Maryland 2023 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB247 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 MATTER ADDED TO EXIS TING LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0247
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 247
8	8	P4, F2 3lr1503
9	9	CF HB 275
10	10	By: Senators Kramer, Feldman, Jackson, Rosapepe, Hettleman, Brooks, Carter,
11	11	Muse, and Elfreth
12	12	Introduced and read first time: January 25, 2023
13	13	Assigned to: Finance
14	14
15	15	A BILL ENTITLED
16	16
17	17	AN ACT concerning 1
18	18
19	19	State Personnel – Collective Bargaining – Faculty, Part–Time Faculty, and 2
20	20	Graduate Assistants 3
21	21
22	22	FOR the purpose of providing collective bargaining rights to certain faculty, part–time 4
23	23	faculty, and graduate assistants at certain public institutions of higher education; 5
24	24	establishing separate collective bargaining units for faculty, part–time faculty, and 6
25	25	graduate assistants; altering the procedures for petitions, elections, and certification 7
26	26	that are applicable to the bargaining units for faculty and part–time faculty; and 8
27	27	generally relating to collective bargaining for faculty, part–time faculty, and 9
28	28	graduate assistants at public institutions of higher education. 10
29	29
30	30	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 11
31	31	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 12
32	32	Section 3–101, 3–102, 3–402, 3–403(d), 3–404, 3–405, and 3–406 13
33	33	Annotated Code of Maryland 14
34	34	(2015 Replacement Volume and 2022 Supplement) 15
35	35
36	36	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 16
37	37	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 17
38	38
39	39	Article – State Personnel and Pensions 18
40	40
41	41	3–101. 19
42	42
43	43	(a) In this title the following words have the meanings indicated. 20
44	44
45	45	(b) “Board” means: 21
46	46
47	47	(1) with regard to any matter relating to employees of any of the units of 22
48	48	State government described in § 3–102(a)(1)(i) through (iv) and (vi) through (xii) of this 23 2 SENATE BILL 247
49	49
50	50
51	51	subtitle and employees described in § 3–102(a)(2) and (3) of this subtitle, the State Labor 1
52	52	Relations Board; and 2
53	53
54	54	(2) with regard to any matter relating to employees of any State institution 3
55	55	of higher education described in § 3–102(a)(1)(v) of this subtitle, the State Higher Education 4
56	56	Labor Relations Board. 5
57	57
58	58	(c) “Chancellor” has the meaning stated in § 12–101 of the Education Article. 6
59	59
60	60	(d) “Collective bargaining” means: 7
61	61
62	62	(1) good faith negotiations by authorized representatives of employees and 8
63	63	their employer with the intention of: 9
64	64
65	65	(i) 1. reaching an agreement about wages, hours, and other 10
66	66	terms and conditions of employment; and 11
67	67
68	68	2. incorporating the terms of the agreement in a written 12
69	69	memorandum of understanding or other written understanding; or 13
70	70
71	71	(ii) clarifying terms and conditions of employment; 14
72	72
73	73	(2) administration of terms and conditions of employment; or 15
74	74
75	75	(3) the voluntary adjustment of a dispute or disagreement between 16
76	76	authorized representatives of employees and their employer that arises under a 17
77	77	memorandum of understanding or other written understanding. 18
78	78
79	79	(e) “Employee organization” means a labor or other organization in which State 19
80	80	employees, INCLUDING GRADUATE A SSISTANTS, participate and that has as one of its 20
81	81	primary purposes representing employees. 21
82	82
83	83	(f) “Exclusive representative” means an employee organization that has been 22
84	84	certified by the Board as an exclusive representative under Subtitle 4 of this title. 23
85	85
86	86	(g) (1) “Faculty at the Maryland School for the Deaf” means employees who 24
87	87	have been granted the following status by the Board of Trustees of the Maryland School for 25
88	88	the Deaf: 26
89	89
90	90	(i) after–school program counselors; 27
