Maryland 2023 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HB275 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	hb0275
6	6
7	7	HOUSE BILL 275
8	8	P4, F2 3lr0915
9	9	CF SB 247
10	10	By: Delegates Foley, Lehman, Acevero, Amprey, Attar, Bagnall, Bartlett, Boafo,
11	11	Charkoudian, Conaway, Cullison, Ebersole, Edelson, Feldmark, Forbes,
12	12	Fraser–Hidalgo, Guyton, Harris, Hill, Ivey, D. Jones, Kerr, J. Lewis, J. Long,
13	13	Lopez, Love, Moon, Palakovich Carr, Patterson, Pena–Melnyk, Reznik,
14	14	Ruth, Simpson, Smith, Solomon, Stewart, Taveras, Taylor, Terrasa, Vogel,
15	15	Wells, Williams, Woods, Young, Ziegler, and Mireku–North
16	16	Introduced and read first time: January 25, 2023
17	17	Assigned to: Appropriations
18	18
19	19	A BILL ENTITLED
20	20
21	21	AN ACT concerning 1
22	22
23	23	State Personnel – Collective Bargaining – Faculty, Part–Time Faculty, and 2
24	24	Graduate Assistants 3
25	25
26	26	FOR the purpose of providing collective bargaining rights to certain faculty, part–time 4
27	27	faculty, and graduate assistants at certain public institutions of higher education; 5
28	28	establishing separate collective bargaining units for faculty, part–time faculty, and 6
29	29	graduate assistants; altering the procedures for petitions, elections, and certification 7
30	30	that are applicable to the bargaining units for faculty and part–time faculty; and 8
31	31	generally relating to collective bargaining for faculty, part–time faculty, and 9
32	32	graduate assistants at public institutions of higher education. 10
33	33
34	34	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
35	35	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 12
36	36	Section 3–101, 3–102, 3–402, 3–403(d), 3–404, 3–405, and 3–406 13
37	37	Annotated Code of Maryland 14
38	38	(2015 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 15
39	39
40	40	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
41	41	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17
42	42
43	43	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 18
44	44
45	45	3–101. 19
46	46
47	47	(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. 20
48	48	2 HOUSE BILL 275
49	49
50	50
51	51	(b) “Board” means: 1
52	52
53	53	(1) with regard to any matter relating to employees of any of the units of 2
54	54	State government described in § 3–102(a)(1)(i) through (iv) and (vi) through (xii) of this 3
55	55	subtitle and employees described in § 3–102(a)(2) and (3) of this subtitle, the State Labor 4
56	56	Relations Board; and 5
57	57
58	58	(2) with regard to any matter relating to employees of any State institution 6
59	59	of higher education described in § 3–102(a)(1)(v) of this subtitle, the State Higher Education 7
60	60	Labor Relations Board. 8
61	61
62	62	(c) “Chancellor” has the meaning stated in § 12–101 of the Education Article. 9
63	63
64	64	(d) “Collective bargaining” means: 10
65	65
66	66	(1) good faith negotiations by authorized representatives of employees and 11
67	67	their employer with the intention of: 12
68	68
69	69	(i) 1. reaching an agreement about wages, hours, and other 13
70	70	terms and conditions of employment; and 14
71	71
72	72	2. incorporating the terms of the agreement in a written 15
73	73	memorandum of understanding or other written understanding; or 16
74	74
75	75	(ii) clarifying terms and conditions of employment; 17
76	76
77	77	(2) administration of terms and conditions of employment; or 18
78	78
79	79	(3) the voluntary adjustment of a dispute or disagreement between 19
80	80	authorized representatives of employees and their employer that arises under a 20
81	81	memorandum of understanding or other written understanding. 21
82	82
83	83	(e) “Employee organization” means a labor or other organization in which State 22
84	84	employees, INCLUDING GRADUATE ASSISTANTS , participate and that has as one of its 23
85	85	primary purposes representing employees. 24
86	86
87	87	(f) “Exclusive representative” means an employee organization that has been 25
88	88	certified by the Board as an exclusive representative under Subtitle 4 of this title. 26
89	89
