AGO 97015.

• Court: Nebraska

Nebraska Attorney General Opinions 1997. AGO 97015. DATE: March 3, 1997SUBJECT: LB 878; Constitutionality of a Buy-Out Program for State EmployeesREQUESTED BY: Senator David I. Maurstad Nebraska State LegislatureWRITTEN BY: Don Stenberg, Attorney General Dale A. Comer, Assistant Attorney General In our Op. Att'y Gen. No. 97002 (January 8, 1997), we discussed a number of questions pertaining to state employee buy- outs posed to us by Lawrence Primeau, the Director of the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services ("DAS"). In his opinion request, Mr. Primeau raised several issues involving the propriety and constitutionality of possible legislation which would permit state employee buy-outs. Based upon our policy of responding to opinion requests from state officials only with respect to questions arising "in the discharge of their duties," we declined to answer Mr Primeau's questions concerning the constitutionality of possible legislation dealing with state employee buy-outs, and we stated that we preferred to address such constitutional questions in the context of an opinion request from a legislator in reference to specific proposed legislation. You have now posed such constitutional questions in reference to LB 878, a legislative bill pertaining to state employee buy-outs. LB 878 would require the Personnel Division of DAS to "develop, administer, and coordinate all requests from agencies for an employee buy-out program." The Personnel Division would further "determine under what conditions a buy-out is offered, including the appropriateness of a buy-out and the number of buy-outs to be offered." Section 1 of the bill also includes the following specific findings by the Legislature: The Legislature finds that the state must use its human resources in the most cost-effective manner possible by employing skilled workers at reasonable rates and in positions in which their skills will be best utilized. The Legislature also finds that it is necessary to create a program that will give state employees the opportunity to leave state government with compensation for surrendering vested rights under the State Personnel System or the state's collective-bargaining agreement. LB 878 goes on to define the "employees" which would be subject to the bill as those state employees covered under the State Personnel System or a collective...