BILL ANALYSIS ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2331| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 2331 Author: Skinner (D) Amended: 6/29/10 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 4-0, 6/22/10 AYES: Corbett, Harman, Hancock, Leno NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters ASSEMBLY FLOOR : Not relevant SUBJECT : Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act SOURCE : California Professional Firefighters DIGEST : This bill amends the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act relative to a memorandum of understanding and administrative appeals. ANALYSIS : Existing law, the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act, provides a set of rights and procedural protections to specified firefighters. The Act requires an administrative appeal instituted by a firefighter under the act to be conducted in conformance with rules and procedures adopted by the employing department or licensing or certifying agency that are in accordance with specified provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. (Section 3254.5 of the Government Code) This bill specifies notwithstanding the above provision, if CONTINUED AB 2331 Page 2 the employing department is subject to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that provides for binding arbitration of administrative appeals, the arbitrator or arbitration panel shall serve as the hearing officer in accordance with Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 11500) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2. However, an MOU negotiated with an employing agency shall not control the process for administrative appeals instituted with licensing or certifying agencies. Any administrative appeal instituted with licensing or certifying agencies shall adhere to the requirements prescribed in existing law as described above. Background In 2007, the Legislature enacted AB 220 (Bass), Chapter 591, Statutes of 2007, which established the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights Act. In general, the Act specified the procedures to be followed whenever a firefighter is subject to investigation and interrogation for alleged misconduct which may result in punitive action, such as dismissal, demotion, suspension, salary reduction, written reprimand, transfer, or even temporary reassignment. Pursuant to the Act, a firefighter may bring suit in superior court for alleged violations of the act, and obtain appropriate injunctive or other extraordinary relief to remedy the violation and to prevent future violations. (Section 3260 of the Government Code) In addition, punitive action or denial of promotion on grounds other than merit may not be undertaken by any employing department or licensing or certifying agency against any firefighter who has successfully completed the probationary period without providing the firefighter with an opportunity for administrative appeal. (Section 3254 of the Government Code) The Act further provides that an administrative appeal instituted by a firefighter under the Act shall be conducted in conformance with rules and procedures adopted by the employing department or licensing or certifying agency that are in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act. (Section 3254.5 of the Government Code) This bill seeks to correct apparent conflicts between the provisions of the Act pertaining to administrative appeals CONTINUED AB 2331 Page 3 and existing MOUs. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/29/10) California Professional Firefighters (source) ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The bill's sponsor, the California Professional Firefighters, states: "Now that the Act has been in effect for a few years, firefighter organizations and their employers are realizing that the current application of the law may not clearly provide for an alternative, collectively-bargained appeals procedure. With that, it's evident that the provisions of the Act governing the administrative appeals process are in need of clarification - specifically, with respect to those jurisdictions that have effectively mitigated past appeals through a locally-adopted grievance arbitration procedure. Rather than strapping these jurisdictions with the hefty cost of revamping their appeals process to conform with the Office of Administrative Law rules under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) - costs that in many cases would be prohibitive given the current economic climate - there is a need to enable jurisdictions to utilize their existing, effective grievance arbitration appeals process as an acceptable alternative to the APA process." RJG:mw 6/29/10 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED