READ FIRST TIME 02/06/04.   

     AN ACT Relating to clarifying collective bargaining processes for individual providers; amending RCW 74.39A.270, 74.39A.300, 74.39A.901, 41.56.030, and 41.56.113; adding a new section to chapter 41.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.01 RCW; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 74.39A.270 and 2002 c 3 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Solely for the purposes of collective bargaining and as expressly limited under subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the ((authority)) governor is the public employer, as defined in chapter 41.56 RCW, of individual providers, who, solely for the purposes of collective bargaining, are public employees((,)) as defined in chapter 41.56 RCW((, of the authority)). To accommodate the role of the state as payor for the community-based services provided under this chapter and to ensure coordination with state employee collective bargaining under chapter 41.80 RCW and the coordination necessary to implement RCW 74.39A.300, the public employer shall be represented for bargaining purposes by the governor or the governor's designee appointed under chapter 41.80 RCW. The governor or governor's designee shall periodically consult with the authority during the collective bargaining process to allow the authority to communicate issues relating to the long-term in-home care services received by consumers.
     (2) Chapter 41.56 RCW governs the ((employment)) collective bargaining relationship between the ((authority)) governor and individual providers, except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter ((3, Laws of 2002)) and except as follows:
     (a) The only unit appropriate for the purpose of collective bargaining under RCW 41.56.060 is a statewide unit of all individual providers;
     (b) The showing of interest required to request an election under RCW 41.56.060 is ten percent of the unit, and any intervener seeking to appear on the ballot must make the same showing of interest;
     (c) The mediation and interest arbitration provisions of RCW 41.56.430 through 41.56.470 and 41.56.480 apply, except that:
     (i) With respect to commencement of negotiations between the governor and the bargaining representative of individual providers, negotiations shall be commenced by May 1st of any year prior to the year in which an existing collective bargaining agreement expires;
     (ii) With respect to factors to be taken into consideration by an interest arbitration panel, the panel shall consider the financial ability of the state to pay for the compensation and fringe benefit provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and
     (iii) The decision of the arbitration panel is not binding on the legislature and, if the legislature does not approve the request for funds necessary to implement the compensation and fringe benefit provisions of the arbitrated collective bargaining agreement, is not binding on the authority or the state;
     (d) Individual providers do not have the right to strike; and
     (e) Individual providers who are related to, or family members of, consumers or prospective consumers are not, for that reason, exempt from this chapter ((3, Laws of 2002)) or chapter 41.56 RCW.
     (3) Individual providers who are public employees ((of the authority)) solely for the purposes of collective bargaining under subsection (1) of this section are not, for that reason, employees of the state, its political subdivisions, or an area agency on aging for any purpose. Chapter 41.56 RCW applies only to the governance of the collective bargaining relationship between the employer and individual providers as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.
     (4) Consumers and prospective consumers retain the right to select, hire, supervise the work of, and terminate any individual provider providing services to them. Consumers may elect to receive long-term in-home care services from individual providers who are not referred to them by the authority.
     (5) In implementing and administering this chapter ((3, Laws of 2002)), neither the authority nor any of its contractors may reduce or increase the hours of service for any consumer below or above the amount determined to be necessary under any assessment prepared by the department or an area agency on aging.
     (6) Except as expressly limited in this section and RCW 74.39A.300, the wages, hours, and working conditions of individual providers are determined solely through collective bargaining as provided in this chapter. No agency or department of the state, other than the authority, may establish policies or rules governing the wages or hours of individual providers. However, this subsection does not modify:
     (a) The department's authority to establish a plan of care for each consumer and to determine the hours of care that each consumer is eligible to receive;
     (b) The department's authority to terminate its contracts with individual providers who are not adequately meeting the needs of a particular consumer, or to deny a contract under RCW 74.39A.095(8);
     (c) The consumer's right to assign hours to one or more individual providers selected by the consumer within the maximum hours determined by his or her plan of care;
     (d) The consumer's right to select, hire, terminate, supervise the work of, and determine the conditions of employment for each individual provider providing services to the consumer under this chapter;
     (e) The department's obligation to comply with the federal medicaid statute and regulations and the terms of any community-based waiver granted by the federal department of health and human services and to ensure federal financial participation in the provision of the services; and
     (f) The legislature's right to make programmatic modifications to the delivery of state services under this title, including standards of eligibility of consumers and individual providers participating in the programs under this title, and the nature of services provided. The governor shall not enter into, extend, or renew any agreement under this chapter that does not expressly reserve the legislative rights described in this subsection (6)(f).
     (7)(a) The state, the department, the authority, the area agencies on aging, or their contractors under this chapter ((3, Laws of 2002)) may not be held vicariously or jointly liable for the action or inaction of any individual provider or prospective individual provider, whether or not that individual provider or prospective individual provider was included on the authority's referral registry or referred to a consumer or prospective consumer. The existence of a collective bargaining agreement, the placement of an individual provider on the referral registry, or the development or approval of a plan of care for a consumer who chooses to use the services of an individual provider and the provision of case management services to that consumer, by the department or an area agency on aging, does not constitute a special relationship with the consumer.
     (b) The members of the board are immune from any liability resulting from implementation of this chapter ((3, Laws of 2002)).
     (((7))) (8) Nothing in this section affects the state's responsibility with respect to ((the state payroll system or)) unemployment insurance for individual providers. However, individual providers are not to be considered, as a result of the state assuming this responsibility, employees of the state.

