AN ACT CONCERNING THE UNIONIZATION OF NONPARTISAN LEGISLATIVE MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEES AND STATE EDUCATION RESOURCE CENTER EMPLOYEES.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 5-270 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):

When used in sections 5-270 to 5-280, inclusive:

(a) "Employer" means the state of Connecticut, its executive, legislative and judicial branches, including, without limitation, any board, department, commission, institution, or agency of such branches or any appropriate unit thereof and any board of trustees of a state-owned or supported college or university and branches thereof, public and quasi-public state corporation, or authority established by state law, or any person or persons designated by the employer to act in its interest in dealing with employees, but shall not include the State Board of Labor Relations or the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration.

(b) "Employee" means any employee of an employer, whether or not in the classified service of the employer, except (1) elected or appointed officials other than special deputy sheriffs, (2) board and commission members, (3) disability policy specialists assigned to the Council on Developmental Disabilities, (4) managerial employees, [and] (5) confidential employees, and (6) partisan staff members of the legislative branch of the State of Connecticut.

(c) "Professional employee" means: (1) Any employee engaged in work (A) predominantly intellectual and varied in character as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical or physical work; (B) involving the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment in its performance; (C) of such a character that the output produced or the result accomplished cannot be standardized in relation to a given time period; (D) requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study in an institution of higher learning or a hospital, as distinguished from a general academic education or from an apprenticeship or from training in the performance of routine mental, manual or physical processes; or (2) any employee who has completed the courses of specialized intellectual instruction and study described in subsection (c)(1)(D) and is performing related work under the supervision of a professional person to qualify himself to become a professional employee as defined in subsection (c)(1).

(d) "Employee organization" means any lawful association, labor organization, federation or council having as a primary purpose the improvement of wages, hours and other conditions of employment among state employees.

(e) "Confidential employee" means any public employee who would have access to confidential information used in collective bargaining.

(f) "Supervisory employee" means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by not fewer than two of the following: (1) Performing such management control duties as scheduling, assigning, overseeing and reviewing the work of subordinate employees; (2) performing such duties as are distinct and dissimilar from those performed by the employees supervised; (3) exercising judgment in adjusting grievances, applying other established personnel policies and procedures and in enforcing the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and (4) establishing or participating in the establishment of performance standards for subordinate employees and taking corrective measures to implement those standards, provided in connection with any of the foregoing the exercise of such authority is not merely of a routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment, and such individuals shall be employees within the meaning of subsection (b) of this section. The above criteria for supervisory positions shall not necessarily apply to police or fire departments.

(g) "Managerial employee" means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by not fewer than two of the following, provided for any position in any unit of the system of higher education, one of such two functions shall be as specified in subdivision (4) of this subsection: (1) Responsibility for direction of a subunit or facility of a major division of an agency or assignment to an agency head's staff; (2) development, implementation and evaluation of goals and objectives consistent with agency mission and policy; (3) participation in the formulation of agency policy; or (4) a major role in the administration of collective bargaining agreements or major personnel decisions, or both, including staffing, hiring, firing, evaluation, promotion and training of employees.

Sec. 2. Section 10-357a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):

(a) There is hereby established and created a body politic and corporate, constituting a public instrumentality and political subdivision of the state of Connecticut established and created to be a public educational authority acting on behalf of the state of Connecticut, to be known as the State Education Resource Center. The center shall not be construed to be a department, institution or agency of the state, except for purposes of chapter 68.

(b) (1) The powers of the center shall be vested in and exercised by a board of directors, which shall consist of the following members: (A) Four appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of both houses of the General Assembly; (B) two appointed by the State Board of Education, with the advice and consent of both houses of the General Assembly; (C) one appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; (D) one appointed by the majority leader of the Senate; (E) one appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; (F) one appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives; (G) one appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives; (H) one appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives; and (I) the Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee. Each member appointed by the Governor or the State Board of Education shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor but not longer than the term of office of the Governor or until the member's successor is appointed and qualified, whichever term is longer. Each member appointed by a member of the General Assembly shall serve in accordance with the provisions of section 4-1a. Any appointed member who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings of the board held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from the board. Each appointing authority shall make his or her initial appointment to the board not later than August 15, 2014. The first meeting of the board shall take place not later than September 15, 2014.

(2) The Governor shall appoint the chairperson of the board from among the members of such board with the advice and consent of both houses of the General Assembly. Such chairperson shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

(3) The chairperson shall, with the approval of the members of the board of directors, appoint an executive director of the center who shall be an employee of the center and paid a salary prescribed by the board. The executive director shall supervise the administrative affairs and technical activities of the center in accordance with the directives of the board.

(c) A majority of the appointed members of the board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business or the exercise of any power of the State Education Resource Center. For the transaction of any business or the exercise of any power of the center, and except as otherwise provided in this section and sections 10-357b to 10-357d, inclusive, as amended by this act, the center may act by a majority of the members present at any meeting at which a quorum is in attendance.

