BILL NUMBER: AB 1606	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 9, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 13, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 17, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Perea
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Wieckowski and Williams)
   (Coauthor: Senator Lieu)

                        FEBRUARY 7, 2012

   An act to amend Section 3505.4 of the Government Code, relating to
public employment.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1606, Perea. Local public employee organizations: impasse
procedures.
   The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act contains various provisions that
govern collective bargaining of local represented employees, and
delegates jurisdiction to the Public Employment Relations Board to
resolve disputes and enforce the statutory duties and rights of local
public agency employers and employees. The act requires the
governing body of a public agency to meet and confer in good faith
regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment
with representatives of recognized employee organizations.
   Under the act, if the representatives of the public agency and the
employee organization fail to reach an agreement, they may mutually
agree on the appointment of a mediator and equally share the cost. If
the parties reach an impasse, the act provides that a public agency
may unilaterally implement its last, best, and final offer. Existing
law further authorizes the employee organization, if the mediator is
unable to effect settlement of the controversy within 30 days of his
or her appointment, to request that the parties' differences be
submitted to a factfinding panel.
   This bill would instead authorize the employee organization to
request that the parties' differences be submitted to a factfinding
panel not sooner than 30 days or more than 45 days following the
appointment or selection of a mediator pursuant to the parties'
agreement to mediate or a mediation process required by a public
agency's local rules. The bill would also authorize an employee
organization, if the dispute was not submitted to mediation, to
request that the parties' differences be submitted to a factfinding
panel not later than 30 days following the date that either party
provided the other with a written notice of a declaration of impasse.
The bill would specify that the procedural right of an employee
organization to request a factfinding panel cannot be expressly or
voluntarily waived. The bill would also specify that its provisions
are intended to be technical and clarifying of existing law.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 3505.4 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   3505.4.  (a) The employee organization may request that the
parties' differences be submitted to a factfinding panel not sooner
than 30 days, but not more than 45 days, following the appointment or
selection of a mediator pursuant to the parties' agreement to
mediate or a mediation process required by a public agency's local
rules. If the dispute was not submitted to mediation, an employee
organization may request that the parties' differences be submitted
to a factfinding panel not later than 30 days following the date that
either party provided the other with a written notice of a
declaration of impasse. Within five days after receipt of the written
request, each party shall select a person to serve as its member of
the factfinding panel. The Public Employment Relations Board shall,
within five days after the selection of panel members by the parties,
select a chairperson of the factfinding panel.
   (b) Within five days after the board selects a chairperson of the
factfinding panel, the parties may mutually agree upon a person to
serve as chairperson in lieu of the person selected by the board.
   (c) The panel shall, within 10 days after its appointment, meet
with the parties or their representatives, either jointly or
separately, and may make inquiries and investigations, hold hearings,
and take any other steps it deems appropriate. For the purpose of
the hearings, investigations, and inquiries, the panel shall have the
power to issue subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of
witnesses and the production of evidence. Any state agency, as
defined in Section 11000, the California State University, or any
political subdivision of the state, including any board of education,
shall furnish the panel, upon its request, with all records, papers,
and information in their possession relating to any matter under
investigation by or in issue before the panel.
   (d) In arriving at their findings and recommendations, the
factfinders shall consider, weigh, and be guided by all the following
criteria:
   (1) State and federal laws that are applicable to the employer.
   (2) Local rules, regulations, or ordinances.
   (3) Stipulations of the parties.
   (4) The interests and welfare of the public and the financial
ability of the public agency.
   (5) Comparison of the wages, hours, and conditions of employment
of the employees involved in the factfinding proceeding with the
wages, hours, and conditions of employment of other employees
performing similar services in comparable public agencies.
   (6) The consumer price index for goods and services, commonly
known as the cost of living.
   (7) The overall compensation presently received by the employees,
including direct wage compensation, vacations, holidays, and other
excused time, insurance and pensions, medical and hospitalization
benefits, the continuity and stability of employment, and all other
benefits received.
   (8) Any other facts, not confined to those specified in paragraphs
(1) to (7), inclusive, which are normally or traditionally taken
into consideration in making the findings and recommendations.
   (e) The procedural right of an employee organization to request a
factfinding panel cannot be expressly or voluntarily waived.
  SEC. 2.  The Legislature finds and declares that the amendments to
Section 3505.4 of the Government Code made by this act are intended
to be technical and clarifying of existing law.