Sec. 2   RCW 74.39A.300 and 2002 c 3 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon meeting the requirements of subsection (2) of this section, the governor must submit, as a part of the proposed biennial or supplemental operating budget submitted to the legislature under RCW 43.88.030, a request for funds necessary to administer chapter 3, Laws of 2002 and to implement ((any)) the compensation and fringe benefits provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into under RCW 74.39A.270 or for legislation necessary to implement ((any)) such agreement ((within ten days of the date on which the agreement is ratified or, if the legislature is not in session, within ten days after the next legislative session convenes)).
     (2) A request for funds necessary to implement the compensation and fringe benefits provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into under RCW 74.39A.270 shall not be submitted by the governor to the legislature unless such request:
     (a) Has been submitted to the director of financial management by October 1st prior to the legislative session at which the request is to be considered; and
     (b) Has been certified by the director of financial management as being feasible financially for the state or reflects the binding decision of an arbitration panel reached under RCW 74.39A.270(2)(c).
     (3) The legislature must approve or reject the submission of the request for funds as a whole. If the legislature rejects or fails to act on the submission, any such agreement will be reopened solely for the purpose of renegotiating the funds necessary to implement the agreement.
     (((2))) (4) When any increase in individual provider wages or benefits is negotiated or agreed to ((by the authority)), no increase in wages or benefits negotiated or agreed to under this chapter ((3, Laws of 2002)) will take effect unless and until, before its implementation, the department has determined that the increase is consistent with federal law and federal financial participation in the provision of services under Title XIX of the federal social security act.
     (((3))) (5) The governor shall periodically consult with the joint committee on employment relations established by RCW 41.80.010 regarding appropriations necessary to implement the compensation and fringe benefits provisions of any collective bargaining agreement and, upon completion of negotiations, advise the committee on the elements of the agreement and on any legislation necessary to implement such agreement.
     (6) After the expiration date of any collective bargaining agreement entered into under RCW 74.39A.270, all of the terms and conditions specified in any such agreement remain in effect until the effective date of a subsequent agreement, not to exceed one year from the expiration date stated in the agreement, except as provided in RCW 74.39A.270(6)(f).
     (7) If, after the compensation and benefit provisions of an agreement are approved by the legislature, a significant revenue shortfall occurs resulting in reduced appropriations, as declared by proclamation of the governor or by resolution of the legislature, both parties shall immediately enter into collective bargaining for a mutually agreed upon modification of the agreement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 41.04 RCW to read as follows:
     Individual providers, as defined in RCW 74.39A.240, are not employees of the state or any of its political subdivisions and are specifically and entirely excluded from all provisions of this title, except as provided in RCW 74.39A.270.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 43.01 RCW to read as follows:
     RCW 43.01.040 through 43.01.044 do not apply to individual providers under RCW 74.39A.220 through 74.39A.300.

Sec. 5   RCW 74.39A.901 and 1993 c 508 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     If any part of this ((act)) chapter or a collective bargaining agreement under this chapter is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this ((act)) chapter or the agreement is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this ((act)) chapter or the agreement in its application to the agencies concerned. The rules under this ((act)) chapter shall meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