90	90	(g) (1) “Faculty at the Maryland School for the Deaf” means employees who 27
91	91	have been granted the following status by the Board of Trustees of the Maryland School for 28
92	92	the Deaf: 29
93	93
94	94	(i) after–school program counselors; 30
95	95
96	96	(ii) American Sign Language specialists; 31
97	97	HOUSE BILL 275 3
98	98
99	99
100	100	(iii) athletic trainers; 1
101	101
102	102	(iv) behavior specialists; 2
103	103
104	104	(v) clerical aides; 3
105	105
106	106	(vi) dorm counselors; 4
107	107
108	108	(vii) employment specialists; 5
109	109
110	110	(viii) instructional technology resource specialists; 6
111	111
112	112	(ix) librarians; 7
113	113
114	114	(x) literacy and reading specialists; 8
115	115
116	116	(xi) occupational therapists; 9
117	117
118	118	(xii) orientation and mobility specialists; 10
119	119
120	120	(xiii) physical therapists; 11
121	121
122	122	(xiv) school counselors; 12
123	123
124	124	(xv) school IEP coordinators; 13
125	125
126	126	(xvi) school nurses; 14
127	127
128	128	(xvii) school social workers; 15
129	129
130	130	(xviii) speech–language pathologists; 16
131	131
132	132	(xix) student support specialists; 17
133	133
134	134	(xx) teachers; 18
135	135
136	136	(xxi) teacher aides; 19
137	137
138	138	(xxii) transition coordinators; and 20
139	139
140	140	(xxiii) work–to–learn specialists. 21
141	141
142	142	(2) “Faculty at the Maryland School for the Deaf” does not include officers 22
143	143	or supervisory employees at the Maryland School for the Deaf. 23
144	144
145	145	(H) “GRADUATE ASSISTANT ” MEANS A GRADUATE STU DENT AT A SYSTEM 24
146	146	INSTITUTION, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF 25 4 HOUSE BILL 275
147	147
148	148
149	149	MARYLAND WHO IS A TEA CHING, ADMINISTRATIVE , OR RESEARCH ASSISTAN T, OR IN 1
150	150	A COMPARABLE POSITIO N, OR A FELLOW. 2
151	151
152	152	[(h)] (I) “President” means: 3
153	153
154	154	(1) with regard to a constituent institution, as defined in § 12–101 of the 4
155	155	Education Article, the president of the constituent institution; 5
156	156
157	157	(2) with regard to a center or institute, as those terms are defined in § 6
158	158	12–101 of the Education Article, the president of the center or institute; 7
159	159
160	160	(3) with regard to the University System of Maryland Office, the 8
161	161	Chancellor of the University System of Maryland; and 9
162	162
163	163	(4) with regard to Morgan State University, St. Mary’s College of 10
164	164	Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College, the president of the institution. 11
165	165
166	166	[(i)] (J) “System institution” means: 12
167	167
168	168	(1) a constituent institution, as defined in § 12–101 of the Education 13
169	169	Article; 14
170	170
171	171	(2) a center or institute, as those terms are defined in § 12–101 of the 15
172	172	Education Article; and 16
173	173
174	174	(3) the University System of Maryland Office. 17
175	175
176	176	3–102. 18
177	177
178	178	(a) Except as provided in this title or as otherwise provided by law, this title 19
179	179	applies to: 20
180	180
181	181	(1) all employees of: 21
182	182
183	183	(i) the principal departments within the Executive Branch of State 22
184	184	government; 23
185	185
186	186	(ii) the Maryland Insurance Administration; 24
187	187
188	188	(iii) the State Department of Assessments and Taxation; 25
189	189
190	190	(iv) the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency; 26
191	191
192	192	(v) the University System of Maryland, Morgan State University, 27
193	193	St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College; 28
194	194
195	195	(vi) the Comptroller; 29 HOUSE BILL 275 5
196	196
197	197
198	198
199	199	(vii) the Maryland Transportation Authority who are not police 1
200	200	officers; 2
201	201
202	202	(viii) the State Retirement Agency; 3
203	203
204	204	(ix) the State Department of Education; 4
205	205
206	206	(x) the Maryland Environmental Service; 5
207	207
208	208	(xi) the Maryland School for the Deaf; and 6
209	209
210	210	(xii) the Office of the Public Defender; 7
211	211
212	212	(2) firefighters for the Martin State Airport at the rank of captain or below 8
