A comprehensive study of the civil service system in Wisconsin had not been conducted since 1966 when Governor Patrick J. Lucey issued Executive Order No. 33 on June 10, 1976, officially creating the Governor's Employment Relations Study Commission, popularly known as the Stevens-Offner Commission. The Commission was established to conduct a comprehensive review of the civil service system in the state of Wisconsin, recording the changes that had taken place in the system since its inception in 1895 when the Legislature passed the first civil service statute, an act which applied only to first and second class cities. In 1897, the scope of civil service regulation was extended to counties with populations of 100,000 or more; and in 1905, a civil service system was established for the entire state. The Commission was also charged with assessing personnel practices in terms of the effective functioning of the merit system and determining whether or not the state civil service system was serving the public interest.
Initially eighteen members were appointed to the Commission; however, one member withdrew soon after the Commission's creation. The original membership was composed of four legislators, four state employees, six private citizens, two university officials, one State Personnel Board member, and one public employee union member. Assemblymen John Stevens and Paul Offner were appointed co-chairmen of the Commission.
Although Executive Order No. 33 was dated June 10, 1976, Governor Lucey appointed the Commission members on March 25, 1976, and the Commission first convened on April 13, 1976, when its membership was structured into four subcommittees to provide an organizational structure for fact finding and initiation of recommendations. To help direct the research of the subcommittees, the Commission compiled a list of priority issues, including structures and procedures, centralization versus decentralization, the recruitment and selection process, classification, tenure and promotion, merit in compensation, employee development, performance evaluation, managerial flexibility, productivity, incentives and employee morale, job analysis, and mechanisms for getting information upon which policies are based. The first subcommittee (I) focused on organizational issues; the second (II) on recruitment, selection, position analysis, and certification; the third (III) on classification and compensation; and the fourth (IV) on tenure, appeals, and employee development. Other areas of study included affirmative action, collective bargaining, career progression, and employee supervision.
The Commission's study progressed in three phases. During the first phase, April through October 1976, Commission members educated themselves about the history, development, and structure of the state civil service system. The second phase, from November 1976 through March 1977, focused on research, which was gathered through briefings given by members of the State Bureau of Personnel and through interviews with state officials. However, the bulk of the research was carried on through surveys which sought to determine employee attitudes and perceptions about the state civil service system. The most comprehensive of these surveys was the Civil Service Employee Survey conducted in October 1976. Public hearings were held in Eau Claire, Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee, and Oshkosh. Beyond the Civil Service Employee Survey and the public hearings, there were thirty specific studies conducted by the four subcommittees, covering such topics as career progression, certification, veterans' preference points, affirmative action, the accountability of appointed authorities, the classification system, limited term employment, compensation, tenure, appeal, supervision, and employee development. A progress report submitted on March 1, 1977 indicated that the Commission's findings were inconclusive. Additional funding was granted, which enabled the Commission to complete its study in May 1977. The third phase of Commission activity, beginning in April 1977, culminated in the full Commission voting in May 1977 on recommendations presented by the subcommittees. The Commission's findings are set forth in the final report along with recommendations for improving opportunities for career progression, the recruitment and selection process, and grievance and appeal procedures.
