BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2413

By: Anchia

Urban Affairs

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Police officers in certain municipalities have business leave time accounts for the purpose of attending to the business of an employee organization. Under current law, a police officer may donate up to two hours for each month of accumulated vacation or compensatory time to the business leave time account of an employee organization. The law requires the municipality to transfer the donated time to the business leave time account of the organization. However, there is no way for the employee organization to collectively pool vacation and compensatory time from its members to allow the members to attend to the business of the employee organization without losing pay.

C.S.H.B. 2413 provides for the donation of vacation or compensatory time to the business leave time account of a police officer employee organization as the result of an election by the membership of the organization.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2413 amends the Local Government Code to add provisions that only apply to police officers employed by a municipality with a population of one million or more that has not adopted the state law relating to fire and police employee relations and to which provisions relating to a legislative leave account of a fire fighter or police officer employee organization do not apply. The bill specifies two ways for members of a police officer employee organization to donate to the business leave time account of the organization. The bill provides that if the majority of the membership has not affirmatively voted to require contributions by the employee organization's members to its business leave time account, existing provisions requiring a police officer to authorize a donation in writing and the municipality to transfer the donated time to the account are in effect. The bill provides that if the majority of the membership of the employee organization has affirmatively voted to require contributions to its business leave time account,  the municipality is required to transfer donated time to the employee organization's business leave time account from the accumulated vacation or compensatory time of each police officer who is a member of the employee organization in the amount approved by vote of the employee organization not to exceed two hours for each month of accumulated vacation or compensatory time; the municipality is required to transfer the donated time to the account monthly beginning with the first calendar month that begins after the date of the employee organization vote requiring contributions; and each year, during the period beginning on the 60th day before the anniversary of the first day of the first calendar month in which donations were first transferred to the business leave time account of the employee organization and ending on the 30th day before that anniversary, a police officer who is a member of the employee organization may inform the municipality in writing on a form provided by the employee organization and approved by the municipality that the police officer chooses to not donate time to the account during the 12-month period beginning with that anniversary.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2009.

COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2413 adds provisions not in the original to specify the ways for a police officer to donate to the business leave time account of a police officer employee organization to include two processes for the donations, depending on whether the majority of the membership of the employee organization has or has not affirmatively voted to require contributions by its members to the account. The substitute requires time donated as the result of an affirmative vote of the membership of the organization to be transferred monthly, whereas the original required the transfer to be conducted annually.