Sacramento Republican: Gov. Newsom must reconsider his return-to-office mandate | Opinion

Last month Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration announced a return-to-office mandate for state workers that will limit telework at every state agency beginning on June 17.

Prior to this sudden shift in policy, individual state agencies have had the flexibility to determine which jobs could be performed remotely. The California Environmental Protection Agency said telework has been an “efficient and effective way to conduct business,” while a California Health and Human Services’ internal survey found that remote work allowed for “improved employee collaboration,” and “increased productivity,” according to The Bee.

It is true that many positions are better performed in person — and that’s still the case for the vast majority of state jobs. However, embracing telework for about a third of our workforce has significantly reduced costs for 74,000 employees and allowed the state to better compete with the private sector.

While there may be minor cost savings achieved in the short term by eliminating existing telework stipends that were introduced during the pandemic, in the long run, a one-size-fits-all plan to force state workers back to the office is counterproductive for a number of reasons.

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First, the proposed change eliminates an opportunity to help address our state’s $73 billion budget deficit in a meaningful way. The California Department of General Services currently manages 59 state office buildings totaling over 13 million square feet of office space and spends over $600 million per year on rent to maintain more than 2,000 leases for state departments in privately owned buildings. Telework has the potential to reduce this footprint and provide substantial budgetary savings.

The proposed change also undermines the ability of the state to meet its climate goals. In the past two years, state telework policies have eliminated nearly 400,000 metric tons of carbon emissions and saved workers hundreds of dollars per month in vehicle expenses. Walking back telework policies will not only increase emissions in the Sacramento region, it will also lead to a surge in highway congestion, making traffic even worse for those who are currently commuting downtown.

I recently proposed an audit of the impending return-to-office mandate to study the rationale, timing, legality and costs associated with the decision to rescind telework options for state employees. On May 14, my colleagues on the Joint Legislative Audit Committee approved it with bipartisan support. This is an important first step toward assessing the future of telework in state government.

I share concerns expressed by local leaders on the need to revitalize Downtown Sacramento and better support the city’s small businesses. Adding housing, addressing homelessness and reimagining our urban core must all be a part of that solution. But it should not be done on the backs of state workers.

I urge Newsom to reconsider this misguided return-to-office mandate and allow state agencies to continue harnessing the advantages of telework. At the very least, we should wait for the results of the audit before making sweeping changes that will harm state workers, make it harder to balance the budget and undermine the state’s climate goals.

Asm. Josh Hoover is a member of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and represents the 7th Assembly District in Sacramento County. Follow him on Twitter/X @joshua_hoover or contact his office at Assemblymember.Hoover@assembly.ca.gov .