213	213	who are employed by the Military Department; and 9
214	214
215	215	(3) all full–time Maryland Transportation Authority police officers at the 10
216	216	rank of first sergeant and below. 11
217	217
218	218	(b) This title does not apply to: 12
219	219
220	220	(1) employees of the Maryland Transit Administration, as that term is 13
221	221	defined in § 7–601(a)(2) of the Transportation Article; 14
222	222
223	223	(2) an employee who is elected to the position by popular vote; 15
224	224
225	225	(3) an employee in a position by election or appointment that is provided 16
226	226	for by the Maryland Constitution; 17
227	227
228	228	(4) an employee who is: 18
229	229
230	230	(i) a special appointment in the State Personnel Management 19
231	231	System; or 20
232	232
233	233	(ii) 1. directly appointed by the Governor by an appointment 21
234	234	that is not provided for by the Maryland Constitution; 22
235	235
236	236	2. appointed by or on the staff of the Governor or Lieutenant 23
237	237	Governor; or 24
238	238
239	239	3. assigned to the Government House or the Governor’s 25
240	240	Office; 26
241	241
242	242	(5) an employee assigned to the Board or with access to records of the 27
243	243	Board; 28
244	244	6 HOUSE BILL 275
245	245
246	246
247	247	(6) an employee in: 1
248	248
249	249	(i) the executive service of the State Personnel Management 2
250	250	System; or 3
251	251
252	252	(ii) a unit of the Executive Branch with an independent personnel 4
253	253	system who is: 5
254	254
255	255	1. the chief administrator of the unit or a comparable 6
256	256	position that is not excluded under item (3) of this subsection as a constitutional or elected 7
257	257	office; or 8
258	258
259	259	2. a deputy or assistant administrator of the unit or a 9
260	260	comparable position; 10
261	261
262	262	(7) (i) a temporary or contractual employee in the State Personnel 11
263	263	Management System; or 12
264	264
265	265	(ii) a contractual, temporary, or emergency employee in a unit of the 13
266	266	Executive Branch with an independent personnel system; 14
267	267
268	268	(8) an employee who is entitled to participate in collective bargaining 15
269	269	under another law; 16
270	270
271	271	(9) an employee of the University System of Maryland, Morgan State 17
272	272	University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, or Baltimore City Community College who is: 18
273	273
274	274	(i) a chief administrator or in a comparable position; 19
275	275
276	276	(ii) a deputy, associate, or assistant administrator or in a 20
277	277	comparable position; 21
278	278
279	279	(iii) [a member of the faculty, including a faculty librarian; 22
280	280
281	281	(iv) a] AN UNDERGRADUATE student employee[, including a 23
282	282	teaching assistant or a comparable position, fellow, or post doctoral intern]; 24
283	283
284	284	[(v)] (IV) a contingent, contractual, temporary, or emergency 25
285	285	employee, EXCEPT FOR A PART–TIME FACULTY OR GRADUATE ASSISTANT; 26
286	286
287	287	[(vi)] (V) a contingent, contractual, or temporary employee whose 27
288	288	position is funded through a research or service grant or contract, or through clinical 28
289	289	revenues, EXCEPT FOR A PART–TIME FACULTY OR GRADUATE ASSISTANT ; or 29
290	290
291	291	[(vii)] (VI) an employee whose regular place of employment is outside 30
292	292	the State of Maryland; 31 HOUSE BILL 275 7
293	293
294	294
295	295
296	296	(10) an employee whose participation in a labor organization would be 1
297	297	contrary to the State’s ethics laws; 2
298	298
299	299	(11) any supervisory, managerial, or confidential employee of a unit of State 3
300	300	government listed in subsection (a)(1)(i) through (iv) and (vi) through (xi) of this section, as 4
301	301	defined in regulations adopted by the Secretary; 5
302	302
303	303	(12) any supervisory, managerial, or confidential employee of a State 6
304	304	institution of higher education listed in subsection (a)(1)(v) of this section, as defined in 7
305	305	regulations adopted by the governing board of the institution; or 8
306	306
307	307	(13) any employee described in subsection (a)(2) of this section who is a 9
