BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2331|
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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
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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
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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
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