LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE, 77th Regular Session April 10, 2001 TO: Honorable Frank Madla, Chair, Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations FROM: John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board IN RE: SB1635 by Bernsen (Relating to firefighter employee relations in certain political subdivisions; providing penalties.), As Introduced ************************************************************************** * No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. * ************************************************************************** The bill would require a political subdivision that employs firefighters to provide those employees with compensation and other conditions of employment that are substantially equal to the compensation and other conditions of employment that prevail in comparable employment in the private sector. If a public employer has reached an agreement with an association on compensation and conditions of employment, the employer would be considered in compliance with the statute. Under the provisions of the bill, firefighters employed by a political subdivision with a population of 10,000 or more would be allowed to organize and engage in collective bargaining with their employer regarding compensation, hours, and other conditions of employment. If it is necessary to conduct an election among the firefighters employed by the public employer to determine if an association representing the firefighters represents a majority of the firefighters, the employer would be required to pay election expenses unless two or more associations seek recognition as the bargaining agent. If arbitration becomes necessary in the collective bargaining process, the employer and the association representing the employees would be required to share the costs in even proportions. The association representing the firefighters would be prohibited from calling a strike or work slowdown and could be fined by a district court up to $20,000 and order to forfeit membership dues for up to 12 months. An agency would be prohibited from conducting a lockout of the firefighters and could be fined up to $2,000. Disputes between the employer and the firefighters would be required to be settled in district court. The statutes proposed in the bill would not apply to a municipality that operates under Subchapters H or I, Chapter 143, Local Government Code until after the expiration of an agreement ratified under those subchapters. The statutes would not apply to a political subdivision that operates under Chapter 174, Local Government Code. The bill would take effect on September 1, 2001. Local Government Impact Officials with the City of Amarillo anticipated that to bring their firefighters' pay to a level equivalent to the public sector would increase the city's costs by $149,150 per year. Officials from the City of San Marcos projected an annual increase in expenditures of at least $100,000 per year. A representative from the City of Addison estimated an increase in salaries and benefits paid to firefighters of at least 30 percent annually. For their firefighter staff of 58 FTEs, the increase would be $1,142,000 per year. The increase in salaries and benefits paid would vary by political subdivision, depending on the current level of pay for firefighters employed by the political subdivision, number of firefighters on staff, and agreed upon salaries and work conditions considered to be comparable to the public sector. Source Agencies: LBB Staff: JK, DB