Sec. 6   RCW 41.56.030 and 2002 c 99 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Public employer" means any officer, board, commission, council, or other person or body acting on behalf of any public body governed by this chapter, or any subdivision of such public body. For the purposes of this section, the public employer of district court or superior court employees for wage-related matters is the respective county legislative authority, or person or body acting on behalf of the legislative authority, and the public employer for nonwage-related matters is the judge or judge's designee of the respective district court or superior court.
     (2) "Public employee" means any employee of a public employer except any person (a) elected by popular vote, or (b) appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office as a member of a multimember board, commission, or committee, whether appointed by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (c) whose duties as deputy, administrative assistant or secretary necessarily imply a confidential relationship to (i) the executive head or body of the applicable bargaining unit, or (ii) any person elected by popular vote, or (iii) any person appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office as a member of a multimember board, commission, or committee, whether appointed by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (d) who is a court commissioner or a court magistrate of superior court, district court, or a department of a district court organized under chapter 3.46 RCW, or (e) who is a personal assistant to a district court judge, superior court judge, or court commissioner, or (f) excluded from a bargaining unit under RCW 41.56.201(2)(a). For the purpose of (e) of this subsection, no more than one assistant for each judge or commissioner may be excluded from a bargaining unit.
     (3) "Bargaining representative" means any lawful organization which has as one of its primary purposes the representation of employees in their employment relations with employers.
     (4) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual obligations of the public employer and the exclusive bargaining representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to grievance procedures and collective negotiations on personnel matters, including wages, hours and working conditions, which may be peculiar to an appropriate bargaining unit of such public employer, except that by such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
     (5) "Commission" means the public employment relations commission.
     (6) "Executive director" means the executive director of the commission.
     (7) "Uniformed personnel" means: (a) Law enforcement officers as defined in RCW 41.26.030 employed by the governing body of any city or town with a population of two thousand five hundred or more and law enforcement officers employed by the governing body of any county with a population of ten thousand or more; (b) correctional employees who are uniformed and nonuniformed, commissioned and noncommissioned security personnel employed in a jail as defined in RCW 70.48.020(5), by a county with a population of seventy thousand or more, and who are trained for and charged with the responsibility of controlling and maintaining custody of inmates in the jail and safeguarding inmates from other inmates; (c) general authority Washington peace officers as defined in RCW 10.93.020 employed by a port district in a county with a population of one million or more; (d) security forces established under RCW 43.52.520; (e) fire fighters as that term is defined in RCW 41.26.030; (f) employees of a port district in a county with a population of one million or more whose duties include crash fire rescue or other fire fighting duties; (g) employees of fire departments of public employers who dispatch exclusively either fire or emergency medical services, or both; or (h) employees in the several classes of advanced life support technicians, as defined in RCW 18.71.200, who are employed by a public employer.
     (8) "Institution of higher education" means the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, and the various state community colleges.
     (9) "Home care quality authority" means the authority under chapter 74.39A RCW.
     (10) "Individual provider" means an individual provider as defined in RCW 74.39A.240(4) who, solely for the purposes of collective bargaining, is ((employed by the home care quality authority)) a public employee as provided in RCW 74.39A.270.

Sec. 7   RCW 41.56.113 and 2002 c 99 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon the written authorization of an individual provider within the bargaining unit and after the certification or recognition of the bargaining unit's exclusive bargaining representative, the state as payor, but not as the employer, shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section, deduct from the payments to an individual provider the monthly amount of dues as certified by the secretary of the exclusive bargaining representative and shall transmit the same to the treasurer of the exclusive bargaining representative.
     (2) If the ((home care quality authority)) governor and the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit of individual providers enter into a collective bargaining agreement that:
     (a) Includes a union security provision authorized in RCW 41.56.122, the state as payor, but not as the employer, shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section, enforce the agreement by deducting from the payments to bargaining unit members the dues required for membership in the exclusive bargaining representative, or, for nonmembers thereof, a fee equivalent to the dues; or
     (b) Includes requirements for deductions of payments other than the deduction under (a) of this subsection, the state, as payor, but not as the employer, shall, subject to subsection (3) of this section, make such deductions upon written authorization of the individual provider.
     (3)(a) The initial additional costs to the state in making deductions from the payments to individual providers under this section shall be negotiated, agreed upon in advance, and reimbursed to the state by the exclusive bargaining representative.
     (b) The allocation of ongoing additional costs to the state in making deductions from the payments to individual providers under this section shall be an appropriate subject of collective bargaining between the exclusive bargaining representative and the ((home care quality authority)) governor unless prohibited by another statute. If no collective bargaining agreement containing a provision allocating the ongoing additional cost is entered into between the exclusive bargaining representative and the ((home care quality authority)) governor, or if the legislature does not approve funding for the collective bargaining agreement as provided in RCW 74.39A.300, the ongoing additional costs to the state in making deductions from the payments to individual providers under this section shall be negotiated, agreed upon in advance, and reimbursed to the state by the exclusive bargaining representative.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.