Senate File 2313 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 2313
BY DONAHUE
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to employment matters involving public
2 employees including collective bargaining, educator
3 employment matters, personnel records and settlement
4 agreements, city civil service requirements, and
5 health insurance matters, and including effective date,
6 applicability, and transition provisions.
7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 DIVISION I
2 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
3 Section 1. Section 20.3, subsections 11 and 13, Code 2024,
4 are amended by striking the subsections.
5 Sec. 2. Section 20.6, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
6 to read as follows:
7 1. Administer Interpret, apply, and administer the
8 provisions of this chapter and delegate the powers and duties
9 of the board to the executive director or persons employed by
10 the board, as appropriate.
11 Sec. 3. Section 20.6, subsections 6 and 7, Code 2024, are
12 amended by striking the subsections.
13 Sec. 4. Section 20.7, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended
14 to read as follows:
15 2. Hire, evaluate, promote, demote, transfer, assign, and
16 retain public employees in positions within the public agency.
17 Sec. 5. Section 20.8, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended by
18 striking the subsection.
19 Sec. 6. Section 20.9, Code 2024, is amended by striking the
20 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
21 20.9 Scope of negotiations.
22 1. The public employer and the employee organization
23 shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings reasonably
24 in advance of the public employer’s budget-making process,
25 to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours,
26 vacations, insurance, holidays, leaves of absence, shift
27 differentials, overtime compensation, supplemental pay,
28 seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, health and
29 safety matters, evaluation procedures, procedures for staff
30 reduction, in-service training, and other matters mutually
31 agreed upon. Negotiations shall also include terms authorizing
32 dues checkoff for members of the employee organization and
33 grievance procedures for resolving any questions arising under
34 the agreement, which shall be embodied in a written agreement
35 and signed by the parties. If an agreement provides for dues
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1 checkoff, a member’s dues may be checked off only upon the
2 member’s written request and the member may terminate the dues
3 checkoff at any time by giving thirty days’ written notice.
4 Such obligation to negotiate in good faith does not compel
5 either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession.
6 2. Nothing in this section shall diminish the authority
7 and power of the department of administrative services, board
8 of regents’ merit system, Iowa public broadcasting board’s
9 merit system, or any civil service commission established by
10 constitutional provision, statute, charter, or special act to
11 recruit employees, prepare, conduct and grade examinations,
12 rate candidates in order of their relative scores for
13 certification for appointment or promotion or for other matters
14 of classification, reclassification, or appeal rights in the
15 classified service of the public employer served.
16 3. All retirement systems shall be excluded from the scope
17 of negotiations.
18 Sec. 7. Section 20.10, subsection 3, paragraph j, Code 2024,
19 is amended by striking the paragraph.
20 Sec. 8. Section 20.12, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended
21 to read as follows:
22 5. If an employee organization or any of its officers
23 is held to be in contempt of court for failure to comply
24 with an injunction pursuant to this section, or is convicted
25 of violating this section, the employee organization shall
26 be immediately decertified, shall cease to represent the
27 bargaining unit, shall cease to receive any dues by checkoff,
28 and may again be certified only after twenty-four twelve months
29 have elapsed from the effective date of decertification and
30 only if after a new petition for certification pursuant to
31 compliance with section 20.14 is filed and a new certification
32 election pursuant to section 20.15 is held. The penalties
33 provided in this section may be suspended or modified by the
34 court, but only upon request of the public employer and only
35 if the court determines the suspension or modification is in
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1 the public interest.
2 Sec. 9. Section 20.15, Code 2024, is amended by striking the
3 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
4 20.15 Elections.
5 1. Upon the filing of a petition for certification of an
6 employee organization, the board shall submit a question to
7 the public employees at an election in the bargaining unit
8 found appropriate by the board. The question on the ballot
9 shall permit the public employees to vote for no bargaining
10 representation or for any employee organization which has
11 petitioned for certification or which has presented proof
12 satisfactory to the board of support of ten percent or more of
13 the public employees in the appropriate unit.
14 2. If a majority of the votes cast on the question is
15 for no bargaining representation, the public employees in
16 the bargaining unit found appropriate by the board shall not
17 be represented by an employee organization. If a majority
18 of the votes cast on the question is for a listed employee
19 organization, then that employee organization shall represent
20 the public employees in the bargaining unit found appropriate
21 by the board.
