HOUSE BILL REPORT

SHB 2849

As Passed House:

February 11, 2016

Title: An act relating to adding certain commissioned court marshals of city police departments to the definition of uniformed personnel for the purpose of public employees' collective bargaining.

Brief Description: Adding certain commissioned court marshals of city police departments to the definition of uniformed personnel for the purpose of public employees' collective bargaining.

Sponsors: House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards (originally sponsored by Representatives Goodman, Springer, Stambaugh, Sullivan and Kilduff).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:

Labor & Workplace Standards: 2/1/16, 2/2/16 [DPS].

Floor Activity:

Passed House: 2/11/16, 74-22.

Majority Report: The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass. Signed by 6 members: Representatives Sells, Chair; Gregerson, Vice Chair; Manweller, Ranking Minority Member; McCabe, Moeller and Ormsby.

Staff: Trudes Tango (786-7384).

Background:

Employees of cities, counties, and other political subdivisions of the state bargain their wages and working conditions under the Public Employee's Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA).

For certain uniformed personnel, the PECBA requires binding interest arbitration if negotiations for a contract reach impasse and cannot be resolved through mediation. Under interest arbitration, an impartial third-party arbitrator makes decisions as to the unresolved terms of the contract.

Uniformed personnel include, among others: firefighters; public employer fire department employees dispatching exclusively either fire or emergency medical services, or both; law enforcement officers in cities and counties of a certain size; general authority peace officers and firefighters employed by certain port districts; correctional employees employed in jails by counties with populations of 70,000 or more, and who are trained for and responsible for the custody of inmates; security forces at a nuclear power plant; publicly employed advanced life support technicians; and Washington State Patrol officers.

Last year, a bill was enacted that added county court marshals to the definition of uniformed personnel if they are employed by, trained for, and commissioned by the county sheriff and charged with enforcing laws and maintaining security in county-owned or contracted property, and they perform duties assigned to them by the county sheriff or by judicial order.

Summary of Substitute Bill:

The interest arbitration provisions for uniformed personnel are extended to court marshals of any city with a population of more than 400,000, who are commissioned by the city police department and employed by the city municipal court, who are charged with enforcing laws and maintaining security in any city-owned or contracted property, and who are performing duties assigned by the city police department or city municipal court or mandated by judicial order.

Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.

Staff Summary of Public Testimony:

(In support) This bill affects only the City of Seattle court marshals and there are about 15 of them. Last session there was a bill granting interest arbitration for King County court marshals. The City of Seattle court marshals do the same job as county marshals.  They are uniformed police officers. Their duties include protecting and serving all individuals of the court, transporting people from jails and prisons, and dealing with all levels of offenders.

(Opposed) None.

Persons Testifying: Representative Goodman, prime sponsor; and Scott Fuquay and Mike Overall, City of Seattle Marshals Guild.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.