HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LABOR BILL BY CHAIRPERSON HORBACH)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to public employee collective bargaining agreements and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  Section 20.3, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subsections:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  “Bargaining unit” means only those employees in a particular class of employees who have not declared themselves a free agent employee.
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4A.  “Free agent employee” means a public employee who has signed a release declaring that the employee rejects representation by an employee organization and that the employee understands that signing the release waives any claim or right to representation by that employee organization.
   Sec. 2.  Section 20.6, subsection 3, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Establish minimum qualifications for arbitrators and mediators, establish procedures for appointing, maintaining, and removing from a list persons representative of the public to be available to serve as arbitrators and mediators, and establish compensation rates for arbitrators and mediators.  However, the board shall not establish compensation rates for private mediators. The board may charge the parties involved in an impasse a reasonable fee to cover any cost to the board associated with the duties provided in this subsection, including the training of arbitrators and mediators.
   Sec. 3.  Section 20.8, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  Declare themselves a free agent employee.
   Sec. 4.  Section 20.9, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   20.9  Scope of negotiations.
   1.  The public employer and the employee organization shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings reasonably in advance of the public employer’s budget-making process, to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, vacations,insurance, holidays, leaves of absence, shift differentials, overtime compensation, supplemental pay, seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, health and safety matters, evaluation procedures,procedures for staff reduction, in-service training, and other matters mutually agreed upon. Negotiations shall also include terms authorizing dues checkoff for members of the employee organization and grievance procedures for resolving any questions arising under the agreement, which shall be embodied in a written agreement and signed by the parties. If an agreement provides for dues checkoff, a member’s dues may be checked off only upon the member’s written request and the member may terminate the dues checkoff at any time by giving thirty days’ written notice. Such obligation to negotiate in good faith does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession.
   2.  Nothing in this section shall diminish the authority and power of the department of administrative services, board of regents’ merit system, Iowa public broadcasting board’s merit system, or any civil service commission established by constitutional provision, statute, charter, or special act to recruit employees,; prepare, conduct, and grade examinations,; or rate candidates in order of their relative scores for certification for appointment or promotion or for other matters of classification, reclassification, or appeal rights in the classified service of the public employer served.
   3.  All retirement systems The following subjects shall be excluded from the scope of negotiations.:
   a.  All retirement systems.
   b.  The terms and source of health insurance or any other insurance.
   c.  Any requirement that a public employer pay more than seventy percent of the cost of a health insurance plan established pursuant to chapter 509A which the public employer provides for a public employee and other persons covered through the public employee.
   d.  Restrictions or limitations on outsourcing.
   e.  Any restriction on the right of a public employer to consider any factor which the employer may lawfully consider in a layoff.
   Sec. 5.  Section 20.20, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   20.20  Mediation.
   1.  In the absence of an impasse agreement negotiated pursuant to section 20.19 or the failure of either party to utilize its procedures, one hundred twenty days prior to the certified budget submission date, or one hundred twenty days prior to May 31 of the year when the collective bargaining agreement is to become effective if public employees represented by the employee organization are teachers licensed under chapter 272 and the public employer is a school district or area education agency, the board shall, upon the request of either party, appoint an impartial and disinterested person to act as mediator.
   2.  If the public employer is a community college, and in the absence of an impasse agreement negotiated pursuant to section 20.19 or the failure of either party to utilize its procedures, one hundred twenty days prior to May 31 of the year when the collective bargaining agreement is to become effective, the board, upon the request of either party, shall appoint an impartial and disinterested person to act as mediator. 
   3.  If the public employer is not subject to the budget certification requirements of section 24.17 or other applicable sections and in the absence of an impasse agreement negotiated pursuant to section 20.19, or the failure of either party to utilize its procedures, one hundred twenty days prior to the date the next fiscal or budget year of the public employer commences, the board, upon the request of either party, shall appoint an impartial and disinterested person to act as a mediator.
   4.  It shall be the function of the mediator to bring the parties together to effectuate a settlement of the dispute, but the mediator may shall not compel the parties to agree.
   5.  The board shall, whenever possible, appoint a mediator from within the board’s staff, from the federal mediation and conciliation service, or as otherwise provided by federal law. If such an appointment is not possible, the board shall appoint a private mediator pursuant to section 20.6, subsection 3. All costs associated with the services of a private mediator shall be shared equally by the parties. The parties may agree to a maximum compensation rate for a private mediator. The parties may agree to a maximum number of hours for the length of the mediation.
   Sec. 6.  Section 20.22, subsections 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11, Code 2011, are amended to read as follows:
   3.  The submission of the impasse items to the arbitrator shall be limited to those items upon which the parties have not reached agreement. With However, with respect to each such item, the arbitrator’s award shall not be restricted to the final offers on each impasse item submitted by the parties to the arbitrator.
