HBA-LCA C.S.H.B. 3375 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 3375 By: Talton Urban Affairs 5/7/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE C.S.H.B. 3375 provides for the election and recognition of a police officer bargaining unit in a municipality with a population of 1.5 million or more. This bill also provides that police department heads and assistant heads may not participate in negotiations with employers as part of such a unit, and excludes benefits other than pension benefits as an area over which a police employee group may negotiate. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Sections 143.352(1) and (2), Local Government Code, as follows: (1) Defines "bargaining agent," rather than "majority bargaining agent," as the police employee group selected under Section 143.354, Local Government Code (Selection of Majority Bargaining Agent), rather than Section 143.354 or 143.355, Local Government Code, to represent all police officers employed by the municipality (officers), excluding the department head and assistant department heads (police employee group), during negotiations with the public employer. (2) Redefines "police employee group" to include benefits other than pension benefits as an area for which a police employee group exists. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 2. Amends Sections 143.353(a) and (b), Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 3. Amends Section 143.354, Local Government Code (Selection of Majority Bargaining Agent), by deleting current text and adding new Section 143.354, as follows: Sec. 143.354. RECOGNITION OF BARGAINING AGENT; APPOINTMENT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYER REPRESENTATIVE; REPRESENTATION OF POLICE EMPLOYEE GROUPS. (a) Authorizes a public employer, in accordance with this section, to recognize a police employee group as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all officers in the municipality, excluding the department head and assistant department heads, a police employee group that submits a petition signed by a number of paid police officers in the municipality, excluding certain specified officers, that equals at least 40 percent of the number of police officers who voted in the last election held under Section 143.360, Local Government Code (Election to Ratify Agreement), before the petition is submitted, unless recognition of the police employee group is withdrawn in accordance with this section by a majority of police officers eligible to sign the petition. Provides that if an election under Section 143.360 has not been held in the municipality, the public employer, in accordance with this section, is authorized to recognize a police employee group, excluding certain specified officers, that submits a petition signed by 40 percent of the paid police officers in the municipality, as sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the police officers in the municipality, unless recognition of the police employee group is withdrawn by a majority of those police officers in accordance with this section. Requires a fair election to be conducted to resolve the question of whether a police employee group represents a majority of the police officers in the municipality, excluding certain specified officers. (b) Provides that a petition submitted under Subsection (a) must clearly show on each page the name of the police employee group circulating the petition. Prohibits a police officer who signs a petition from being counted towards the 40 percent requirement unless the officer's printed name and payroll number and the date of the signature are included on the petition. Provides that the petition must be submitted to the municipal secretary not later than the 60th day after the first date on which an officer signs the petition. (c) Requires the municipal secretary to verify the signatures on the petition within 30 days after its submission, and, if it is in compliance with this section, call for the election, which is required to be held within 45 days after the date on which the municipal secretary calls for the election (d) Requires an election required by this section (election) to be conducted according to procedures agreed on by the parties. Provides that if parties are unable to agree on procedures for the election by the 15th day after the call for the election, the American Arbitration Association is required to conduct the election and certify its results. Provides that such certification resolves a representation question. (e) Requires all employee groups seeking recognition as the bargaining agent in the election to share equally all costs associated with conducting the election. Provides that a police employee group must make payments required by this subsection not later than the 10th day before the date on which the election begins. (f) Requires the public employer's chief executive officer to designate a team to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the police department. Deletes text relating to selection of majority bargaining agent. SECTION 4. Amends Section 143.357, Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 5. Amends Section 143.358, Local Government Code, to make a conforming change. SECTION 6. Amends Section 143.359(a), Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 7. Amends Sections 143.360(a) though (e), Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 8. Amends Sections 143.361(a) and (c). Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 9. Amends Section 143.362, Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. SECTION 10. Amends Section 143.363(a), Local Government Code, to make a conforming change. SECTION 11. Repealer: Sections 143.355 (Election of Majority Bargaining Agent) and 143.356 (Bargaining Team; Negotiations), Local Government Code. SECTION 12. (a) Effective date: September 1, 1999. (b) Provides that the change in the law made by this Act does not affect the validity of an election held, agreement made, or action taken under Subchapter J, Local Government Code ( Local Control of Police Officer Employment Matters in Municipalities with Population of 1.5 Million or More) before September 1, 1999. (c) Provides that a police employee group that is a majority bargaining agent as defined by Section 143.352, Local Government Code (Definitions) immediately before the effective date of this Act becomes the bargaining agent for the purposes of that section, as amended by this Act, on the effective date of this Act, as is considered the sole and exclusive bargaining agent under Section 143.354, Local Government Code (Selection of Majority Bargaining Agent), as amended by this Act, until another sole and exclusive bargaining agent is recognized in accordance with Section 143.354, Local Government Code. SECTION 13.Emergency clause. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 3375 modifies the original to conform to Legislative Council format. The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 1, as follows: Amends Section 143.352, Local Government Code (Definitions), to define "bargaining agent" as the police employee group selected under Section 143.354, Local Government Code (Selection of Majority Bargaining Agent) to represent all police officers (police employee group) employed by the municipality, excluding the department head and assistant department heads, during negotiations with the public employer. The original replaced the definition of "bargaining agent" with "majority bargaining agent," and did not exclude the department head and assistant department heads from being represented by the agent. The original, in the definition of "police employee group" included "benefits" among the issues over which a policy employee group could deal with a municipality, while the substitute includes benefits other than pension benefits among those issues. The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 2, as follows: The original included unamended text of Section 143.353, Local Government Code (General Provisions Relating to Agreements, Recognition, and Strikes). The substitute modifies Subsections (a) and (b) of that section to make conforming changes. The substitute modifies the original in SECTION 3, as follows: This substitute changes the title of Section 143.354, Local Government Code, from "Recognition of Police Officers Association" in the original to "Recognition of Bargaining Agent; Appointment of Public Employer Representative; Representation of Police Employee Groups" in the substitute. Both the original and the substitute add new Section 143.354, Local Government Code, relating to the recognition of an association as sole bargaining agent by a public employer, providing for an election to establish an association as majority representative of officers, and requiring the municipality's chief executive officer to designate a team to represent the employer as sole and exclusive bargaining agent for issue related to the police department. Additionally, the substitute provides for a petition under Section 143.360, Local Government Code (Election to Ratify Agreement), and authorizes the public employer, if an election under that section has not been held, to recognize a police employee group that has submitted such a petition as sole and exclusive bargaining agent. For a more complete analysis of new Section 143.354, please see the Section-by-Section Analysis in this document. This substitute also makes conforming changes. This substitute combines and redesignates SECTIONS 4 and 5 of the original to SECTION 11 of the substitute. SECTION 6 of the original contained the text of Section 143.357, Local Government Code (Payroll Dues Deductions), but made no changes. SECTION 6 of the original is redesignated to SECTION 4 of the substitute to make conforming changes to Section 143.357, Local Government Code. SECTION 7 of the original contained the text of Section 143.358, Local Government Code (Open Records Required), but made no changes. SECTION 7 of the original is redesignated to SECTION 5 of the substitute to make a conforming change to Section 143.358, Local Government Code. SECTION 8 of the original contained the text of Section 143.359, Local Government Code (Enforceability of Agreement), but made no changes. SECTION 8 of the original is redesignated as SECTION 6 of the substitute to make conforming changes to Section 143.359(a), Local Government Code. SECTION 9 of the original, which amended Sections 143.360(a)-(d), Local Government Code (Election to Ratify Agreement), is redesignated to SECTION 7 of the substitute, and further amended to make conforming changes. The substitute further modifies the original by adding SECTIONS 8-10 to amend Sections 143.361(a) and (c), Section 143.362, and Section 143.363(a), Local Government Code, to make conforming changes. The substitute redesignates SECTIONS 10 and 11 of the original (effective date; emergency clause) to SECTIONS 12 and 13, and adds text in substituted SECTION 12 to make application of this Act prospective.