91	91
92	92	(ii) American Sign Language specialists; 28
93	93
94	94	(iii) athletic trainers; 29
95	95
96	96	(iv) behavior specialists; 30
97	97	SENATE BILL 247 3
98	98
99	99
100	100	(v) clerical aides; 1
101	101
102	102	(vi) dorm counselors; 2
103	103
104	104	(vii) employment specialists; 3
105	105
106	106	(viii) instructional technology resource specialists; 4
107	107
108	108	(ix) librarians; 5
109	109
110	110	(x) literacy and reading specialists; 6
111	111
112	112	(xi) occupational therapists; 7
113	113
114	114	(xii) orientation and mobility specialists; 8
115	115
116	116	(xiii) physical therapists; 9
117	117
118	118	(xiv) school counselors; 10
119	119
120	120	(xv) school IEP coordinators; 11
121	121
122	122	(xvi) school nurses; 12
123	123
124	124	(xvii) school social workers; 13
125	125
126	126	(xviii) speech–language pathologists; 14
127	127
128	128	(xix) student support specialists; 15
129	129
130	130	(xx) teachers; 16
131	131
132	132	(xxi) teacher aides; 17
133	133
134	134	(xxii) transition coordinators; and 18
135	135
136	136	(xxiii) work–to–learn specialists. 19
137	137
138	138	(2) “Faculty at the Maryland School for the Deaf” does not include officers 20
139	139	or supervisory employees at the Maryland School for the Deaf. 21
140	140
141	141	(H) “GRADUATE ASSISTANT ” MEANS A GRADUATE STU DENT AT A SYSTEM 22
142	142	INSTITUTION, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF 23
143	143	MARYLAND WHO IS A TEA CHING, ADMINISTRATIVE , OR RESEARCH ASSISTAN T, OR IN 24
144	144	A COMPARABLE POSITIO N, OR A FELLOW. 25
145	145	4 SENATE BILL 247
146	146
147	147
148	148	[(h)] (I) “President” means: 1
149	149
150	150	(1) with regard to a constituent institution, as defined in § 12–101 of the 2
151	151	Education Article, the president of the constituent institution; 3
152	152
153	153	(2) with regard to a center or institute, as those terms are defined in § 4
154	154	12–101 of the Education Article, the president of the center or institute; 5
155	155
156	156	(3) with regard to the University System of Mar yland Office, the 6
157	157	Chancellor of the University System of Maryland; and 7
158	158
159	159	(4) with regard to Morgan State University, St. Mary’s College of 8
160	160	Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College, the president of the institution. 9
161	161
162	162	[(i)] (J) “System institution” means: 10
163	163
164	164	(1) a constituent institution, as defined in § 12–101 of the Education 11
165	165	Article; 12
166	166
167	167	(2) a center or institute, as those terms are defined in § 12–101 of the 13
168	168	Education Article; and 14
169	169
170	170	(3) the University System of Maryland Office. 15
171	171
172	172	3–102. 16
173	173
174	174	(a) Except as provided in this title or as otherwise provided by law, this title 17
175	175	applies to: 18
176	176
177	177	(1) all employees of: 19
178	178
179	179	(i) the principal departments within the Executive Branch of State 20
180	180	government; 21
181	181
182	182	(ii) the Maryland Insurance Administration; 22
183	183
184	184	(iii) the State Department of Assessments and Taxation; 23
185	185
186	186	(iv) the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency; 24
187	187
188	188	(v) the University System of Maryland, Morgan State University, 25
189	189	St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College; 26
190	190
191	191	(vi) the Comptroller; 27
192	192
193	193	(vii) the Maryland Transportation Authority who are not police 28
194	194	officers; 29 SENATE BILL 247 5
195	195
196	196
197	197
198	198	(viii) the State Retirement Agency; 1
199	199
200	200	(ix) the State Department of Education; 2
201	201
202	202	(x) the Maryland Environmental Service; 3
203	203
204	204	(xi) the Maryland School for the Deaf; and 4
205	205
206	206	(xii) the Office of the Public Defender; 5
207	207
208	208	(2) firefighters for the Martin State Airport at the rank of captain or below 6
209	209	who are employed by the Military Department; and 7
210	210
211	211	(3) all full–time Maryland Transportation Authority police officers at the 8