   6.  From the time the board notifies the arbitrator of the selection of the arbitrator until such time as the arbitrator’s selection decision on each impasse item is made, there shall be no discussion concerning recommendations for settlement of the dispute by the arbitrator with parties other than those who are direct parties to the dispute. 
   7.  The arbitrator shall consider, in addition to any other relevant factors, the following factors:
   a.  Past collective bargaining contracts between the parties including the bargaining that led up to such contracts.
   b.  a.  Comparison of wages, benefits, hours, and conditions of employment of the involved public employees with those of other public employees, including public employees not represented by an employee organization, and with private sector employees doing comparable work, giving consideration to factors peculiar to the area and the classifications involved.  In considering this comparison, the arbitrator shall strive to maintain parity in wages, benefits, hours, and conditions of employment between the public sector and the private sector for comparable types of work.
   c.  b.  The interests and welfare of the public, the ability of the public employer to finance economic adjustments, and the effect of such adjustments on the normal standard of services.
   d.  The power of the public employer to levy taxes and appropriate funds for the conduct of its operations.
   c.  Efficiency of the public employer in its ability to carry out any of its functions.
   d.  An increase in any tax.
   e.  A decrease in the provision by the public employer of any service.
   9.  The arbitrator shall select render a decision within fifteen days after the hearing the most reasonable offer, in the arbitrator’s judgment, of the final offers on consisting of final terms for each impasse item submitted by the parties.  The arbitrator may select one of the final offers on each impasse item submitted by the parties or the arbitrator may make an award which does not go beyond the terms of a final offer for any impasse item submitted by the parties.
   10.  The selections decisions by the arbitrator and items agreed upon by the public employer and the employee organization, shall be deemed to be the collective bargaining agreement between the parties.
   11.  The determination decisions of the arbitrator shall be final and binding subject to the provisions of section 20.17, subsection 6 and section 20.22A. The arbitrator shall give written explanation for the arbitrator’s selections decision regarding the final terms for each impasse item and inform the parties of the decision.
   Sec. 7.  NEW SECTION.  20.22A  Ratification of state employee agreements.
   1.  Prior to a collective bargaining agreement entered into by an employee organization representing state employees, pursuant to the decision of an arbitrator under section 20.22, becoming final and binding, the agreement must be ratified through the enactment of a bill which appropriates funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement, subject to the provisions of section 20.17, subsection 6. 
   2.  A bill ratifying a collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement shall not be enacted if the terms of the agreement cannot be supported by the state budget without new taxation or without a decrease in the provision by the public employer of services. 
   3.  The decisions of an arbitrator pursuant to section 20.22, subsections 11 and 12, provide notice to the general assembly of the final terms of the collective bargaining agreement.
   4.  The general assembly shall, within thirty days after the notification, consider a bill ratifying the collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement. If the bill is enacted, the collective bargaining agreement becomes final and binding. The agreement does not become effective until the bill is enacted.
   5.  If the bill ratifying the collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement fails to be approved by a constitutional majority in either the senate or the house of representatives, the secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the house, as the case may be, shall, within seven days after the date the bill failed to be approved, transmit to the governor and the employee organization representing state employees covered by the proposed agreement information which the senate or house may direct by resolution regarding reasons why the bill was not approved.
   6.  If the governor vetoes a bill or the appropriation in a bill ratifying a collective bargaining agreement, or fails to approve a bill submitted to the governor for approval during or after the last three days of a session of the general assembly, the governor shall, within seven days after the bill or appropriation is vetoed or the bill fails to be approved, transmit to the employee organization representing state employees covered by the proposed agreement information regarding reasons why the bill or appropriation was vetoed or the bill was not approved. The applicable public employer, employee organization, and any fact-finder, mediator, or arbitrator, shall, to the extent the reasons are consistent with this chapter, take into account the reasons for not enacting the bill or the appropriation in any further renegotiating of the collective bargaining agreement.
   7.  If a bill ratifying the collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement fails to be enacted, the board, in consultation with the applicable public employer and employee organization, shall establish an expedited timetable for renegotiating the collective bargaining agreement, including time schedules for fact-finding and arbitration, if necessary.
   Sec. 8.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the effective date of this Act.
EXPLANATION
   This bill relates to public employee collective bargaining agreements.
   The bill provides that a public employee has the right to declare oneself a free agent employee, meaning a public employee who has signed a release declaring that the employee rejects representation by an employee organization and that the employee understands that signing the release waives any claim or right to representation by that organization. The bill specifies that for the purposes of collective bargaining, a bargaining unit only consists of employees in a particular class of employees who have not declared themselves free agent employees.
