Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003
Latest action · Nov 24, 2003 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 411.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 12, 2003
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003 - Provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments.
(Sec. 2) Sets forth a declaration of U.S. policy regarding the need for: (1) labor-management cooperation in public safety agencies; (2) encouraging conciliation, mediation, and voluntary arbitration to help public safety employers and employees reach and maintain agreements concerning pay rates, hours, and working conditions, and to negotiate to settle differences by mutual agreement reached though collective bargaining or other methods provided in an agreement for dispute settlement; and (3) providing minimal standards for collective bargaining negotiations in the public safety sector.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to determine whether State law provides specified rights and responsibilities for public safety officers, including: (1) granting public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees; and (2) requiring public safety employers to recognize and agree to bargain with the employees' labor organization.
(Sec. 5) Requires the FLRA to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that do not substantially provide for such public safety employee rights and responsibilities. Directs the FLRA, in such cases, to: (1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation; (2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive representative by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit; (3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good faith; (4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor practices; and (5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such FLRA regulations and authority through appropriate State courts.
(Sec. 6) Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes, or sick-outs, work slowdowns, or other actions designed to compel agreement to a proposed contract which will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services.
(Sec. 7) Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act.
(Sec. 8) Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to: (1) invalidate or limit the remedies, rights, and procedures of any State or local law that provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers that are equal to or greater than the rights provided under this Act; (2) prevent a State from enforcing a right-to-work law that prohibits employers and labor organizations from negotiating provisions in a labor agreement that require union membership or payment of union fees as a condition of employment; (3) invalidate any State law in effect on the date of enactment of this Act that substantially provides for the rights and responsibilities
Prohibits any State from preempting local government laws or ordinances that provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers that are equal to or greater than the rights provided under this Act.
(Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.
Cosponsors 28
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 12, 2003 to Sep 14, 2004; 15 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Barbara A. Mikulski | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-MA | Edward M. Kennedy | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-IN | Evan Bayh | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| R-OR | Gordon H. Smith | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-NM | Jeff Bingaman | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-MA | John F. Kerry | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-NJ | Jon S. Corzine | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-MN | Mark Dayton | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| R-OH | Mike DeWine | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| R-ME | Olympia J. Snowe | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-MD | Paul S. Sarbanes | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-IL | Richard J. Durbin | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| R-ME | Susan M. Collins | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-SD | Thomas A. Daschle | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
| D-IA | Tom Harkin | Original | Mar 12, 2003 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Referred Mar 12, 2003Markup Oct 2, 2003Reported Nov 24, 2003 |
Actions 6
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Nov 24, 2003Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Gregg without amendment. Without written report.
- Nov 24, 2003Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 411.
- Oct 2, 2003Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
- Mar 12, 2003Introduced in Senate
- Mar 12, 2003Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3623-3624)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S3623–S3626Text printed S3624 | Edward M. Kennedy D-MA, Judd Gregg R-NH (text) | Mar 12, 2003 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Congressional Budget Office cost estimates 2
- Oct 17, 2003S. 606, Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003<p>Cost estimate for the bill as reported by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on October 2, 2003</p>
- Oct 17, 2003S. 606, Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003Cost estimate for the bill as reported by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on October 2, 2003
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 108-58 | H.R. 4107, ASSISTANCE TO FIREFIGHTERS REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2004110 pages | Science, Space, and Technology Committee | May 12, 2004 |
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
About this bill 1
Products that name it in their title: its number, its law number or one of its short titles.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R40738 | The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act Archived | Report | Dec 9, 2010 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 814 | Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003 | Related bill | Mar 10, 2003 |
Titles 4
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or their political subdivisions.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003
- Short Titles as Reported to Senate
- Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003
- Popular Titles
- Public Safety Officers Bargaining Rights bill
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Government Operations and Politics.
- Administrative procedure
- Administrative remedies
- Appellate courts
- Civil actions and liability
- Collective bargaining
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Emergency Management
- Emergency medicine
- Employee rights
- Employee-management relations in government
- Federal Labor Relations Authority
- Federal preemption
- Fire fighters
- Government employee unions
- Government Operations and Politics
- Health
- Industrial arbitration
- Injunctions
- Judicial review
- Jurisdiction
- Labor and Employment
- Labor contracts
- Law
- Law enforcement officers
- Local employees
- Local laws
- Lockouts
- Mediation
- Medical personnel
- Paramedical personnel
- Police
- Public sector strikes
- State courts
- State employees
- State laws
- State-local relations
- Unfair labor practices
Text 2
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Nov 24, 2003Reported to Senate
- Mar 12, 2003Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.