212	212	rank of first sergeant and below. 9
213	213
214	214	(b) This title does not apply to: 10
215	215
216	216	(1) employees of the Maryland Transit Administration, as that term is 11
217	217	defined in § 7–601(a)(2) of the Transportation Article; 12
218	218
219	219	(2) an employee who is elected to the position by popular vote; 13
220	220
221	221	(3) an employee in a position by election or appointment that is provided 14
222	222	for by the Maryland Constitution; 15
223	223
224	224	(4) an employee who is: 16
225	225
226	226	(i) a special appointment in the State Personnel Management 17
227	227	System; or 18
228	228
229	229	(ii) 1. directly appointed by the Governor by an appointment 19
230	230	that is not provided for by the Maryland Constitution; 20
231	231
232	232	2. appointed by or on the staff of the Governor or Lieutenant 21
233	233	Governor; or 22
234	234
235	235	3. assigned to the Government House or the Governor’s 23
236	236	Office; 24
237	237
238	238	(5) an employee assigned to the Board or with access to records of the 25
239	239	Board; 26
240	240
241	241	(6) an employee in: 27
242	242
243	243	(i) the executive service of the State Personnel Management 28 6 SENATE BILL 247
244	244
245	245
246	246	System; or 1
247	247
248	248	(ii) a unit of the Executive Branch with an independent personnel 2
249	249	system who is: 3
250	250
251	251	1. the chief administrator of the unit or a comparable 4
252	252	position that is not excluded under item (3) of this subsection as a constitutional or elected 5
253	253	office; or 6
254	254
255	255	2. a deputy or assistant administrator of the unit or a 7
256	256	comparable position; 8
257	257
258	258	(7) (i) a temporary or contractual employee in the State Personnel 9
259	259	Management System; or 10
260	260
261	261	(ii) a contractual, temporary, or emergency employee in a unit of the 11
262	262	Executive Branch with an independent personnel system; 12
263	263
264	264	(8) an employee who is entitled to participate in collective bargaining 13
265	265	under another law; 14
266	266
267	267	(9) an employee of the University System of Maryland, Morgan State 15
268	268	University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, or Baltimore City Community College who is: 16
269	269
270	270	(i) a chief administrator or in a comparable position; 17
271	271
272	272	(ii) a deputy, associate, or assistant administrator or in a 18
273	273	comparable position; 19
274	274
275	275	(iii) [a member of the faculty, including a faculty librarian; 20
276	276
277	277	(iv) a] AN UNDERGRADUATE student employee[, including a 21
278	278	teaching assistant or a comparable position, fellow, or post doctoral intern]; 22
279	279
280	280	[(v)] (IV) a contingent, contractual, temporary, or emergency 23
281	281	employee, EXCEPT FOR A PART –TIME FACULTY OR GRAD UATE ASSISTANT ; 24
282	282
283	283	[(vi)] (V) a contingent, contractual, or temporary employee whose 25
284	284	position is funded through a research or service grant or contract, or through clinical 26
285	285	revenues, EXCEPT FOR A PART –TIME FACULTY OR GRAD UATE ASSISTANT ; or 27
286	286
287	287	[(vii)] (VI) an employee whose regular place of employment is outside 28
288	288	the State of Maryland; 29
289	289
290	290	(10) an employee whose participation in a labor organization would be 30
291	291	contrary to the State’s ethics laws; 31 SENATE BILL 247 7
292	292
293	293
294	294
295	295	(11) any supervisory, managerial, or confidential employee of a unit of State 1
296	296	government listed in subsection (a)(1)(i) through (iv) and (vi) through (xi) of this section, as 2
297	297	defined in regulations adopted by the Secretary; 3
298	298
299	299	(12) any supervisory, managerial, or confidential employee of a State 4
300	300	institution of higher education listed in subsection (a)(1)(v) of this section, as defined in 5
301	301	regulations adopted by the governing board of the institution; or 6
302	302
303	303	(13) any employee described in subsection (a)(2) of this section who is a 7
304	304	supervisory, managerial, or confidential employee, as defined in regulations adopted by the 8
