This year legislators in Olympia have a golden opportunity to make much-needed changes to our state’s civil-service system. Revenues are down, there is a $1.25 billion budget shortfall, and the public expects government to operate more like a family or a business facing tough times.

Washington’s civil-service system governs the hiring, firing, and work rules for state government employees. It is archaic!

The system doesn’t allow managers to manage efficiently. For example, agency directors are hamstrung because they have very few managers who are exempt from civil service. Faced with spending months going through all the hoops embedded in the current system, it is easier for an agency director to tolerate someone than it is to fire them.

Civil service doesn’t work for state workers either. The bulk of Washington’s state employees are dedicated and very capable, but, like in any organization, there are some who are not. Those dedicated and productive workers have to work alongside those who’ve been sidetracked.

It wears on morale. There are few rewards for someone to do a great job. Likewise, the penalties for poor performance are difficult to impose. Simply, people, whether they work in the private sector or in government, need to be rewarded for doing good work and satisfying customers.

Civil service doesn’t work for the citizens, either. How do you change the culture of an agency to make it more user friendly if it is next to impossible to penalize poor performance and reward excellence?

The bottom line is state managers spend too much time dealing with a cumbersome system, which is not only inefficient but very costly – a system we can no longer afford.

Over the years, governors, including Gary Locke, have tried to change the civil-service laws to give their agency directors more exempt positions. Their efforts always got tied up with collective bargaining for state employees and contracting out-of-government services to business.

It’s time for lawmakers to separate the issues. Let business make its case for contracting out and let unions make their case for collective bargaining. It is time to replace the current system with one that rewards workers who are doing a good job and penalize those who are not.

Don Brunell is president of the Association of Washington Business, Washington state’s Chamber of Commerce. Visit AWB on the Web at www.awb.org.