HBA-CMT H.B. 320 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 320 By: Tillery Urban Affairs 3/12/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE While associations that represent firefighters in Texas use a method with set procedures which has been accepted by both city management and firefighters, current law does not provide firefighters in some municipalities with a formalized process to facilitate change or improvements in working conditions. House Bill 320 grants firefighters in certain municipalities the right to meet and confer with a public employer over issues such as wages, hours, working conditions, and all other terms and conditions of employment, and prohibits strikes and work stoppages by firefighters. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 320 amends the Local Government Code to provide for local control over firefighter employment matters. The bill does not apply to municipalities that have adopted the Fire and Police Employee Relations Act, have a population of 1.5 million or more, or have a population of 460,000 or more and operate under a city manager form of government. H.B. 320 specifies that a political subdivision may not be denied local control over firefighter employment matters, including wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, diversity programs, and other terms of employment, or personnel issues, to the extent that the public employer and a recognized firefighters association come to a mutual agreement on any of the terms of employment. The bill specifies that the local ordinances and civil service rules remain unaffected if an agreement is not reached. The bill authorizes the public employer to meet and confer only if the recognized association does not advocate the illegal right to strike by public employees. Firefighters are prohibited from engaging in strikes or organized work stoppages against this state or a political subdivision of this state. A firefighter who participates in a strike forfeits all civil service rights, benefits, reemployment rights, and any other rights or privileges the firefighter enjoys as a result of employment or prior employment. The bill requires a firefighters association that submits a petition to meet and confer signed by a majority of the firefighters employed by a political subdivision to be recognized as the sole and exclusive meet and confer agent for all firefighters employed by the political subdivision until recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the firefighters. The bill requires the question of whether a recognized association represents a majority of covered firefighters to be resolved by a fair election and sets forth conditions for the election. The bill requires all deliberations between a firefighters association and a public employer to be open to the public and held in compliance with any applicable state statutes. The bill specifies that a written agreement between a public employer and a recognized firefighters association is enforceable and binding on the public employer, the recognized association, and the firefighters covered by the agreement if the governing body of the political subdivision ratifies the agreement by majority vote, and the firefighters association ratifies the agreement by a majority of votes in a secret ballot election. A state district court in which a majority of the population of a political subdivision is located has full authority and jurisdiction to enforce any ratified written agreement between a public employer and a recognized firefighters association. An agreement made between a public employer and a recognized firefighters association supersedes any previous statute concerning firefighter employment matters and preempts all contrary local ordinances, executive orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by a political subdivision. The agreement may not diminish or qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under a civil service statute or other state law unless approved by a majority of the votes received in the secret ballot election on the agreement by the members of the recognized firefighters association. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.