News Briefs

One of the decisions we will all have to make (again!) in the near future on the statewide ballot, is whether California should return to a part-time legislature. Some states have never gone to a full-time legislature, as California did in the early 1960s. Texas (a big state), Oregon and Nevada, for instance, all meet every two years.

States which have a part-time legislature encourage more of a ‘citizen legislator’ (i.e. not many lawyers!) – those states do not pay their elected officials very much either. By comparison, the California Legislature comprises of over 60 percent lawyers and their total pay, including per diem, is more than $200,000 a year.

The size of the legislature is also a concern: the Speaker of the Assembly has over 200 people working for him. In part-time states, they have very few staff.

The argument goes, however, that California has just become too complex to move to a part-time legislature. That we need a legislative body that meets every year, to deal with a state government which administers an economy that is sixth or seventh in the world (depending on the price of the Euro at the time, we vie with France). We also need the staff support to function.

Many of you have heard me refer to Sacramento as ‘Disneyland North’ – where everyone gets taken for a ride. Also, that the type of person who runs for office in California has never had to write on the front of a paycheck or hold a payroll down on a Friday, wondering whether there is enough money to pay everyone. Moving to a part-time legislature may help solve some of these problems and it is certainly an appealing concept in theory.

After all, maybe a part-time legislature would not have the time to pass laws which burden small business owners and are sometimes too complicated to understand. The legislature would only have the time to focus on the most important things in life rather than playing around in other people’s business. Do you sense frustration here?! One alternative might be to have just a budget session in the off year.....we shall have to see how this all shakes out....stay tuned!

For PCOC Legislative Agenda 2015, please click here.

APPLICATORS’ RETESTING WAITING PERIOD REDUCED

At the October Structural Pest Control Board meeting in Sacramento, PCOC along with other stakeholders petitioned the Structural Pest Control Board to reduce the re-testing wait period for applicators. The initial standard period for a reexamination after the reexamination application was delivered was 30 days.

The Structural Board looked into the matter and as of October 16, 2015, the wait period has been reduced to 15 days, allowing potential licensees to take the test more often. This is a huge win for the industry, and we at PCOC want to thank the Structural Pest Control Board for hearing our plight and reacting quickly after the board meeting. We especially want to thank Susan Saylor, the executive officer of the Structural Pest Control Board, for all her efforts to quickly facilitate the matter.

By the time this article goes out, I will no longer be the Director of Membership and Technical Services at PCOC. Another opportunity presented itself within our industry, and I have taken a position with North American Home Services as head of their Pest Department.

I would like to thank all the individuals in the industry that have been such a huge help to myself and PCOC in general. So many of you have been great resources of information and have taken the time to help better the industry and myself. I have learned so much from so many and have also come to consider so many of you my friends, and I will be happy to still be involved with PCOC as a member. This industry means so much, and I have really gotten to see how so many supposed competitors come together to not only achieve common goals, but to genuinely help and support each other. I know that you will show the same courtesy and helpfulness to whomever replaces me.

Thanks again to you all.

Welcome to a new section of Newsbriefs! Here, we will give news from our members: new hires, retirements, etc. If you have some news you would like to share, please send a short sentence or two to breann@pcoc.org.

Click here for more details.

Visit http://www.naylornetwork.com/cpc-nwl/pdf/Members_Value_Program_Brochure.pdf to view the full article online.

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