   The bill excludes certain subjects from the scope of negotiations for public employee collective bargaining agreements, including the terms and source of health insurance or any other insurance, any requirement that a public employer pay more than 70 percent of the cost of a health insurance plan established pursuant to Code chapter 509A which the public employer provides for a public employee and other persons covered through the public employee, restrictions or limitations on outsourcing, and any restriction on the right of a public employer to consider any factor which the employer may lawfully consider in a layoff.
   The bill authorizes the public employment relations board to charge the parties involved in an impasse in negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement a reasonable fee to cover any cost to the board associated with duties relating to establishing minimum qualifications for arbitrators and mediators; establishing procedures for appointing, maintaining, and removing from a list persons representative of the public available to serve as arbitrators and mediators; and establishing compensation rates for arbitrators and mediators, including the training of arbitrators and mediators. The bill specifies that the board cannot establish compensation rates for private mediators. The bill requires the board to appoint a mediator for a public employee collective bargaining agreement from within the board’s staff, from the federal mediation and conciliation service, or as otherwise provided by federal law whenever possible. If such an appointment is not possible, the board is required to appoint a private mediator. The bill specifies that all costs associated with the services of a private mediator will be shared equally by the parties. The bill provides that the parties may agree to a maximum compensation rate for a private mediator and to a maximum number of hours for the length of the mediation.
   The bill provides that the final decision of an arbitrator for a public employee collective bargaining agreement is not limited to each party’s final offer for each impasse item, but that the final decision must not go beyond the terms of either party’s final offer for each impasse item. The bill strikes the requirement of an arbitrator to consider past collective bargaining contracts between the parties including the bargaining that led up to such contracts and to consider the power of the public employer to levy taxes and appropriate funds for the conduct of its operations as factors when rendering a final decision. The bill adds additional factors which an arbitrator must consider, including a comparison of wages, benefits, hours, and conditions of employment of the involved public employees with those of public employees not represented by employment organizations and private-sector employees doing comparable work. The bill requires an arbitrator making that comparison to strive to maintain parity in wages, benefits, hours, and conditions of employment between the public sector and the private sector for comparable types of work. The bill also requires an arbitrator to consider as factors loss of efficiency by the public employer in its ability to carry out any of its functions, an increase in any tax, and a decrease in any service provided by the public employer.
   The bill sets out a procedure for the ratification of collective bargaining agreements for state employees. Prior to an agreement becoming final and binding, the bill provides that an agreement entered into pursuant to the decision of an arbitrator under Code section 20.22 is subject to the enactment of a bill which ratifies the agreement and appropriates funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement. The agreement remains subject to the provisions of Code section 20.17(6) which makes an arbitrator’s award invalid if its implementation is inconsistent with a statutory limitation relating to spending or would substantially impair or limit the performance of any statutory duty by the public employer. The bill provides that such a bill must not be enacted if the terms of the collective bargaining agreement cannot be supported by the state budget without new taxation or without decreases in services provided by the state employer. The bill requires that the decision of and notification by an arbitrator of the final terms of a collective bargaining agreement pursuant to Code section 20.22(11) be served on the general assembly.
   The bill directs the general assembly to consider a bill ratifying the collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement within 30 days of receiving notice of the terms of the agreement. The bill provides that if the bill regarding the agreement is enacted, the agreement becomes final and binding. The bill specifies that the agreement does not become effective until the bill regarding the agreement is enacted.
   The bill provides that if the bill ratifying the collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement fails to be approved by a constitutional majority in either the senate or the house of representatives, the secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the house, as applicable, must transmit information which the senate or house may direct by resolution regarding reasons why the bill was not approved to the governor and the employee organization representing state employees covered by the proposed agreement within seven days after the bill fails to be approved. The bill directs the governor, if the governor vetoes the bill regarding the agreement or the appropriation therein, or fails to approve the bill at the end of a legislative session, to transmit to the employee organization representing state employees covered by the proposed agreement information regarding reasons why the bill or appropriation was vetoed or the bill was not approved within seven days after the bill or appropriation is vetoed or the bill fails to be approved. The bill directs the applicable public employer, employee organization, and any fact-finder, mediator, or arbitrator, to the extent the reasons are consistent with Code chapter 20, to take into account the reasons for not enacting the bill or the appropriation therein for any further renegotiating of the collective bargaining agreement.
   The bill directs the public employee relations board to establish, in consultation with the applicable public employer and employee organization, an expedited timetable for renegotiating the collective bargaining agreement, including time schedules for fact-finding and arbitration, if necessary, if the bill ratifying the collective bargaining agreement and appropriating funds in an amount necessary to fund the agreement fails to be enacted.
   The bill applies to collective bargaining agreements entered into on or after the effective date of the bill.