H-3120.3
SECOND SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2325
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By House Appropriations (originally sponsored by Representatives
Fitzgibbon, Riccelli, Berry, Walen, Gregerson, Bateman, Doglio,
Nance, Ramel, Macri, Pollet, and Ormsby)
READ FIRST TIME 02/05/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to state legislative employee collective
2 bargaining; amending RCW 44.90.020, 44.90.030, 44.90.050, 44.90.060,
3 44.90.070, 44.90.080, 44.90.090, 41.58.010, 41.58.015, 42.52.020, and
4 42.52.160; adding new sections to chapter 44.90 RCW; adding a new
5 section to chapter 41.58 RCW; providing an effective date; and
6 declaring an emergency.
7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
8 Sec. 1. RCW 44.90.020 and 2022 c 283 s 3 are each amended to
9 read as follows:
10 The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter
11 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
12 (1) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual
13 obligations of the employer and the exclusive bargaining
14 representative to meet at reasonable times, except that neither party
15 may be compelled to negotiate during a legislative session or on
16 committee assembly days, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and
17 to execute a written agreement with respect to the subjects of
18 bargaining specified under RCW 44.90.090. The obligation to bargain
19 does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or to make a
20 concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
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 1 (2) "Commission" means the legislative commission created in
2 section 17 of this act at the public employment relations commission.
3 (((2))) (3) "Confidential employee" means an employee designated
4 by the employer to assist in a confidential capacity, or serve as
5 counsel to, persons who formulate, determine, and effectuate employer
6 policies with regard to labor relations and personnel matters or who
7 has authorized access to information relating to the effectuation or
8 review of the employer's collective bargaining policies, strategies,
9 or process to the extent that such access creates a conflict of
10 interest, or who assists or aids an employee with managerial
11 authority.
12 (4) "Director" means the director of the office of state
13 legislative labor relations.
14 (((3))) (5)(a) "Employee" means:
15 (i) Any regular partisan employee of the house of representatives
16 or the senate who is covered by this chapter; and
17 (ii) Any regular employee who is staff of the:
18 (A) Office of legislative support services;
19 (B) Legislative service center;
20 (C) Office of the code reviser who, during any legislative
21 session, does not work full time on drafting and finalizing
22 legislative bills to be included in the Revised Code of Washington;
23 and
24 (D) House of representatives and senate administrations.
25 (b) "Employee" also includes temporary staff hired to perform
26 substantially similar work to that performed by employees included
27 under (a) of this subsection.
28 (c) All other regular employees and temporary employees,
29 including casual employees, interns, and pages, and employees in the
30 office of program research and senate committee services work groups
31 of the house of representatives and the senate are excluded from the
32 definition of "employee" for the purposes of this chapter.
33 (6) "Employee organization" means any organization, union, or
34 association in which employees participate and that exists for the
35 purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining with
36 employers.
37 (((4))) (7) "Employee with managerial authority" means any
38 employee designated by the employer who, regardless of job title: (a)
39 Directs the staff who work for a legislative chamber, caucus, agency,
40 or subdivision thereof; (b) has substantial responsibility in
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 1 personnel administration, or the preparation and administration of
2 the employer's budgets; and (c) exercises authority that is not
3 merely routine or clerical in nature and requires the use of
4 independent judgment.
5 (8) "Employer" means:
6 (a) The chief clerk of the house of representatives, or the chief
7 clerk's designee, for employees of the house of representatives;
8 (b) The secretary of the senate, or the secretary's designee, for
9 employees of the senate; and
10 (c) The chief clerk of the house of representatives and the
11 secretary of the senate, acting jointly, or their designees, for the
12 regular employees who are staff of the office of legislative support
13 services, the legislative service center, and the office of the code
14 reviser.
15 (9) "Exclusive bargaining representative" means any employee
16 organization that has been certified under this chapter as the
17 representative of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit.
18 (((5))) (10) "Labor dispute" means any controversy concerning
19 terms, tenure, or conditions of employment, or concerning the
20 association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing,
21 maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of
22 employment with respect to the subjects of bargaining provided in
23 this chapter, regardless of whether the disputants stand in the
24 proximate relation of employer and employee.
25 (11) "Legislative agencies" means the joint legislative audit and
26 review committee, the statute law committee, the legislative ethics
27 board, the legislative evaluation and accountability program
28 committee, the office of the state actuary, the legislative service
29 center, the office of legislative support services, the joint
30 transportation committee, and the redistricting commission.
