Board sends one DSHS policy back to agency after bargaining-contract language concern

The board reviewed four policies submitted by the Department of Social and Health Services. A board member flagged a sentence in the first policy (18.91) that reads, 'to the extent any provision of this policy conflicts with the collective bargaining agreement, the CBA provision prevails.' The member said this language may conflict with the board's advisory opinion (advisory opinion 0201) that the Executive Ethics Act cannot be overridden by a collective bargaining agreement.

The chair agreed to take that single DSHS policy back to the agency to work through the wording and to bring a revised version to the November meeting; the board approved the remaining three DSHS policies. The board recorded voice votes for approval of the other policies but did not finalize the disputed policy pending further agency revision.