get either, employees would have to waive their protections.

- Supervisors and new employees would have no protections at all, starting immediately.

- The appeals process for employment related decisions and actions would be "streamlined", to put it mildly.  In addition to all-but-eliminating appeals within the state's personnel system, employees who thought a disciplinary action was"capricious" or "arbritrary" would no longer be able to take the matter to superior court.

Combined with their all out attack on the unions representing the state's public sector employees, including teachers, police, and firefighters, the Republicans are set up to turn the state's government employment system into their private "profit center".

Something tells me that when and if the Rs get their way, anybody who wants a state job will be "encouraged" to proffer the appropriate political bribes contributions, or maybe slip the right lobbyist a little brown bag.


Look for the Rs in the lege and Jan Brewer to work out a deal on how to best eviscerate the state's employees..."best" for the Rs anyway...