HBA-JEK, CMT C.S.H.B. 320 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 320 By: Tillery Urban Affairs 5/2/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) 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 formal process to facilitate change or improvements in working conditions. C.S.H.B. 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 establish an agreement regarding such issues, and prohibits strikes and work stoppages by firefighters in such municipalities. 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 C.S.H.B. 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. C.S.H.B. 320 specifies that a municipality may not be denied local control over firefighter employment matters, including wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of employment, working conditions, 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 municipality of this state. A firefighter who participates in a strike forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and any other rights, benefits, or privileges the firefighter enjoys as a result of employment or prior employment. C.S.H.B. 320 requires a firefighters association that submits a petition to meet and confer signed by a majority of the firefighters employed by a municipality to be recognized as the sole and exclusive meet-andconfer agent for all firefighters employed by the municipality 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 municipality 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 the municipality 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, or rules adopted by a municipality. The agreement may not diminish or qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under the provisions for municipal civil service 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. The bill requires a municipality upon receipt of a petition signed by a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes cast in the municipality's most recent mayoral general election to repeal the agreement or to call an election to determine whether to repeal the agreement as part of the next regularly scheduled municipal general election or at a special election called by the governing body of the municipality. The bill sets forth the required ballot language. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 320 sets forth provisions for a municipality to call an election for the repeal of an agreement that recognizes an association as the representative of a majority of the covered firefighters. The substitute sets forth provisions regarding the calling of the election and the required ballot language. The substitute removes political subdivisions from the definition of "public employer."