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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to public employees; amending s. 2
447.207, F.S.; revising a requirement that the Public 3
Employees Relations Commission may waive relating to 4
employee organizations certified as a bargaining agent 5
to represent mass transit employees; amending s. 6
447.301, F.S.; requiring certain public employees to 7
submit executed membership authorization forms to the 8
bargaining agent; removing obsolete language; 9
conforming a cross-reference; revising applicability; 10
amending s. 447.303, F.S.; revising the employee 11
organizations that have the right to have dues and 12
uniform assessments deducted and collected by the 13
employer; amending s. 447.305, F.S.; revising the 14
information employee organizations must provide in 15
applications for registration; deleting requirement 16
that an employee organization's annual financial 17
statement be audited and certified; revising the 18
information required in an employee organization's 19
annual financial statement; revising the date upon 20
which an employee organization must submit certain 21
information for a renewal of registration; revising 22
the employee organizations that must petition the 23
commission for recertification; revising the timeframe 24
by which an employee organization must submit such 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
petition; revising the actions for which the 26
commission may revoke or deny an employee 27
organization's registration or certification; revising 28
applicability; conforming provisions to changes made 29
by the act; providing an effective date. 30
31
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 32
33
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (12) of section 34
447.207, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 35
447.207 Commission; powers and duties. — 36
(12) Upon a petition by a public employer after it has 37
been notified by the Department of Labor that the public 38
employer's protective arrangement covering mass transit 39
employees does not meet the requirements of 49 U.S.C. s. 5333(b) 40
and would jeopardize the employer' s continued eligibility to 41
receive Federal Transit Administration funding, the commission 42
may waive, to the extent necessary for the public employer to 43
comply with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. s. 5333(b), any of the 44
following for an employee organization that has been certified 45
as a bargaining agent to represent mass transit employees: 46
(a) The prohibition on dues and assessment deductions 47
provided in s. 447.303(1) as it applies to a mass transit 48
employee who has provided a copy of his or her membership 49
authorization form to the employer as part of the authorization 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
of dues and assessment deductions under a waiver . 51
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 52
447.301, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 53
447.301 Public employees' rights; or ganization and 54
representation.— 55
(1) 56
(b)1. Beginning July 1, 2023, A public employee who 57
desires to be a member of an employee organization must sign and 58
date a membership authorization form, as prescribed by the 59
commission, and submit the executed form to with the bargaining 60
agent. 61
2. The membership authorization form must identify the 62
name of the bargaining agent; the name of the employee; the 63
class code and class title of the employee; the name of the 64
public employer and employing agency, if applicab le; the amount 65
of the initiation fee and of the monthly dues which the member 66
must pay; and the name and total amount of salary, allowances, 67
and other direct or indirect disbursements, including 68
reimbursements, paid to each of the five highest compensated 69
officers and employees of the employee organization disclosed 70
under s. 447.305(2)(d) s. 447.305(2)(c). 71
3. The membership authorization form must contain the 72
following statement in 14 -point type: 73
74
The State of Florida is a right -to-work state. 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Membership or non-membership in a labor union is not 76
required as a condition of employment, and union 77
membership and payment of union dues and assessments 78
are voluntary. Each person has the right to join and 79
pay dues to a labor union or to refrain from joining 80
and paying dues to a labor union. No employee may be 81
discriminated against in any manner for joining and 82
financially supporting a labor union or for refusing 83
to join or financially support a labor union. 84
85
4. A public employee may revoke membership in the employee 86
organization at any time of the year. Upon receipt of the 87
employee's written revocation of membership, the employee 88
organization must revoke a public employee's membership. The 89
employee organization may not limit an employee's right to 90
revoke membership to certain dates. If a public employee must 91
complete a form to revoke membership in the employee 92
organization, the form may not require a reason for the public 93
employee's decision to revoke his or h er membership. 94
5. An employee organization must retain for inspection by 95
the commission such membership authorization forms and any 96
revocations. 97
6. This paragraph does not apply to members of an employee 98
organization that has been certified as a bargaining unit the 99
majority of whose employees eligible for representation are 100
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employed as agent to represent law enforcement officers, 101
correctional officers, or correctional probation officers as 102
those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3), 103
respectively;, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102 ; 911 104
public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 401.465(1); or 105
emergency medical technicians or paramedics as defined in s. 106
401.23. 107
7. The commission may adopt rules to implement this 108
paragraph. 109
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 110
447.303, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 111
447.303 Dues; deduction and collection. — 112
(2)(a) An employee organization that has been certified as 113
a bargaining agent to represent a bargaining unit the majority 114
of whose employees eligible for representation are employed as 115
law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or correctional 116
probation officers as those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), 117
(2), or (3), respectively ;, or firefighters as defined i n s. 118
633.102; 911 public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 119
401.465(1); or emergency medical technicians or paramedics as 120
defined in s. 401.23 has the right to have its dues and uniform 121
assessments for the bargaining unit deducted and collected by 122
the employer from the salaries of those employees who authorize 123
the deduction and collection of said dues and uniform 124
assessments. However, such authorization is revocable at the 125
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employee's request upon 30 days' written notice to the employer 126
and employee organization. Said deductions shall commence upon 127
the bargaining agent's written request to the employer. 128
Section 4. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) and 129
subsections (2), (3), (6), (8), (9), and (11) of section 130
447.305, Florida Statutes, are ame nded to read: 131
447.305 Registration of employee organization. — 132
(1) Every employee organization seeking to become a 133