308	308	supervisory, managerial, or confidential employee, as defined in regulations adopted by the 10
309	309	Secretary. 11
310	310
311	311	3–402. 12
312	312
313	313	(A) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO A PETITION FOR TH E ELECTION OF 13
314	314	AN EXCLUSIVE REPRESE NTATIVE OF A BARGAIN ING UNIT LISTED IN § 14
315	315	3–403(D)(3)(IV) OR (V) OF THIS SUBTITLE. 15
316	316
317	317	[(a)] (B) A petition for the election of an exclusive representative of a bargaining 16
318	318	unit may be filed with the Board by: 17
319	319
320	320	(1) an employee organization seeking certification as an exclusive 18
321	321	representative; or 19
322	322
323	323	(2) an employee, a group of employees, or an employee organization 20
324	324	seeking a new election to determine an exclusive representative. 21
325	325
326	326	[(b)] (C) A petition shall: 22
327	327
328	328	(1) contain the information the Board requires; and 23
329	329
330	330	(2) be accompanied by a showing of interest supported by 30% of the 24
331	331	employees in the appropriate unit indicating their desire to be exclusively represented by 25
332	332	the petitioner for the purpose of collective bargaining. 26
333	333
334	334	3–403. 27
335	335
336	336	(d) (1) (I) IN THIS SUBSECTION , THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE 28
337	337	MEANINGS INDICATED . 29
338	338
339	339	(II) 1. “FACULTY” MEANS EMPLOY EES WHOSE 30
340	340	ASSIGNMENTS INVOLVE ACADEMIC RESPONSIBIL ITIES, INCLUDING TEACHERS, 31 8 HOUSE BILL 275
341	341
342	342
343	343	SCIENTISTS, RESEARCHERS , ACADEMIC ADVISORS , POSTDOCTORAL INTERNS , AND 1
344	344	DEPARTMENT HEADS . 2
345	345
346	346	2. “FACULTY” DOES NOT INCLUDE OFF ICERS, 3
347	347	SUPERVISORY EMPLOYEE S, CONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYE ES, PART–TIME FACULTY, OR 4
348	348	GRADUATE ASSISTANTS . 5
349	349
350	350	(III) “PART–TIME FACULTY ” MEANS EMPLOYEES WHOS E 6
351	351	ASSIGNMENTS INVOLVE ACADEMIC RESPONSIBIL ITIES, INCLUDING TEACHERS, 7
352	352	SCIENTISTS, RESEARCHERS , ACADEMIC ADVISORS , AND DEPARTMENT HEADS , WHO 8
353	353	ARE DESIGNATED WITH PART–TIME FACULTY STATUS BY THE PRESIDENT. 9
354	354
355	355	[(1)] (2) Each system institution, Morgan State University, St. Mary’s 10
356	356	College of Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College shall have separate 11
357	357	bargaining units. 12
358	358
359	359	[(2)] (3) Appropriate bargaining units shall consist of: 13
360	360
361	361	(i) all eligible nonexempt employees, as described in the federal Fair 14
362	362	Labor Standards Act, except eligible sworn police officers; 15
363	363
364	364	(ii) all eligible exempt employees, as described in the federal Fair 16
365	365	Labor Standards Act; [and] 17
366	366
367	367	(iii) all eligible sworn police officers; 18
368	368
369	369	(IV) FACULTY AT A SYSTEM INSTITUT ION, MORGAN STATE 19
370	370	UNIVERSITY OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND; 20
371	371
372	372	(V) PART–TIME FACULTY AT A SYSTEM INSTITUT ION, MORGAN 21
373	373	STATE UNIVERSITY, OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND; AND 22
374	374
375	375	(VI) ALL ELIGIBLE GRADUAT E ASSISTANTS AT A SYSTEM 23
376	376	INSTITUTION, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF 24
377	377	MARYLAND. 25
378	378
379	379	(4) NOTWITHSTANDING §§ 3–401, 3–402, 3–404, 3–405, AND 3–406 OF 26
380	380	THIS SUBTITLE , PETITIONS, ELECTIONS, AND CERTIFICATION OF EXCLUSIVE 27
381	381	REPRESENTATIVES FOR FACULTY AND PART –TIME FACULTY BARGAIN ING UNITS 28
382	382	ESTABLISHED UNDER TH IS SUBSECTION SHALL BE CONDUCTED I N ACCORDANCE 29
383	383	WITH §§ 16–704 AND 16–705 OF THE EDUCATION ARTICLE. 30
384	384
385	385	3–404. 31
386	386	HOUSE BILL 275 9
387	387
388	388
389	389	[Each] EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN § 3–403(D)(4) OF THIS SUBTITLE , EACH 1
390	390	employee organization that seeks certification as an exclusive representative shall file with 2
391	391	the Board: 3
392	392
393	393	(1) a copy of the employee organization’s governing documents, which: 4
394	394
