BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 616
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Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 616 (Bocanegra) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
Policy Committee: PERSSVote:5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes to the Meyers-Milas-Brown Act (MMBA)
with respect to impasse procedures and fact-finding.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Provides that if either party disputes that a genuine impasse
has been reached, it may submit that dispute to PERB for
resolution. If PERB determines that a genuine impasse exists,
the parties' differences are subject to the remainder of the
fact finding procedures of the MMBA.
2)Maintains the existing rights of the County of Los Angeles and
the City of Los Angeles to amend its employee relations
commissions' rules and regulations providing for impasse
resolution procedures.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Based on the staffing that PERB estimated was necessary to
administer the bill, the fiscal impact of administering the
provisions of this bill is approximately $250,000.
2)Though the bill is not keyed a local mandate, there could be
state mandated reimbursement of local costs for the impasse
decisions. The amount would depend on the number of requests
for impasse. Reimbursable costs could be in the millions of
dollars. The Commission on State Mandates has approved a test
claim for any local government subject to the jurisdiction of
PERB that incurs increased costs as a result of a mandate,
meaning their costs are eligible for reimbursement. There are
several thousand local governments, many with dozens of
bargaining units that would be subject to the bill.
AB 616
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COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, when a public employer and
a public employee organization reach an impasse in collective
bargaining and the dispute has not been submitted to voluntary
mediation, the employee organization may request that the
parties' differences be submitted to a fact-finding panel not
later than 30 days following the date that either party
provided the other with a written notice of a declaration of
impasse. This bill was introduced because PERB has
interpreted this provision, in its regulations and its
administrative rulings, to require the employee organization
to make this request within 30 days of a declaration of
impasse, without regard to whether the employer and union have
in fact reached a genuine impasse in the negotiations. The
author argues this loophole could allow a public employer to
evade its duty to bargain in good faith by declaring impasse
prematurely or in bad faith.
2)Opposition . Opponents, including California State Association
of Counties, argue extending the time from 30 to 60 days for
the submission of differences to a fact-finding panel will do
nothing more than lengthen the negotiating period to the
benefit of the party interested in maintaining the status quo.
They also believe local rules adequately define impasse and
the procedures that follow.
3)Related legislation. AB 537 (Bonta) makes various changes to
the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) governing local public
employer and employee relations related to arbitration
agreements, mediation, ground rules, contract ratification,
and employee relations ordinances. AB 537 is pending in this
committee.
4)Previous legislation .
a) AB 1606 (Perea), Chapter 314, Statutes of 2012,
authorized an employee organization to request that the
parties' differences be submitted to a fact-finding panel
not sooner than 30 days, but not more than 45 days,
following the appointment of a mediator or entering into a
mediation process. If the dispute was not submitted to
mediation, an employee organization may request that the
parties' differences be submitted to a factfinding panel
AB 616
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not later than 30 days following the date either party
provided the other with written notice of a declaration of
impasse.
b) AB 646 (Atkins), Chapter 680, Statutes of 2011, allowed
local public employee organizations to request factfinding
if a mediator is unable to reach a settlement within 30
days of appointment, defines certain responsibilities of
the factfinding panel and interested parties, and made
specified exemptions from these provisions.
Analysis Prepared by : Roger Dunstan / APPR. / (916) 319-2081