certified bargaining agent for public employees shall register 134
with the commission pursuant to the procedures set forth in s. 135
120.60 prior to requesting recognition by a public employer for 136
purposes of collective bargaining and prior to submitting a 137
petition to the commission requesting certification as an 138
exclusive bargaining agent. Further, if such employee 139
organization is not registered, it may not participate in a 140
representation hearing, participate in a representation 141
election, or be certified as an exclusive bargaining agent. The 142
application for registration required by this section shall be 143
under oath and in such form as the commission may prescribe and 144
shall include: 145
(c) The amount of the initiation fee and the amount and 146
collection frequency of the monthly dues and uniform assessments 147
that a member which members must pay. 148
(d) The current annual audited financial statement of the 149
organization, prepared by an independent certified public 150
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accountant licensed under chapter 473 . 151
(2) A registration granted to an employee organization 152
pursuant to the provisions of this section runs shall run for 1 153
year after from the date of issuance. A registration must shall 154
be renewed annually by filing an application for renewal under 155
oath with the commission, which application must shall reflect 156
any changes in the information provided to the commission in 157
conjunction with the employee organization's preceding 158
application for registration or previous renewal, whichever is 159
applicable. Each application for renewal of registration must 160
shall include a current annual audited financial statement, 161
prepared certified by an independent certified public accountant 162
licensed under chapter 473 and signed by the employee 163
organization's president and treasurer or corresponding 164
principal officers, containing all of the following information 165
in such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose its 166
financial condition and operations for its preceding fiscal year 167
and in such categories as the commission may prescribe: 168
(a) Assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the 169
fiscal year.; 170
(b) Receipts of any kind and th e sources thereof.; 171
(c) Disbursements by category. 172
(d)(c) Salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect 173
disbursements, including reimbursed expenses, to each officer 174
and also to each employee who, during such fiscal year, received 175
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more than $10,000 in the aggregate from such employee 176
organization and any other employee organization affiliated with 177
it or with which it is affiliated or which is affiliated with 178
the same national or international employee organization .; 179
(e)(d) Direct and indirect loans made to any officer, 180
employee, or member which aggregated more than $250 during the 181
fiscal year, together with a statement of the purpose, security, 182
if any, and arrangements for repayment .; and 183
(f)(e) Direct and indirect loans to any business 184
enterprise, together with a statement of the purpose, security, 185
if any, and arrangements for repayment. 186
(3) In addition to subsection (2), an employee 187
organization that has been certified as the bargaining agent for 188
public employees must include for each such cert ified bargaining 189
unit all of the following information and documentation as of 190
the 30th day immediately preceding the date upon which its 191
current registration is scheduled to end of renewal in its 192
application for any renewal of registration on or after Oct ober 193
1, 2023: 194
(a) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 195
eligible for representation by the employee organization. 196
(b) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who 197
have submitted signed membership authorization forms without a 198
subsequent revocation of such membership. 199
(c) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who 200
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paid dues to the employee organization. 201
(d) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who did 202
not pay dues to the employee organization. 203
(e) Documentation provided by an independent certified 204
public accountant retained by the employee organization which 205
verifies the information provided in paragraphs (a) -(d). 206
(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter 207
relating to collective bargaining, an emplo yee organization 208
certified as a bargaining agent to represent a bargaining unit 209
for which that had less than 60 percent of the employees in the 210
unit have submitted membership authorization forms without 211
subsequent revocation and paid dues to the employee o rganization 212
eligible for representation in the bargaining unit pay dues 213
during its last registration period must petition the commission 214
pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) for recertification as the 215
exclusive representative of all employees in the bargainin g unit 216
within 30 days 1 month after the date on which the employee 217
organization applies for renewal of registration pursuant to 218
subsection (2). The certification of an employee organization 219
that does not comply with this section is revoked. 220
(8) The commission may conduct an investigation to confirm 221
the validity of any information submitted pursuant to this 222
section. The commission may revoke or deny an employee 223
organization's registration or certification if it finds that 224
the employee organization: 225
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(a) Failed to cooperate with the investigation conducted 226
pursuant to this subsection , including a refusal to permit the 227
commission to inspect membership authorization forms or 228
revocations pursuant to s. 447.301(1)(b)5. ; or 229
(b) Intentionally misrepresent ed the information it 230
submitted pursuant to this section subsection (3). 231
232
A decision issued by the commission pursuant to this subsection 233
is a final agency action that is reviewable pursuant to s. 234
447.504. 235
(9) Subsections (3) -(8) do not apply to a an employee 236
organization that has been certified as the bargaining unit the 237
majority of whose employees eligible for representation are 238
employed as agent to represent law enforcement officers, 239
correctional officers, or correctional probation officers as 240
those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3), 241
respectively;, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102 ; 911 242
public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 401.465(1); or 243
emergency medical technicians or paramedics as defined in s. 244
401.23. 245
(11) Every employee organization shall keep accurate 246
accounts of its income and expenses, which accounts shall be 247
open for inspection at all reasonable times by any member of the 248
organization or by the commission. In addition, each employee 249
organization that has been ce rtified as a bargaining agent must 250
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
provide to its members an annual audited financial report 251
prepared by an independent certified public accountant licensed 252
under chapter 473 which that includes a detailed breakdown of 253
revenues and expenditures in such categories as the commission 254
may prescribe, and an accounting of membership dues and 255
assessments. The employee organization must notify its members 256
annually of all costs of membership. 257
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 258