395	395	(i) give individual members the right to participate in activities of 5
396	396	the organization; 6
397	397
398	398	(ii) require periodic elections by secret ballot that are conducted with 7
399	399	recognized safeguards to ensure the equal rights of all members to nominate, seek office, 8
400	400	and vote in the elections; 9
401	401
402	402	(iii) direct full and accurate accounting of all income and expenses 10
403	403	using standard accounting methods; and 11
404	404
405	405	(iv) require an annual report that is made available to all members 12
406	406	of the appropriate bargaining unit; and 13
407	407
408	408	(2) a certification that the organization: 14
409	409
410	410	(i) accepts members without regard to any factor in § 2–302(b) of 15
411	411	this article; and 16
412	412
413	413	(ii) will deny membership only to an employee for a reason that is 17
414	414	acceptable to the Board. 18
415	415
416	416	3–405. 19
417	417
418	418	(A) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THE ELECTIO N OF AN EXCLUSIVE 20
419	419	REPRESENTATIVE OF A BARGAINING UNIT LIST ED IN § 3–403(D)(3)(IV) OR (V) OF 21
420	420	THIS SUBTITLE. 22
421	421
422	422	[(a)] (B) (1) Within 5 days of determination that a valid petition has been 23
423	423	submitted, the Board shall notify interested employee organizations of the pending election 24
424	424	petition. 25
425	425
426	426	(2) Within 10 days of determination that a valid petition has been 26
427	427	submitted under § 3–402 of this subtitle or subsection [(c)(2)(iii)] (D)(2)(III) of this section, 27
428	428	the Department or the Maryland Environmental Service, as appropriate, shall make 28
429	429	available to all interested employee organizations reasonable and equivalent means to 29
430	430	communicate by mail and in person with each employee in the appropriate bargaining unit 30
431	431	for the purpose of soliciting the employee’s vote in an election held under this section. 31
432	432
433	433	[(b)] (C) An election shall be held in any unit within 90 days after the filing of a 32
434	434	valid petition for election in such unit in accordance with guidelines established by the 33 10 HOUSE BILL 275
435	435
436	436
437	437	Board. 1
438	438
439	439	[(c)] (D) (1) All elections shall be conducted by secret ballot. 2
440	440
441	441	(2) The Board shall place the following choices on the ballot: 3
442	442
443	443	(i) the name of the exclusive representative, if any; 4
444	444
445	445	(ii) the name of the employee organization designated in the petition 5
446	446	filed under § 3–402 of this subtitle with respect to an appropriate bargaining unit; 6
447	447
448	448	(iii) the name of each employee organization designated in a petition 7
449	449	filed with the Board, within 15 days of notice of the pending election petition, that includes 8
450	450	the signatures of at least 10% of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit; and 9
451	451
452	452	(iv) a provision for “no exclusive representative”. 10
453	453
454	454	[(d)] (E) If none of the choices on a ballot receives a majority of the votes cast in 11
455	455	an election, the Board shall conduct a runoff election between the choices that received the 12
456	456	two highest number of votes in the election. 13
457	457
458	458	3–406. 14
459	459
460	460	(A) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO CERTIFICATI ON OF AN EXCLUSIVE 15
461	461	REPRESENTATIVE OF A BARGAINING UNIT LIST ED IN § 3–403(D)(3)(IV) OR (V) OF 16
462	462	THIS SUBTITLE. 17
463	463
464	464	[(a)] (B) The Board shall certify as exclusive representative the employee 18
465	465	organization receiving the votes in an election from a majority of the employees voting in 19
466	466	the election. 20
467	467
468	468	[(b)] (C) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the Board may deny or 21
469	469	revoke certification as exclusive representative of an employee organization for willful 22
470	470	failure to comply with: 23
471	471
472	472	(1) this title; or 24
473	473
474	474	(2) the governing documents of the organization. 25
475	475
476	476	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 26
477	477	1, 2023. 27
478	478