BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1881
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Date of Hearing: May 7, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1881 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended: March 28, 2014
Policy Committee: PERSSVote:5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires appointments to an employee relations
commission in the City of Los Angeles or the County of Los
Angeles be made from a list of nominees jointly submitted by (i)
the chief executive or administrative officer of the City or
County and (ii) a committee composed of recognized employee
organizations; requires certain procedural changes to the timing
of appointments; and prohibits appointees, while serving on an
employee relations commission, from consulting, representing, or
advising on employee relations to any public or private employer
or employee organization.
The bill also prohibits the City or County, when contracting for
services with a commission member or hearing officer, from
requiring that person to agree to indemnify or hold harmless the
City or County or maintain specified liability or malpractice
insurance, and prohibits the City or County from withholding or
reducing payment for services of a commission member or hearing
officer after services have been rendered.
The bill specifies its provisions may be enforced by an action
for a writ of mandate.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor costs to the City of Los Angeles and County of Los Angeles
for compliance with appointment procedures, likely reimbursable
as state mandates.
COMMENTS
1) Purpose. Supporters of AB 1881 argue the commissioners of the
AB 1881
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City of Los Angeles' Employee Relations' Board (ERB) and the
Los Angeles County Employer Relation's Board (ERCOM) were
selected by a joint mutual selection process. They assert the
process was designed to ensure fairness and impartiality as
well as foster confidence and trust from labor and management.
Supporters claim that recent actions taken by the Mayor of Los
Angeles with respect to the ERB and the Los Angeles County
Board of Supervisors with respect to ERCOM have changed the
practice of selecting mutually-agreed neutral and impartial
commissioners. In addition, supporters claim the County
imposed a new condition requiring that hearing officers
indemnify and hold harmless the County from any decision
rendered that may adversely affect the County.
Supporters assert AB 1881 restores the historical joint mutual
selection process for commissioners and prohibits the unfair
labor practice of requiring hearing officers to hold harmless
and indemnify the governing body.
2) ERB and ERCOM. Under existing law, the Public Employee
Relations Board (PERB) is the administrative agency charged
with administering the collective bargaining statutes covering
most of California's state, municipal, and local employees.
However, the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles
each have their own employee relations commissions, and
employees are not covered by PERB.
The ERB and ERCOM have the power and responsibility to take
action on recognition, unit determinations, elections, and all
unfair practices, and to issue determinations and orders they
deem necessary for City and County employees, respectively.
In each case, the ERB and ERCOM exercise their authority to
administer the employee relations ordinances adopted by the
City and County, though they must still act in a manner
consistent with the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the state's
statutory framework for local government employer-employee
relations.
3) State vs local resolution. AB 1881 was proposed in response
to recent policy changes adopted at the City and County level
with respect to the appointment of members to ERB and ERCOM.
Given that these commissions operate independent from the
state's commission, PERB, it may be worth considering whether
this is the appropriate forum for resolving the issues created
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by the recent City and County actions, or whether this bill
unduly interferes with the legislative processes in those
jurisdictions or undermines the rationale behind exempting the
City and County of Los Angeles from PERB.
Analysis Prepared by : Joel Tashjian / APPR. / (916) 319-2081