305	305	Secretary. 9
306	306
307	307	3–402. 10
308	308
309	309	(A) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY T O A PETITION FOR THE ELECTION OF 11
310	310	AN EXCLUSIVE REPRESE NTATIVE OF A BARGAIN ING UNIT LISTED IN § 12
311	311	3–403(D)(3)(IV) OR (V) OF THIS SUBTITLE. 13
312	312
313	313	[(a)] (B) A petition for the election of an exclusive representative of a bargaining 14
314	314	unit may be filed with the Board by: 15
315	315
316	316	(1) an employee organization seeking certification as an exclusive 16
317	317	representative; or 17
318	318
319	319	(2) an employee, a group of employees, or an employee organization 18
320	320	seeking a new election to determine an exclusive representative. 19
321	321
322	322	[(b)] (C) A petition shall: 20
323	323
324	324	(1) contain the information the Board requires; and 21
325	325
326	326	(2) be accompanied by a showing of interest supported by 30% of the 22
327	327	employees in the appropriate unit indicating their desire to be exclusively represented by 23
328	328	the petitioner for the purpose of collective bargaining. 24
329	329
330	330	3–403. 25
331	331
332	332	(d) (1) (I) IN THIS SUBSECTION , THE FOLLOWING WORDS HAVE THE 26
333	333	MEANINGS INDICATED . 27
334	334
335	335	(II) 1. “FACULTY” MEANS EMPLOYEES WHOS E 28
336	336	ASSIGNMENTS INVOLVE ACADEMIC RESPONSIBIL ITIES, INCLUDING TEACHERS , 29
337	337	SCIENTISTS, RESEARCHERS , ACADEMIC ADVISORS , POSTDOCTORAL INTERNS , AND 30
338	338	DEPARTMENT HEADS . 31
339	339	8 SENATE BILL 247
340	340
341	341
342	342	2. “FACULTY” DOES NOT INCLUDE OFF ICERS, 1
343	343	SUPERVISORY EMPLOYEE S, CONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYE ES, PART–TIME FACULTY , OR 2
344	344	GRADUATE ASSISTANTS . 3
345	345
346	346	(III) “PART–TIME FACULTY ” MEANS EMPLOYEES WHOSE 4
347	347	ASSIGNMENTS INVOLVE ACADEMIC RESPONSIBIL ITIES, INCLUDING TEACHERS , 5
348	348	SCIENTISTS, RESEARCHERS , ACADEMIC ADVISORS , AND DEPARTMENT HEADS , WHO 6
349	349	ARE DESIGNATED WITH PART–TIME FACULTY STATUS BY THE PRESIDENT. 7
350	350
351	351	[(1)] (2) Each system institution, Morgan State University, St. Mary’s 8
352	352	College of Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College shall have separate 9
353	353	bargaining units. 10
354	354
355	355	[(2)] (3) Appropriate bargaining units shall consist of: 11
356	356
357	357	(i) all eligible nonexempt employees, as described in the federal Fair 12
358	358	Labor Standards Act, except eligible sworn police officers; 13
359	359
360	360	(ii) all eligible exempt employees, as described in the federal Fair 14
361	361	Labor Standards Act; [and] 15
362	362
363	363	(iii) all eligible sworn police officers; 16
364	364
365	365	(IV) FACULTY AT A SYSTEM INSTITUTION, MORGAN STATE 17
366	366	UNIVERSITY OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND; 18
367	367
368	368	(V) PART–TIME FACULTY AT A SY STEM INSTITUTION , MORGAN 19
369	369	STATE UNIVERSITY, OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND; AND 20
370	370
371	371	(VI) ALL ELIGIBLE GRADUAT E ASSISTANTS AT A SY STEM 21
372	372	INSTITUTION, MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, OR ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF 22
373	373	MARYLAND. 23
374	374
375	375	(4) NOTWITHSTANDING §§ 3–401, 3–402, 3–404, 3–405, AND 3–406 OF 24
376	376	THIS SUBTITLE , PETITIONS, ELECTIONS, AND CERTIFICATION OF EXCLUSIVE 25
377	377	REPRESENTATIVES FOR FACULTY AND PART –TIME FACULTY BARGAIN ING UNITS 26
378	378	ESTABLISHED UNDER THIS SUBS ECTION SHALL BE COND UCTED IN ACCORDANCE 27
379	379	WITH §§ 16–704 AND 16–705 OF THE EDUCATION ARTICLE. 28
380	380
381	381	3–404. 29
382	382
383	383	[Each] EXCEPT AS PROVIDED IN § 3–403(D)(4) OF THIS SUBTITLE , EACH 30
384	384	employee organization that seeks certification as an exclusive representative shall file with 31
385	385	the Board: 32 SENATE BILL 247 9
386	386
387	387
388	388
389	389	(1) a copy of the employee organization’s governing documents, which: 1
390	390
391	391	(i) give individual members the right to participate in activities of 2
392	392	the organization; 3
393	393
394	394	(ii) require periodic elections by secret ballot that are conducted with 4
395	395	recognized safeguards to ensure the equal rights of all members to nominate, seek office, 5
396	396	and vote in the elections; 6
397	397
398	398	(iii) direct full and accurate accounting of all income and expenses 7
399	399	using standard accounting methods; and 8
400	400
401	401	(iv) require an annual report that is made available to all members 9
402	402	of the appropriate bargaining unit; and 10
403	403
404	404	(2) a certification that the organization: 11
405	405
406	406	(i) accepts members without regard to any factor in § 2–302(b) of 12
407	407	this article; and 13
408	408
409	409	(ii) will deny membership only to an employee for a reason that is 14
410	410	acceptable to the Board. 15
411	411
412	412	3–405. 16
413	413
414	414	(A) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO THE ELECTIO N OF AN EXCLUSIVE 17
415	415	REPRESENTATIVE OF A BARGAINING UNIT LIST ED IN § 3–403(D)(3)(IV) OR (V) OF 18
416	416	THIS SUBTITLE. 19
417	417
418	418	[(a)] (B) (1) Within 5 days of determination that a valid petition has been 20
419	419	submitted, the Board shall notify interested employee organizations of the pending election 21
420	420	petition. 22
421	421
422	422	(2) Within 10 days of determination that a valid petition has been 23
423	423	submitted under § 3–402 of this subtitle or subsection [(c)(2)(iii)] (D)(2)(III) of this section, 24
424	424	the Department or the Maryland Environmental Service, as appropriate, shall make 25
425	425	available to all interested employee organizations reasonable and equivalent means to 26
426	426	communicate by mail and in person with each employee in the appropriate bargaining unit 27
427	427	for the purpose of soliciting the employee’s vote in an election held under this section. 28
428	428
429	429	[(b)] (C) An election shall be held in any unit within 90 days after the filing of a 29
430	430	valid petition for election in such unit in accordance with guidelines established by the 30
431	431	Board. 31
432	432
433	433	[(c)] (D) (1) All elections shall be conducted by secret ballot. 32 10 SENATE BILL 247
434	434
435	435
436	436
437	437	(2) The Board shall place the following choices on the ballot: 1
438	438
439	439	(i) the name of the exclusive representative, if any; 2
440	440
441	441	(ii) the name of the employee organization designated in the petition 3
442	442	filed under § 3–402 of this subtitle with respect to an appropriate bargaining unit; 4
443	443
444	444	(iii) the name of each employee organization designated in a petition 5
445	445	filed with the Board, within 15 days of notice of the pending election petition, that includes 6
446	446	the signatures of at least 10% of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit; and 7
447	447
448	448	(iv) a provision for “no exclusive representative”. 8
449	449
450	450	[(d)] (E) If none of the choices on a ballot receives a majority of the votes cast in 9
451	451	an election, the Board shall conduct a runoff election between the choices that received the 10
452	452	two highest number of votes in the election. 11
453	453
454	454	3–406. 12
455	455
456	456	(A) THIS SECTION DOES NOT APPLY TO CERTIFICATIO N OF AN EXCLUSIVE 13
457	457	REPRESENTATIVE OF A BARGAINING UNIT LIST ED IN § 3–403(D)(3)(IV) OR (V) OF 14
458	458	THIS SUBTITLE. 15
459	459
460	460	[(a)] (B) The Board shall certify as exclusive representative the employee 16
461	461	organization receiving the votes in an election from a majority of the employees voting in 17
462	462	the election. 18
463	463
464	464	[(b)] (C) After notice and an opportunity for a hearing, the Board may deny or 19
465	465	revoke certification as exclusive representative of an employee organization for willful 20
466	466	failure to comply with: 21
467	467
468	468	(1) this title; or 22
469	469
470	470	(2) the governing documents of the organization. 23
471	471
472	472	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 24
473	473	1, 2023. 25
474	474