(d) Members shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be entitled to reimbursement for such members' actual and necessary expenses incurred during the performance of such members' official duties. Members may engage in private employment, or in a profession or business, subject to any applicable laws, rules and regulations of the state regarding official ethics or conflict of interest. It shall not constitute a conflict of interest for a trustee, director, partner or officer of any person, firm or corporation, or any individual having a financial interest in a person, firm or corporation, to serve as a member of the board of directors of the center, provided such trustee, director, partner, officer or individual shall comply with all applicable provisions of chapter 10.

Sec. 3. Section 10-357b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2015):

(a) The purposes of the State Education Resource Center, established pursuant to section 10-357a, as amended by this act, shall be to assist the State Board of Education in the provision of programs and activities that will promote educational equity and excellence. Such activities shall be limited to: Training, technical assistance and professional development for local and regional boards of education, school leaders, teachers, families and community partners in the form of seminars, publications, site visits, on-line content and other appropriate means; maintaining a state education resource center library; publication of technical materials; research and evaluation; writing, managing, administering and coordinating grants for the purposes described in this subsection; and any other related activities directly related to the purposes described in this subsection. The center may support programs and activities concerning early childhood education, in collaboration with the Office of Early Childhood, improving school and district academic performance, and closing academic achievement gaps between socio-economic subgroups, and other related programs and activities. For such purposes the center is authorized and empowered to:

(1) Have perpetual succession as a body politic and corporate and to adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(2) Adopt an official seal and alter the same at pleasure;

(3) Maintain an office at such place or places as it may designate;

(4) Sue and be sued in its own name and plead and be impleaded;

(5) (A) [Employ] As an employer, as defined in subsection (a) of section 5-270, as amended by this act, employ such assistants, agents and other employees as may be necessary or desirable who shall [not] be employees, as defined in subsection (b) of said section; [5-270;] (B) establish all necessary or appropriate personnel practices and policies, including those relating to hiring, promotion, compensation [,] and retirement, [and collective bargaining, which need not be in accordance with chapter 68, and the center shall not be an employer as defined in subsection (a) of section 5-270] unless such personnel practices and policies are otherwise subject to the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and (C) engage consultants, attorneys and appraisers as may be necessary or desirable to carry out its purposes in accordance with this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d;

(6) Receive and accept aid or contributions from any source of money, property, labor or other things of value, to be held, used and applied to carry out the purposes of this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d, subject to such conditions upon which such grants and contributions may be made, including, but not limited to, gifts or grants from any department, agency or instrumentality of the United States or this state for any purpose consistent with this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d;

(7) Make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the performance of its duties and the execution of its powers under this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d, including contracts and agreements for such professional services as the center deems necessary, including, but not limited to, those services provided by financial consultants, underwriters and technical specialists;

(8) Acquire, lease, purchase, own, manage, hold and dispose of personal property, and lease, convey or deal in or enter into agreements with respect to such property on any terms necessary or incidental to the carrying out of these purposes;

(9) Invest in, acquire, lease, purchase, own, manage, hold and dispose of real property and lease, convey or deal in or enter into agreements with respect to such property on any terms necessary or incidental to carrying out the purposes of this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d, provided such transactions shall be subject to approval, review or regulation by any state agency pursuant to title 4b or any other provision of the general statutes;

(10) Procure insurance against any liability or loss in connection with its property and other assets, in such amounts and from such insurers as it deems desirable and to procure insurance for employees;

(11) Account for and audit funds of the center and funds of any recipients of funds from the center;

(12) Hold patents, copyrights, trademarks, marketing rights, licenses, or any other evidences of protection or exclusivity as to any products as defined in this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d, issued under the laws of the United States or any state or any nation;

(13) Establish advisory committees to assist in accomplishing its duties under this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d, which may include one or more members of the board of directors and persons other than members; and

(14) Do all acts and things necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d, and the powers expressly granted by this section and sections 10-357a, as amended by this act, 10-357c and 10-357d.

(b) The State Education Resource Center shall establish a Connecticut School Reform Resource Center either within the State Education Resource Center or by contract through a regional educational service center, established pursuant to section 10-66a. The Connecticut School Reform Resource Center shall operate year-round and shall focus on serving the needs of all public schools. The Connecticut School Reform Resource Center shall (1) publish and distribute reports on the most effective practices for improving student achievement by successful schools; (2) provide a program of professional development activities for (A) school leaders, including curriculum coordinators, principals, superintendents and board of education members, and (B) teachers to educate students that includes research-based child development and reading instruction tools and practices; (3) provide information on successful models for evaluating student performance and managing student data; (4) develop strategies for assisting such students who are in danger of failing; (5) develop culturally relevant methods for educating students whose primary language is not English; and (6) provide other programs and materials to assist in the improvement of public schools.

(c) The State Education Resource Center shall be subject to (1) rules, regulations and restrictions on purchasing, procurement, personal service agreements and the disposition of assets generally applicable to Connecticut state agencies, including those contained in titles 4, 4a and 4b, section 4e-19, and (2) audit by the Auditors of Public Accounts under section 2-90.