Bill Text: IA SF2270 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act concerning public employee organization elections conducted by the public employment relations board and including effective date and applicability provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-02-13 - Subcommittee: Schultz, Boulton, and Chapman. S.J. 308. [SF2270 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SF2270-Introduced.html

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Senate File 2270 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  BERTRAND

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act concerning public employee organization elections
  2    conducted by the public employment relations board and
  3    including effective date and applicability provisions.
  4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 5819XS (3) 87
    je/rj

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 20.15, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code
  1  2 2018, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    b.  (1)  If a majority of the public employees in the
  1  4 bargaining unit vote votes cast are for no bargaining
  1  5 representation, the public employees in the bargaining unit
  1  6 found appropriate by the board shall not be represented by an
  1  7 employee organization.
  1  8    (2)  If a majority of the public employees in the bargaining
  1  9 unit vote votes cast are for a listed employee organization,
  1 10 then that employee organization shall represent the public
  1 11 employees in the bargaining unit found appropriate by the
  1 12 board.
  1 13    (3)  If none of the choices on the ballot receive the
  1 14 vote of a majority of the public employees in the bargaining
  1 15 unit votes cast, the public employees in the bargaining unit
  1 16 found appropriate by the board shall not be represented by an
  1 17 employee organization.
  1 18    Sec. 2.  Section 20.15, subsection 2, Code 2018, is amended
  1 19 to read as follows:
  1 20    2.  Retention and recertification elections.
  1 21    a.  The Beginning January 1, 2020, the board shall conduct
  1 22 an election every five years to retain and recertify the
  1 23 bargaining representative of a each bargaining unit prior to
  1 24 the expiration of the bargaining unit's that is a party to
  1 25 a collective bargaining agreement.  The board shall schedule
  1 26 such an election for each bargaining unit that is a party to a
  1 27 collective bargaining unit as of January 1 of the calendar year
  1 28 in which the election will be conducted.  The board may stagger
  1 29 the dates of such elections throughout the calendar year.
  1 30  The question on the ballot shall be whether the bargaining
  1 31 representative of the public employees in the bargaining
  1 32 unit shall be retained and recertified as the bargaining
  1 33 representative of the public employees in the bargaining unit.
  1 34 For collective bargaining agreements with a June 30 expiration
  1 35 date, the election shall occur between June 1 and November
  2  1 1, both dates included, in the year prior to that expiration
  2  2 date. For collective bargaining agreements with a different
  2  3 expiration date, the election shall occur between three hundred
  2  4 sixty=five and two hundred seventy days prior to the expiration
  2  5 date.
  2  6    b.  (1)  If a majority of the public employees in the
  2  7 bargaining unit vote votes cast are to retain and recertify
  2  8 the representative, the board shall retain and recertify the
  2  9 bargaining representative and the bargaining representative
  2 10 shall continue to represent the public employees in the
  2 11 bargaining unit.
  2 12    (2)  If there is not a majority of the public employees
  2 13 in the bargaining unit do not vote votes cast to retain and
  2 14 recertify the representative, the board, after the period for
  2 15 filing written objections pursuant to subsection 4 has elapsed,
  2 16 shall immediately decertify the representative and the public
  2 17 employees shall not be represented by an employee organization
  2 18 except pursuant to the filing of a subsequent petition for
  2 19 certification of an employee organization as provided in
  2 20 section 20.14 and an election conducted pursuant to such
  2 21 petition. Such written objections and decertifications shall
  2 22 be subject to applicable administrative and judicial review.
  2 23    Sec. 3.  Section 20.15, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2018,
  2 24 is amended to read as follows:
  2 25    b.  (1)  If a majority of the public employees in the
  2 26 bargaining unit vote votes cast are to decertify the bargaining
  2 27 representative, the board, after the period for filing
  2 28 written objections pursuant to subsection 4 has elapsed,
  2 29 shall immediately decertify the representative and the public
  2 30 employees shall not be represented by an employee organization
  2 31 except pursuant to the filing of a subsequent petition for
  2 32 certification of an employee organization as provided in
  2 33 section 20.14 and an election conducted pursuant to such
  2 34 petition. Such written objections and decertifications shall
  2 35 be subject to applicable administrative and judicial review.
  3  1    (2)  If there is not a majority of the public employees in
  3  2 the bargaining unit do not vote votes cast to decertify the
  3  3 bargaining representative, the bargaining representative shall
  3  4 continue to represent the public employees in the bargaining
  3  5 unit.
  3  6    Sec. 4.  Section 20.15, subsection 5, Code 2018, is amended
  3  7 to read as follows:
  3  8    5.  Results certified.  Upon completion of a valid election
  3  9 in which the majority choice of the public employees in the
  3 10 bargaining unit voting in the election is determined, the
  3 11 board shall certify the results of the election and shall give
  3 12 reasonable notice of the order to all employee organizations
  3 13 listed on the ballot, the public employers, and the public
  3 14 employees in the appropriate bargaining unit.
  3 15    Sec. 5.  DIRECTIVE TO PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS BOARD.  The
  3 16 public employment relations board shall cancel any elections
  3 17 scheduled or in process pursuant to section 20.15, subsection
  3 18 2, paragraph "a", Code 2018, as of the effective date of this
  3 19 Act, that do not comply with the scheduling requirements of
  3 20 section 20.15, subsection 2, paragraph "a", as amended by this
  3 21 Act.
  3 22    Sec. 6.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate
  3 23 importance, takes effect upon enactment.
  3 24    Sec. 7.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies on and after
  3 25 the effective date of this Act to all elections carried out
  3 26 pursuant to section 20.15.
  3 27                           EXPLANATION
  3 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  3 29 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  3 30    This bill makes changes relating to public employee
  3 31 organization elections for collective bargaining units
  3 32 conducted by the public employment relations board pursuant to
  3 33 Code section 20.15.
  3 34    The bill changes the required percentage of support from
  3 35 public employees in a collective bargaining unit voting
  4  1 in a certification, retention and recertification, or
  4  2 decertification election for the question on the ballot to
  4  3 pass. Under current law, a question on a ballot in such an
  4  4 election will only pass if a majority of the members of the
  4  5 bargaining unit vote in support of the question. The bill
  4  6 provides that a question on a ballot will pass if a majority of
  4  7 the votes cast are in support of the question.
  4  8    The bill also changes the scheduling requirements for
  4  9 retention and recertification elections. Current law requires
  4 10 that such elections be scheduled a certain period of time prior
  4 11 to the expiration of each collective bargaining agreement. The
  4 12 bill requires that such elections be conducted every five years
  4 13 beginning January 1, 2020, for each bargaining unit that is a
  4 14 party to a collective bargaining unit as of January 1 of the
  4 15 year in which the elections will be held. The bill requires
  4 16 the public employment relations board to cancel any such
  4 17 elections scheduled as of the effective date of the bill that
  4 18 do not comply with the scheduling requirements of the bill.
  4 19    The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies to all
  4 20 elections carried out pursuant to Code section 20.15 on and
  4 21 after the effective date of the bill.
       LSB 5819XS (3) 87
       je/rj