CS/HB 1471 2024
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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 emplo yee 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 requiremen t 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 provisions for renewals of 30
registration of employee organizations during a 31
specified timeframe; prohibiting the commission from 32
taking certain actions during a specified timeframe 33
regarding a renewal of registration application; 34
providing an effective date. 35
36
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 37
38
Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (12) of section 39
447.207, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 40
447.207 Commission; powers and duties. — 41
(12) Upon a petition by a public employer after it has 42
been notified by the Department of Labor that the public 43
employer's protective arrangement covering mass transit 44
employees does not meet the requirements of 49 U.S.C. s. 5333(b) 45
and would jeopardize the employer's continued eligibility to 46
receive Federal Transit Administration funding, the commission 47
may waive, to the extent ne cessary for the public employer to 48
comply with the requirements of 49 U.S.C. s. 5333(b), any of the 49
following for an employee organization that has been certified 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
as a bargaining agent to represent mass transit employees: 51
(a) The prohibition on dues and assessment deductions 52
provided in s. 447.303(1) as it applies to a mass transit 53
employee who has provided a copy of his or her membership 54
authorization form to the employer as part of the authorization 55
of dues and assessment deductions under a waiver . 56
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 57
447.301, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 58
447.301 Public employees' rights; organization and 59
representation.— 60
(1) 61
(b)1. Beginning July 1, 2023, A public employee who 62
desires to be a member of an employee organization must sign and 63
date a membership authorization form, as prescribed by the 64
commission, and submit the executed form to with the bargaining 65
agent. 66
2. The membership authorization form must identify the 67
name of the bargaining agent; the name of the employee; the 68
class code and class title of the employee; the name of the 69
public employer and employing agency, if applicable; the amount 70
of the initiation fee and of the monthly dues which the member 71
must pay; and the name and total amount of salary, allowances, 72
and other direct or indirect disbursements, including 73
reimbursements, paid to each of the five highest compensated 74
officers and employees of the employee organization disclosed 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
under s. 447.305(2)(d) s. 447.305(2)(c). 76
3. The membership authorization form must contain the 77
following statement in 14 -point type: 78
79
The State of Florida is a right -to-work state. 80
Membership or non-membership in a labor union is not 81
required as a condition of employment, and union 82
membership and payment of union dues and assessments 83
are voluntary. Each person has the right to join and 84
pay dues to a labor union or to refrain from joining 85
and paying dues to a labor union. No employee may be 86
discriminated against in any manner for joining and 87
financially supporting a labor union or for refusing 88
to join or financially support a labor union. 89
90
4. A public employee may revoke membership in the employee 91
organization at any time of the year. Upon receipt of the 92
employee's written revocation of membership, the employee 93
organization must revoke a public employee's membership. The 94
employee organization may not limit an employee's right to 95
revoke membership to certain dates. If a public employee must 96
complete a form to revoke membership in the employee 97
organization, the form may not require a reason for the public 98
employee's decision to revoke his or her membership. 99
5. An employee organization must retain for inspection by 100
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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
the commission such membership authorization forms and any 101
revocations. 102
6. This paragraph does not apply to members of an employee 103
organization that has been certified as a bargaining unit the 104
majority of whose employees eligible for representation are 105
employed as agent to represent law enforcement officers, 106
correctional officers, or correction al probation officers as 107
those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3), 108
respectively;, or firefighters as defined in s. 633.102 ; 911 109
public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 401.465(1); or 110
emergency medical technicians or paramedics as defin ed in s. 111
401.23. 112
7. The commission may adopt rules to implement this 113
paragraph. 114
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 115
447.303, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 116
447.303 Dues; deduction and collection. — 117
(2)(a) An employee organ ization that has been certified as 118
a bargaining agent to represent a bargaining unit the majority 119
of whose employees eligible for representation are employed as 120
