1-1 By: Talton, Edwards, Bailey H.B. No. 2972
1-2 (Senate Sponsor - Gallegos)
1-3 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2001;
1-4 April 27, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-5 Intergovernmental Relations; May 10, 2001, reported favorably by
1-6 the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 10, 2001, sent to
1-7 printer.)
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to local control of police officer employment matters by
1-11 certain municipalities.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Sections 143.352(1) and (2), Local Government
1-14 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-15 (1) "Bargaining ["Majority bargaining] agent" means
1-16 the police employee group selected under Section 143.354 [or
1-17 143.355] to represent all police officers employed by the
1-18 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
1-19 department heads, during negotiations with the public employer.
1-20 (2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
1-21 (A) in which at least three percent of the
1-22 police officers of the municipality participate and pay dues via
1-23 automatic payroll deduction; and
1-24 (B) which exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-25 part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
1-26 disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits other than pension
1-27 benefits, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting
1-28 police officers.
1-29 SECTION 2. Sections 143.353(a) and (b), Local Government
1-30 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-31 (a) A municipality may not be denied local control over the
1-32 wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
1-33 employment, or other state-mandated personnel issues, if the public
1-34 employer and the [majority] bargaining agent come to a mutual
1-35 agreement on any of the terms of employment. If an agreement is
1-36 not reached, the state laws, local ordinances, and civil service
1-37 rules remain unaffected. All agreements shall be written. Nothing
1-38 in this subchapter requires either party to meet and confer on any
1-39 issue or reach an agreement.
1-40 (b) A public employer may only meet and confer if the
1-41 [majority] bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to
1-42 strike by public employees.
1-43 SECTION 3. Section 143.354, Local Government Code, is
1-44 amended to read as follows:
1-45 Sec. 143.354. RECOGNITION OF POLICE EMPLOYEE GROUP. (a)
1-46 The public employer in accordance with this section may recognize a
1-47 police employee group as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent
1-48 for all of the police officers in the municipality, excluding the
1-49 department head and assistant department heads, unless recognition
1-50 of the police employee group is withdrawn by a majority of those
1-51 police officers, if the employee group submits a petition signed by
1-52 40 percent of:
1-53 (1) the number of police officers in the municipality
1-54 who voted in the last election held under Section 143.360 before
1-55 the petition is submitted, excluding the head of the department and
1-56 assistant department heads in the rank or classification
1-57 immediately below that of the department head; or
1-58 (2) the paid police officers in the municipality,
1-59 excluding the head of the department and assistant department heads
1-60 in the rank or classification immediately below that of the
1-61 department head, if an election under Section 143.360 has not been
1-62 held in the municipality.
1-63 (b) A petition submitted under Subsection (a) must clearly
1-64 show on each page the name of the police employee group circulating
2-1 the petition. A police officer who signs a petition submitted
2-2 under Subsection (a) may not be counted towards the 40 percent
2-3 requirement under that subsection unless that officer's printed
2-4 name and payroll number and the date of the signature are included
2-5 on the petition. The petition must be submitted to the municipal
2-6 secretary not later than the 60th day after the first date on which
2-7 a police officer signs the petition.
2-8 (c) Within the 30 days after the date the petition is
2-9 submitted, the municipal secretary shall verify the signatures on
2-10 the petition and, if the petition complies with this section, call
2-11 for the election. The election shall be conducted within 45 days
2-12 after the date on which the municipal secretary calls for the
2-13 election.
2-14 (d) An election required by this section shall be conducted
2-15 according to procedures agreed on by the parties. If the parties
2-16 are unable to agree on election procedures, either party may
2-17 request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the
2-18 election and to certify the results. Certification of the results
2-19 of an election under this subsection resolves the question
2-20 concerning representation. The police employee group shall pay the
2-21 costs of the election, except that if two or more police employee
2-22 groups seeking recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions
2-23 signed by a majority of the police officers eligible to sign the
2-24 petition, the police employee groups shall share equally the costs
2-25 of the election. A police employee group must make payments
2-26 required by this subsection not later than the 10th day before the
2-27 date of the election.
2-28 (e) The public employer's chief executive officer shall
2-29 designate a team to represent the public employer as its sole and
2-30 exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the police
2-31 department [SELECTION OF MAJORITY BARGAINING AGENT. (a) Not later
2-32 than January 31, 1998, representatives from each police employee
2-33 group shall meet to select the majority bargaining agent. The
2-34 majority bargaining agent must be selected unanimously.]
2-35 [(b) If the representatives of the police employee groups
2-36 fail to meet or are unable to reach a unanimous consensus as to a
2-37 majority bargaining agent before January 31, 1998, the selection of
2-38 a majority bargaining agent will be governed by Section 143.355].