31 (((6))) (12) "Office" means the office of state legislative labor
32 relations.
33 (13) "Supervisor" means an employee designated by the employer to
34 provide supervision to and have authority over legislative employees
35 on an ongoing basis as part of the supervisor's regular and usual job
36 duties. Supervision includes the authority to direct employees,
37 approve and deny leave, and effectively recommend decisions to hire,
38 transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, direct,
39 reward, or discipline employees, or to adjust employee grievances,
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 1 when the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine nature
2 but requires the exercise of individual judgment.
3 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 44.90
4 RCW to read as follows:
5 (1) This chapter does not apply to any legislative employee who
6 has managerial authority, is a confidential employee, or who does not
7 meet the definition of employee for the purpose of collective
8 bargaining.
9 (2) This chapter also does not apply to:
10 (a) Elected or appointed members of the legislature;
11 (b) Any person appointed to office under statute, ordinance, or
12 resolution for a specific term of office as a member of a multimember
13 board, commission, or committee;
14 (c) Caucus chiefs of staff and caucus deputy chiefs of staff;
15 (d) The speaker's attorney, house counsel, and leadership counsel
16 to the minority caucus of the house of representatives; and
17 (e) The counsel for the senate that provide direct legal advice
18 to the administration of the senate.
19 (3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the
20 employer has the sole and exclusive authority to designate
21 confidential employees, supervisors, and employees who have
22 managerial authority, except that those designated employees may not,
23 collectively, exceed 20 percent of the total employee positions of
24 the employer.
25 Sec. 3. RCW 44.90.030 and 2022 c 283 s 2 are each amended to
26 read as follows:
27 (1) The office of state legislative labor relations is created to
28 assist the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative
29 agencies in implementing and managing the process of collective
30 bargaining for employees of the legislative branch of state
31 government.
32 (2)(a) Subject to (b) of this subsection, the secretary of the
33 senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives shall
34 employ a director of the office. The director serves at the pleasure
35 of the secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of
36 representatives, who shall fix the director's salary.
37 (b) The secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house
38 of representatives shall, before employing a director, consult with
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 1 legislative employees, the senate facilities and operations
2 committee, the house executive rules committee, and the human
3 resources officers of the house of representatives, the senate, and
4 legislative agencies.
5 (c) The director serves as the executive and administrative head
6 of the office and may employ additional employees to assist in
7 carrying out the duties of the office. The duties of the office
8 include, but are not limited to, establishing bargaining teams and
9 conducting negotiations on behalf of the employer.
10 (((d) The director shall contract with an external consultant for
11 the purposes of gathering input from legislative employees, taking
12 into consideration RCW 42.52.020 and rules of the house of
13 representatives and the senate. The gathering of input must be in the
14 form of, at a minimum, surveys.
15 (3) The director, in consultation with the secretary of the
16 senate, the chief clerk of the house of representatives, and the
17 administrative heads of legislative agencies shall:
18 (a) Examine issues related to collective bargaining for employees
19 of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative
20 agencies; and
21 (b) After consultation with the external consultant, develop best
22 practices and options for the legislature to consider in implementing
23 and administering collective bargaining for employees of the house of
24 representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies.
25 (4)(a) By December 1, 2022, the director shall submit a
26 preliminary report to the appropriate committees of the legislature
27 that provides a progress report on the director's considerations.
28 (b) By October 1, 2023, the director shall submit a final report
29 to the appropriate committees of the legislature. At a minimum, the
30 final report must address considerations on the following issues:
31 (i) Which employees of the house of representatives, the senate,
32 and legislative agencies for whom collective bargaining may be
33 appropriate;
34 (ii) Mandatory, permissive, and prohibited subjects of
35 bargaining;
36 (iii) Who would negotiate on behalf of the house of
37 representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies, and which
38 entity or entities would be considered the employer for purposes of
39 bargaining;
40 (iv) Definitions for relevant terms;
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 1 (v) Common public employee collective bargaining agreement
2 frameworks related to grievance procedures and processes for
3 disciplinary actions;
4 (vi) Procedures related to the commission certifying exclusive
5 bargaining representatives, determining bargaining units,
6 adjudicating unfair labor practices, determining representation
7 questions, and coalition bargaining;
8 (vii) The efficiency and feasibility of coalition bargaining;
9 (viii) Procedures for approving negotiated collective bargaining
10 agreements;
11 (ix) Procedures for submitting requests for funding to the
12 appropriate legislative committees if appropriations are necessary to
13 implement provisions of the collective bargaining agreements; and
14 (x) Approaches taken by other state legislatures that have
15 authorized collective bargaining for legislative employees.
