BILL NUMBER: AB 1659	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Butler

                        FEBRUARY 14, 2012

   An act to amend Section 3509 of the Government Code, relating to
public employment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1659, as introduced, Butler. Public Employment Relations Board:
powers and duties.
    Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB), which is charged with administering various collective
bargaining provisions. Under existing law, PERB has the power and
duty, among others, to order elections, conduct any election, adopt
rules, investigate an unfair practice charge, and to determine
whether the charge is justified and the appropriate remedy for the
unfair practice.
   Existing law also grants the employee relations commissions for
the County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles,
notwithstanding the above provisions, the power and responsibility to
take actions on recognition, unit determinations, elections, and all
unfair practices, and to issue determinations and orders as the
employee relations commissions deem necessary.
   This bill would grant the employee relations commissions for the
County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles the power and
authority to take the actions specified above only if those
commissions and their respective staff are independent of county and
city management, as described, and the commissions are not funded
within the same budget item that funds any other public office,
department, or agency within the county or city.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 3509 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   3509.  (a) The powers and duties of the board described in Section
3541.3 shall also apply, as appropriate, to this chapter and shall
include the authority as set forth in subdivisions (b) and (c).
Included among the appropriate powers of the board are the power to
order elections, to conduct any election the board orders, and to
adopt rules to apply in areas where a public agency has no rule.
   (b) A complaint alleging any violation of this chapter or of any
rules and regulations adopted by a public agency pursuant to Section
3507 or 3507.5 shall be processed as an unfair practice charge by the
board. The initial determination as to whether the charge of unfair
practice is justified and, if so, the appropriate remedy necessary to
effectuate the purposes of this chapter, shall be a matter within
the exclusive jurisdiction of the board, except that in an action to
recover damages due to an unlawful strike, the board shall have no
authority to award strike-preparation expenses as damages, and shall
have no authority to award damages for costs, expenses, or revenue
losses incurred during, or as a consequence of, an unlawful strike.
The board shall apply and interpret unfair labor practices consistent
with existing judicial interpretations of this chapter.
   (c) The board shall enforce and apply rules adopted by a public
agency concerning unit determinations, representation, recognition,
and elections.
   (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, the
employee relations commissions established by, and in effect for, the
County of Los Angeles and the City of Los Angeles pursuant to
Section 3507 shall have the power and responsibility to take actions
on recognition, unit determinations, elections, and all unfair
practices, and to issue determinations and orders as the employee
relations commissions deem necessary, consistent with and pursuant to
the policies of this chapter  ,  only if the
commissions and their respective staff are independent of county and
city management, and the commissions are not funded within the same
budget item that funds any other public office, department, or agency
within the county or city. Independence from city and county
management shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:  
   (1) The commission, and not the city or county management, shall
be the custodian of records of the commission.  
   (2) Once a budget is allocated to the commission, the commission
shall have the sole discretion on how to allocate its funds. 
    (3)     The commission, and not the city or
county management, shall have control over all employment issues
related to its staff and hearing officers .
   (e) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive, consistent
with, and pursuant to, the provisions of Sections 3500 and 3505.4,
superior courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over actions
involving interest arbitration, as governed by Title 9 (commencing
with Section 1280) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, when the
action involves an employee organization that represents
firefighters, as defined in Section 3251.
   (f) This section shall not apply to employees designated as
management employees under Section 3507.5.
   (g) The board shall not find it an unfair practice for an employee
organization to violate a rule or regulation adopted by a public
agency if that rule or regulation is itself in violation of this
chapter. This subdivision shall not be construed to restrict or
expand the board's jurisdiction or authority as set forth in
subdivisions (a) to (c), inclusive.