Senate Committee Restores Hiring Preference for Vets to Civil-Service Overhaul

Governor Bill Haslam has made a quick about-face on a proposal critics charged would hurt veterans’ chances of landing a state job. Lawmakers had seized on that part of Haslam’s Civil Service overhaul, with one Republican calling it “almost an insult” to veterans.

Haslam wants to simplify the way Tennessee hires workers, and a draft of that plan would’ve erased a state preference for hiring vets, instead only guaranteeing them a job interview. That drew fire in a House committee last week, while the governor then argued the new system could not do more.

Now the senator carrying Haslam’s bill has added an amendment saying if a veteran and another job applicant are equally qualified, the vet trumps. Democrats praised the revision in a senate committee, which cleared the overhaul. Meanwhile a House committee put the matter off one week.

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Links:

Civil-Service Overhaul Passes Testy Senate Committee, Stalls in House

Capitol: SB2246 Norris / HB 2384 McCormick

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