22 3. If none of the choices on the ballot receive the vote
23 of a majority of the public employees voting, the board shall
24 conduct a runoff election among the two choices receiving the
25 greatest number of votes.
26 4. Upon written objections filed by any party to the
27 election within ten days after notice of the results of
28 the election, if the board finds that misconduct or other
29 circumstances prevented the public employees eligible to
30 vote from freely expressing their preferences, the board may
31 invalidate the election and hold a second election for the
32 public employees.
33 5. Upon completion of a valid election in which the majority
34 choice of the employees voting is determined, the board shall
35 certify the results of the election and shall give reasonable
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1 notice of the order to all employee organizations listed on the
2 ballot, the public employers, and the public employees in the
3 appropriate bargaining unit.
4 6. a. A petition for certification as exclusive bargaining
5 representative of a bargaining unit shall not be considered
6 by the board for a period of one year from the date of the
7 noncertification of an employee organization as the exclusive
8 bargaining representative of that bargaining unit following a
9 certification election. A petition for certification as the
10 exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit shall
11 also not be considered by the board if the bargaining unit is
12 at that time represented by a certified exclusive bargaining
13 representative.
14 b. A petition for the decertification of the exclusive
15 bargaining representative of a bargaining unit shall not be
16 considered by the board for a period of one year from the date
17 of its certification, or within one year of its continued
18 certification following a decertification election, or during
19 the duration of a collective bargaining agreement which, for
20 purposes of this section, shall be deemed not to exceed two
21 years. However, if a petition for decertification is filed
22 during the duration of a collective bargaining agreement, the
23 board shall award an election under this section not more than
24 one hundred eighty days and not less than one hundred fifty
25 days prior to the expiration of the collective bargaining
26 agreement. If an employee organization is decertified, the
27 board may receive petitions under section 20.14, provided that
28 no such petition and no election conducted pursuant to such
29 petition within one year from decertification shall include as
30 a party the decertified employee organization.
31 c. A collective bargaining agreement with the state, its
32 boards, commissions, departments, and agencies shall be for two
33 years. The provisions of a collective bargaining agreement or
34 arbitrator’s award affecting state employees shall not provide
35 for renegotiations which would require the refinancing of
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1 salary and fringe benefits for the second year of the term of
2 the agreement, except as provided in section 20.17, subsection
3 6. The effective date of any such agreement shall be July 1 of
4 odd-numbered years, provided that if an exclusive bargaining
5 representative is certified on a date which will prevent the
6 negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement prior to
7 July 1 of odd-numbered years for a period of two years, the
8 certified collective bargaining representative may negotiate
9 a one-year contract with the public employer which shall be
10 effective from July 1 of the even-numbered year to July 1
11 of the succeeding odd-numbered year when new contracts shall
12 become effective.
13 Sec. 10. Section 20.17, subsection 8, Code 2024, is amended
14 by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu thereof the
15 following:
16 8. The salaries of all public employees of the state under
17 a merit system and all other fringe benefits which are granted
18 to all public employees of the state shall be negotiated with
19 the governor or the governor’s designee on a statewide basis,
20 except those benefits which are not subject to negotiations
21 pursuant to the provisions of section 20.9.
22 Sec. 11. Section 20.17, Code 2024, is amended by adding the
23 following new subsection:
24 NEW SUBSECTION. 8A. A public employee or any employee
25 organization shall not negotiate or attempt to negotiate
26 directly with a member of the governing board of a public
27 employer if the public employer has appointed or authorized
28 a bargaining representative for the purpose of bargaining
29 with the public employees or their representative, unless the
30 member of the governing board is the designated bargaining
31 representative of the public employer.
32 Sec. 12. Section 20.22, subsections 2, 3, 7, 9, and 10, Code
33 2024, are amended to read as follows:
34 2. Each party shall serve its final offer on each of
35 the impasse items upon the other party within four days of
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1 the board’s receipt of the request for arbitration, or by a
2 deadline otherwise agreed upon by the parties. The parties may
3 continue to negotiate all offers until an agreement is reached
4 or an award is rendered by the arbitrator. The full costs of
5 arbitration under this section shall be shared equally by the
6 parties to the dispute.
