Savings Plus Changes. Savings Plus is redesigning and customizing its Core Investment Lineup and Target Date Funds. To transition to the new investment fund lineup, Saving Plus is introducing a Reselection Window to give participants an opportunity to make their investment selections. The Reselection Window will open on April 1, 2020, and will close on May 22, 2020. Participants who do not choose their own investments during the Reselection Window will be invested in the Target Date Fund (TDF) that most closely aligns with the year in which they turn age 65.
For more information about the initiative, visit savingsplusnow.com.
Safety Footwear Reimbursement Confusion. More than 890 CAPS members have participated in the Bargaining Survey so far. That’s about 38% of members who are eligible to participate. Your CAPS Bargaining Team is reviewing preliminary Bargaining Survey results, and reading every one of the more than 750 member comments submitted. The committee noted that there is some confusion regarding the difference between the Safety Footwear Reimbursement (CAPS MOU, Section 6.7), the Uniform Replacement (CAPS MOU, Section 6.4), and the potential new proposal for reimbursement of non-required specialty equipment or apparel for work. In the Bargaining Survey, a question was posed surrounding whether you would support adding reimbursement for State Scientists who purchase specialty equipment and/or apparel, and many comments reflected a need to clarify Safety Footwear, so the Team requested that an explanation of what’s currently available go out to the membership.
To clarify, the CAPS MOU currently provides up to $275 every two years to enable State Scientists to purchase “specific safety or protective footwear required to be worn but not provided by the employer.” This means that a member may purchase one or more pairs of boots every two years and request reimbursement up to $275 as long as the receipts show that $275 or more was spent to purchase required protective footwear that is not already provided by the Department.
Additionally, the CAPS MOU provides up to $670 per year for full-time employees at CDFW, CalFire, and Parks when the State requires a uniform to be worn as a condition of employment but does not provide one.
Board of Directors Meeting Agenda and Motions to be Posted. On Friday, February 14, the Board of Directors Meeting Agenda and Proposed Motions will be posted on the Members Only section of the website for members to review ahead of the February 22 Board of Directors Meeting.
Reminder: CAPS T-Shirts Are Available for Science Fridays! All CAPS Members are welcome to request a CAPS T-shirt to wear on Science Fridays. On June 3, 2017, the CAPS Board of Directors adopted a Resolution calling on all California State Scientists to wear their green CAPS T-shirt every Friday workday to show solidarity and support for science, and the essential role of State Scientists in particular. Click here to order your first shirt, request a replacement of an old shirt, or to purchase additional shirts.
News Briefs
Bay Area microbe hunters to test for coronavirus. Disease sleuths at the State of California’s Viral and Rickettsial Disease Laboratory will soon be receiving samples of the mysterious coronavirus, accelerating efforts to provide more rapid results than currently offered by federal authorities. The Richmond-based lab will start conducting tests on Wednesday, Feb. 12, and report results within two days of receiving the specimens. Results from the federal U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently take between two to seven days.
Trained dogs are the most efficient way to hunt citrus industry’s biggest threat. Dogs specially trained by scientists have proven to be the most efficient way to detect huanglongbing-also known as citrus greening-according to a paper just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The disease-sniffing dogs have been deployed for 9 months in California and northern Florida.