law enforcement officers, correctional officers, or correctional 121
probation officers as those te rms are defined in s. 943.10(1), 122
(2), or (3), respectively ;, or firefighters as defined in s. 123
633.102; 911 public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 124
401.465(1); or emergency medical technicians or paramedics as 125
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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
defined in s. 401.23 has the right to have its dues and uniform 126
assessments for the bargaining unit deducted and collected by 127
the employer from the salaries of those employees who authorize 128
the deduction and collection of said dues and uniform 129
assessments. However, such authorization is revoca ble at the 130
employee's request upon 30 days' written notice to the employer 131
and employee organization. Said deductions shall commence upon 132
the bargaining agent's written request to the employer. 133
Section 4. Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) and 134
subsections (2), (3), (6), (8), (9), and (11) of section 135
447.305, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 136
447.305 Registration of employee organization. — 137
(1) Every employee organization seeking to become a 138
certified bargaining agent for public employees s hall register 139
with the commission pursuant to the procedures set forth in s. 140
120.60 prior to requesting recognition by a public employer for 141
purposes of collective bargaining and prior to submitting a 142
petition to the commission requesting certification as an 143
exclusive bargaining agent. Further, if such employee 144
organization is not registered, it may not participate in a 145
representation hearing, participate in a representation 146
election, or be certified as an exclusive bargaining agent. The 147
application for registration required by this section shall be 148
under oath and in such form as the commission may prescribe and 149
shall include: 150
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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
(c) The amount of the initiation fee and the amount and 151
collection frequency of the monthly dues and uniform assessments 152
that a member which members must pay. 153
(d) The current annual audited financial statement of the 154
organization, prepared by an independent certified public 155
accountant licensed under chapter 473 . 156
(2) A registration granted to an employee organization 157
pursuant to the provisions of this section runs shall run for 1 158
year after from the date of issuance. A registration must shall 159
be renewed annually by filing an application for renewal under 160
oath with the commission, which application must shall reflect 161
any changes in the information provided to the commission in 162
conjunction with the employee organization's preceding 163
application for registration or previous renewal, whichever is 164
applicable. Each application for renewal of registration must 165
shall include a current annual audited financial statement, 166
prepared certified by an independent certified public accountant 167
licensed under chapter 473 and signed by the employee 168
organization's president and treasurer or corresponding 169
principal officers, containing all of the following information 170
in such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose its 171
financial condition and operations for its preceding fiscal year 172
and in such categories as the commission may prescribe: 173
(a) Assets and liabilities at the beginning and end of the 174
fiscal year.; 175
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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
(b) Receipts of any kind and the sources thereof .; 176
(c) Disbursements by category. 177
(d)(c) Salary, allowances, and other direct or indirect 178
disbursements, including reimbursed expenses, to each officer 179
and also to each empl oyee who, during such fiscal year, received 180
more than $10,000 in the aggregate from such employee 181
organization and any other employee organization affiliated with 182
it or with which it is affiliated or which is affiliated with 183
the same national or internatio nal employee organization .; 184
(e)(d) Direct and indirect loans made to any officer, 185
employee, or member which aggregated more than $250 during the 186
fiscal year, together with a statement of the purpose, security, 187
if any, and arrangements for repayment .; and 188
(f)(e) Direct and indirect loans to any business 189
enterprise, together with a statement of the purpose, security, 190
if any, and arrangements for repayment. 191
(3) In addition to subsection (2), an employee 192
organization that has been certified as the bargain ing agent for 193
public employees must include for each such certified bargaining 194
unit all of the following information and documentation as of 195
the 30th day immediately preceding the date upon which its 196
current registration is scheduled to end of renewal in its 197
application for any renewal of registration on or after October 198
1, 2023: 199
(a) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who are 200
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eligible for representation by the employee organization. 201
