HBA-CMT H.B. 1318 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1318 By: Maxey County Affairs 4/22/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, a county is not authorized to enter into an agreement with an association that is the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for a group of public employees (association). House Bill 1318 authorizes a county to recognize an association as the bargaining agent for all of the covered peace officers and detention officers (officers) of a sheriff's department , and prohibits a county from being denied local control over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms and conditions of employment of officers on which the public employer and an association agree. 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 1318 amends the Local Government Code to provide that a county may not be denied local control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or other terms and conditions of employment, to the extent that the public employer and the association recognized as the sole exclusive bargaining agent (association) for a sheriff's department agree under the provisions of this bill. The bill authorizes a public employer and an association to meet and confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal right to strike by public employees. The bill prohibits a peace officer or detention officer of a sheriff's department (officer) from engaging in a strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political subdivision of this state. The bill provides that an officer that participates in a strike forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other rights, benefits, or privileges the officer may have as a result of the person's employment or prior employment with the sheriff's department. The provisions of the bill do not affect the right of a person to cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in an organized work stoppage. The bill requires the public employer's chief executive officer or the chief executive officer's designee to select a group of persons to represent the public employer as its sole exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of officers by the sheriff's department. The bill requires the public employer to recognize an association submitting a petition for recognition signed by a majority of the officers employed by the sheriff's department as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all officers employed by the sheriff's department, excluding the sheriff and persons the sheriff may designate as exempt, until recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition. Whether an association represents a majority of the covered officers is required to be resolved by a fair election conducted according to procedures agreeable to the parties involved, and if the parties are unable to agree on election procedures, either party is authorized to request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the election and certify the results. The bill sets forth provisions for who is responsible for the expenses of the election. The bill provides that a proposed agreement and document prepared and used by the sheriff's department in connection with the proposed agreement are available to the public only after the agreement is ratified by the commissioners court of the county. The bill sets forth provisions for when an agreement made under the provisions of the bill is enforceable and binding on the public employer, the recognized association, and the officers covered in the agreement. The bill authorizes a ratified agreement to establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the agreement. The bill provides that a state district court of a judicial district in which the county is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a dispute under a ratified agreement. The court is authorized to issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including contempt orders that are appropriate to enforce the agreement. The bill provides that a written ratified agreement preempts all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by the sheriff, county, a division, or agent of the sheriff or county during the term of the agreement. The bill prohibits a ratified agreement from interfering with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action litigation. The bill does not require a public employer or a recognized association to meet and confer on any issue or reach an agreement. The bill does not apply to a county that has adopted The Fire and Police Employee Relations Act or has a population of more than one million. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.