7 3. The submission of the impasse items to the arbitrator
8 shall be limited to those items upon which the parties have
9 not reached agreement. With respect to each such item, the
10 arbitrator’s award shall be restricted to the final offers on
11 each impasse item submitted by the parties to the arbitrator,
12 except as provided in subsection 10, paragraph “b”.
13 7. For an arbitration involving a bargaining unit that
14 has at least thirty percent of members who are public safety
15 employees, the The arbitrator shall consider and specifically
16 address in the arbitrator’s determination, in addition to any
17 other relevant factors, the following factors:
18 a. Past collective bargaining contracts between the parties
19 including the bargaining that led up to such contracts.
20 b. Comparison of wages, hours, and conditions of employment
21 of the involved public employees with those of other public
22 employees doing comparable work, giving consideration to
23 factors peculiar to the area and the classifications involved.
24 c. The interests and welfare of the public, the ability of
25 the public employer to finance economic adjustments, and the
26 effect of such adjustments on the normal standard of services.
27 d. The power of the public employer to levy taxes and
28 appropriate funds for the conduct of its operations.
29 9. a. The arbitrator may administer oaths, examine
30 witnesses and documents, take testimony and receive evidence,
31 and issue subpoenas to compel the attendance of witnesses and
32 the production of records. The arbitrator may petition the
33 district court at the seat of government or of the county
34 in which the hearing is held to enforce the order of the
35 arbitrator compelling the attendance of witnesses and the
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1 production of records.
2 b. Except as required for purposes of the consideration of
3 the factors specified in subsection 7, paragraphs “a” through
4 “c”, and subsection 8, paragraph “a”, subparagraphs (1) through
5 (3), the parties shall not introduce, and the arbitrator
6 shall not accept or consider, any direct or indirect evidence
7 regarding any subject excluded from negotiations pursuant to
8 section 20.9.
9 10. a. The arbitrator shall select within fifteen
10 days after the hearing the most reasonable offer, in the
11 arbitrator’s judgment, of the final offers on each impasse item
12 submitted by the parties.
13 b. (1) However, for an arbitration involving a bargaining
14 unit that does not have at least thirty percent of members who
15 are public safety employees, with respect to any increase in
16 base wages, the arbitrator’s award shall not exceed the lesser
17 of the following percentages in any one-year period in the
18 duration of the bargaining agreement:
19 (a) Three percent.
20 (b) A percentage equal to the increase in the consumer
21 price index for all urban consumers for the midwest region,
22 if any, as determined by the United States department of
23 labor, bureau of labor statistics, or a successor index. Such
24 percentage shall be the change in the consumer price index
25 for the twelve-month period beginning eighteen months prior
26 to the month in which the impasse item regarding base wages
27 was submitted to the arbitrator and ending six months prior to
28 the month in which the impasse item regarding base wages was
29 submitted to the arbitrator.
30 (2) To assist the parties in the preparation of their final
31 offers on an impasse item regarding base wages, the board
32 shall provide information to the parties regarding the change
33 in the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the
34 midwest region for any twelve-month period. The department of
35 workforce development shall assist the board in preparing such
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1 information upon request.
2 Sec. 13. Section 20.22, subsection 8, Code 2024, is amended
3 by striking the subsection.
4 Sec. 14. Section 20.26, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended
5 to read as follows:
6 4. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
7 voluntary contributions by individuals to political parties
8 or candidates, provided that such contributions are not made
9 through payroll deductions.
10 Sec. 15. Section 20.29, Code 2024, is amended to read as
11 follows:
12 20.29 Filing agreement —— public access —— internet site.
13 1. Collective bargaining agreements shall be in writing and
14 shall be signed by the parties.
15 2. A copy of a collective bargaining agreement entered into
16 between a public employer and a certified employee organization
17 and made final under this chapter shall be filed with the board
18 by the public employer within ten days of the date on which the
19 agreement is entered into.
20 3. Copies of collective bargaining agreements entered
21 into between the state and the state employees’ bargaining
22 representatives and made final under this chapter shall be
23 filed with the secretary of state and be made available to the
24 public at cost.
25 4. The board shall maintain an internet site that allows
26