(b) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who 202
have submitted signed membership authorization forms without a 203
subsequent revocation of such membership. 204
(c) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who 205
paid dues to the employee organization. 206
(d) The number of employees in the bargaining unit who d id 207
not pay dues to the employee organization. 208
(e) Documentation provided by an independent certified 209
public accountant retained by the employee organization which 210
verifies the information provided in paragraphs (a) -(d). 211
(6) Notwithstanding the provisio ns of this chapter 212
relating to collective bargaining, an employee organization 213
certified as a bargaining agent to represent a bargaining unit 214
for which that had less than 60 percent of the employees in the 215
unit have submitted membership authorization forms without 216
subsequent revocation and paid dues to the employee organization 217
eligible for representation in the bargaining unit pay dues 218
during its last registration period must petition the commission 219
pursuant to s. 447.307(2) and (3) for recertification as the 220
exclusive representative of all employees in the bargaining unit 221
within 30 days 1 month after the date on which the employee 222
organization applies for renewal of registration pursuant to 223
subsection (2). The certification of an employee organization 224
that does not comply with this section is revoked. 225
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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
(8) The commission may conduct an investigation to confirm 226
the validity of any information submitted pursuant to this 227
section. The commission may revoke or deny an employee 228
organization's registration or cer tification if it finds that 229
the employee organization: 230
(a) Failed to cooperate with the investigation conducted 231
pursuant to this subsection , including a refusal to permit the 232
commission to inspect membership authorization forms or 233
revocations pursuant to s. 447.301(1)(b)5.; or 234
(b) Intentionally misrepresented the information it 235
submitted pursuant to this section subsection (3). 236
237
A decision issued by the commission pursuant to this subsection 238
is a final agency action that is reviewable pursuant to s. 239
447.504. 240
(9) An employee organization is exempt from the 241
requirements of subsections (3)-(8) only with respect to the 242
circumstances of each bargaining unit the majority of whose 243
employees eligible for representation are employed as do not 244
apply to an employee organization that has been certified as the 245
bargaining agent to represent law enforcement officers, 246
correctional officers, or correctional probation officers as 247
those terms are defined in s. 943.10(1), (2), or (3), 248
respectively;, or firefighters as defi ned in s. 633.102; 911 249
public safety telecommunicators as defined in s. 401.465(1); or 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
emergency medical technicians or paramedics as defined in s. 251
401.23. 252
(11) Every employee organization shall keep accurate 253
accounts of its income and expenses, which ac counts shall be 254
open for inspection at all reasonable times by any member of the 255
organization or by the commission. In addition, each employee 256
organization that has been certified as a bargaining agent must 257
provide to its members an annual audited financial report 258
prepared by an independent certified public accountant licensed 259
under chapter 473 that includes a detailed breakdown of revenues 260
and expenditures in such categories as the commission may 261
prescribe, and an accounting of membership dues and assessme nts. 262
The employee organization must notify its members annually of 263
all costs of membership. 264
Section 5. (1) For an application for renewal of 265
registration of an employee organization filed pursuant to s. 266
447.305(2), Florida Statutes, between July 1, 20 23, and the 267
effective date of this act, an employee organization may submit 268
a current annual financial statement containing the information 269
required by s. 447.305(2), Florida Statutes, prepared by an 270
independent certified public accountant licensed under c hapter 271
473, Florida Statutes, and signed by the employee organization's 272
president and treasurer or corresponding principal officers in 273
lieu of an annual audited financial statement certified by an 274
independent certified public accountant licensed under chap ter 275
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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
473, Florida Statutes. 276
(2) For an application for renewal of registration of an 277
employee organization filed pursuant to s. 447.305, Florida 278
Statutes, between July 1, 2023, and the effective date of this 279
act, the Public Employees Relations Commission may not deny the 280
renewal or revoke the registration of an employee organization 281
based solely on the employee organization's failure to submit a 282
current annual audited financial statement certified by an 283
independent certified public accountant licensed unde r chapter 284
473, Florida Statutes. 285
Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 286