2-39 SECTION 4. Section 143.357, Local Government Code, is
2-40 amended to read as follows:
2-41 Sec. 143.357. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a [majority]
2-42 bargaining agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or
2-43 prevent automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police
2-44 employee group because the group is or is not the [majority]
2-45 bargaining agent.
2-46 SECTION 5. Section 143.358, Local Government Code, is
2-47 amended to read as follows:
2-48 Sec. 143.358. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents relating
2-49 to an agreement between a [majority] bargaining agent and a public
2-50 employer shall be available to the public in accordance with state
2-51 statutes.
2-52 SECTION 6. Section 143.359(a), Local Government Code, is
2-53 amended to read as follows:
2-54 (a) A written agreement made under this subchapter between a
2-55 public employer and a [majority] bargaining agent [and approved by
2-56 the bargaining team] is enforceable and binding on the public
2-57 employer, the [majority] bargaining agent, police employee groups,
2-58 and the police officers covered by the agreement if:
2-59 (1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
2-60 agreement by a majority vote; and
2-61 (2) the agreement is ratified under Section 143.360.
2-62 SECTION 7. Section 143.360, Local Government Code, is
2-63 amended to read as follows:
2-64 Sec. 143.360. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
2-65 [majority] bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any
2-66 agreement reached with the public employer [if the agreement has
2-67 been approved by a majority of the bargaining team].
2-68 (b) All police officers of the municipality, other than the
2-69 department head and assistant department heads, are eligible to
3-1 vote in the election.
3-2 (c) The bargaining agent [team] shall establish procedures
3-3 for the election [by unanimous consensus].
3-4 (d) [If the bargaining team is unable to agree on procedures
3-5 for the election, any group represented on the bargaining team may
3-6 request that the American Arbitration Association conduct the
3-7 election and certify the results. Certification of the results of
3-8 an election resolves the question concerning ratification of an
3-9 agreement. All police employee groups represented on the
3-10 bargaining team shall share equally the expenses of the election.]
3-11 [(e)] A majority of all votes cast is required to ratify an
3-12 agreement.
3-13 SECTION 8. Sections 143.361(a) and (c), Local Government
3-14 Code, are amended to read as follows:
3-15 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter
3-16 between a public employer and the [majority] bargaining agent
3-17 supersedes a previous statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of
3-18 pay, hours of work, and other terms of employment other than
3-19 pension benefits to the extent of any conflict with the previous
3-20 statute.
3-21 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
3-22 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
3-23 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority of the votes
3-24 cast at the secret ballot election held by the [majority]
3-25 bargaining agent to ratify the agreement.
3-26 SECTION 9. Section 143.362, Local Government Code, is
3-27 amended to read as follows:
3-28 Sec. 143.362. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
3-29 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
3-30 municipality and the [majority] bargaining agent, a petition signed
3-31 by a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes
3-32 cast at the most recent mayoral general election in the
3-33 municipality may be presented to the municipal secretary calling an
3-34 election for the repeal of the agreement, in which event the
3-35 governing body shall reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not
3-36 repeal the agreement, it shall call an election of the qualified
3-37 voters to determine if they desire to repeal the agreement. The
3-38 election shall be held as part of the next regularly scheduled
3-39 municipal election or at a special election called by the governing
3-40 body for that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes
3-41 are cast in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement,
3-42 the agreement becomes void. The ballot shall be printed to provide
3-43 for voting for or against the proposition:
3-44 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
3-45 municipality and the police officers of the municipality concerning
3-46 wages, salaries, rates of pay, certain benefits, hours of work, and
3-47 other terms of employment."
3-48 SECTION 10. Section 143.363(a), Local Government Code, is
3-49 amended to read as follows:
3-50 (a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to either the
3-51 civil service commission or a hearing examiner, all police officers
3-52 have the right to choose to be represented by any person of their
3-53 choice or by the police employee group selected as the [majority]
3-54 bargaining agent.
3-55 SECTION 11. Sections 143.355 and 143.356, Local Government
3-56 Code, are repealed.
3-57 SECTION 12. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
3-58 (b) The change in law made by this Act does not affect the
3-59 validity of an election held, agreement made, or action taken under
3-60 Subchapter J, Chapter 143, Local Government Code, before the
3-61 effective date of this Act.
3-62 (c) A police employee group that is a majority bargaining
3-63 agent, as defined by Section 143.352, Local Government Code,
3-64 immediately before the effective date of this Act becomes the
3-65 bargaining agent for the purposes of Section 143.352, Local
3-66 Government Code, as amended by this Act, on the effective date of
3-67 this Act, and is considered the recognized sole and exclusive
3-68 bargaining agent under Section 143.354, Local Government Code, as
3-69 amended by this Act, until another sole and exclusive bargaining
4-1 agent is recognized in accordance with Section 143.354.
4-2 * * * * *