16 (5) The report must include a summary of any statutory changes
17 needed to address the considerations listed in subsection (4) of this
18 section related to the collective bargaining process for legislative
19 employees.))
20 NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 44.90
21 RCW to read as follows:
22 (1) As provided by this chapter, the commission or the court
23 shall determine all questions described by this chapter as under the
24 commission's authority. However, such authority may not result in an
25 order or rule that intrudes upon or interferes with the legislature's
26 core function of efficient and effective law making or the essential
27 operation of the legislature, including that an order or rule may
28 not:
29 (a) Modify any matter relating to the qualifications and
30 elections of members of the legislature, or the holding of office of
31 members of the legislature;
32 (b) Modify any matter relating to the legislature or each house
33 thereof choosing its officers, adopting rules for its proceedings,
34 selecting committees necessary for the conduct of business,
35 considering or enacting legislation, or otherwise exercising the
36 legislative power of this state;
37 (c) Modify any matter relating to legislative calendars,
38 schedules, and deadlines of the legislature; or
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1 (d) Modify laws, rules, policies, or procedures regarding ethics
2 or conflicts of interest.
3 (2) No member of the legislature may be compelled by subpoena or
4 other means to attend a proceeding related to matters covered by this
5 chapter during a legislative session, committee assembly days, or for
6 15 days before commencement of each session.
7 Sec. 5. RCW 44.90.050 and 2022 c 283 s 5 are each amended to
8 read as follows:
9 (1) Except as may be specifically limited by this chapter,
10 legislative employees shall have the right to self-organization, to
11 form, join, or assist employee organizations, and to bargain
12 collectively through representatives of their own choosing for the
13 purpose of collective bargaining free from interference, restraint,
14 or coercion. Legislative employees shall also have the right to
15 refrain from any or all such activities.
16 (2) Except as may be specifically limited by this chapter, the
17 commission shall determine all questions pertaining to ascertaining
18 exclusive bargaining representatives for legislative employees and
19 collectively bargaining under this chapter. However, no employee
20 organization shall be recognized or certified as the exclusive
21 bargaining representative of a bargaining unit of employees of the
22 legislative branch unless it receives the votes of a majority of
23 employees in the petitioned for bargaining unit voting in a secret
24 election ((by mail ballot)) administered by the commission. The
25 commission's process must allow for an employee, group of employees,
26 employee organizations, employer, or their agents to have the right
27 to petition on any question concerning representation.
28 (3) ((The employer and the exclusive bargaining representative of
29 a bargaining unit of legislative employees may not enter into a
30 collective bargaining agreement that requires the employer to deduct,
31 from the salary or wages of an employee, contributions for payments
32 for political action committees sponsored by employee organizations
33 with legislative employees as members.)) The commission must adopt
34 rules that provide for at least the following:
35 (a) Secret balloting;
36 (b) Consulting with employee organizations;
37 (c) Access to lists of employees, job titles, work locations, and
38 home mailing addresses;
39 (d) Absentee voting;
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 1 (e) Procedures for the greatest possible participation in voting;
2 (f) Campaigning on the employer's property during working hours;
3 and
4 (g) Election observers.
5 (4)(a) If an employee organization has been certified as the
6 exclusive bargaining representative of the employees of multiple
7 bargaining units, the employee organization may act for and negotiate
8 a master collective bargaining agreement that includes within the
9 coverage of the agreement all covered employees in the bargaining
10 units.
11 (b) If a master collective bargaining agreement is in effect for
12 the newly certified exclusive bargaining representative, it applies
13 to the bargaining unit for which the new certification has been
14 issued. Nothing in this subsection (4)(b) requires the parties to
15 engage in new negotiations during the term of that agreement.
16 (5) The certified exclusive bargaining representative is
17 responsible for representing the interests of all the employees in
18 the bargaining unit. This section may not be construed to limit an
19 exclusive bargaining representative's right to exercise its
20 discretion to refuse to process grievances of employees that are
21 unmeritorious.
22 (6) No question concerning representation may be ra