I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 2736
To secure the rights of public employees to organize, act concertedly, and
bargain collectively, which safeguard the public interest and promote
the free and unobstructed flow of commerce, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL8, 2025
Mr. N
ORCROSS(for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. DELUZIO, Ms. ADAMS,
Ms. A
NSARI, Mr. BACON, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BEYER, Ms. BONAMICI,
Mr. B
OYLEof Pennsylvania, Ms. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Ms.
B
UDZINSKI, Ms. BYNUM, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTERof Louisiana, Mr.
C
ASAR, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Mrs.
C
HERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mr.
C
LEAVER, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. DAVISof Illinois, Ms.
D
EANof Pennsylvania, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE,
Ms. D
EXTER, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ELFRETH, Mr. EVANSof Pennsylvania,
Mrs. F
LETCHER, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. LOISFRANKELof
Florida, Mr. F
ROST, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARBARINO, Mr. GARCIAof
California, Mr. G
ARCI´Aof Illinois, Ms. GILLEN, Ms. PEREZ, Mr. GOLD-
MANof New York, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. GOODLANDER, Mr. GOTTHEIMER,
Mrs. H
AYES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HOYER, Mr. IVEY,
Ms. J
ACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Ms. KELLYof Illi-
nois, Mr. K
ENNEDYof New York, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI,
Mr. L
ARSONof Connecticut, Mr. LATIMER, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. LYNCH,
Mr. M
AGAZINER, Mr. MANNION, Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCBRIDE, Mrs.
M
CCLAINDELANEY, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mrs. MCIVER,
Mr. M
EEKS, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. MENG, Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin, Mr.
M
ORELLE, Ms. MORRISON, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MRVAN,
Mr. M
ULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr.
O
LSZEWSKI, Ms. OMAR, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PETTERSEN,
Mr. P
OCAN, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. ROSS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms.
S
CHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms.
S
HERRILL, Mr. SMITHof Washington, Mr. SORENSEN, Ms. STANSBURY,
Mr. S
TANTON, Mr. SUBRAMANYAM, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. TAKANO, Mr.
T
HOMPSONof Mississippi, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr.
T
ONKO, Mr. TORRESof New York, Mrs. TORRESof California, Ms.
U
NDERWOOD, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Ms. WASSERMANSCHULTZ, Ms.
W
ATERS, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, and Ms. WILLIAMSof Georgia) intro-
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duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Workforce
A BILL
To secure the rights of public employees to organize, act
concertedly, and bargain collectively, which safeguard the
public interest and promote the free and unobstructed
flow of commerce, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Service Free-4
dom to Negotiate Act of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
(a) I
NGENERAL.—In this Act: 7
(1) A
PPROPRIATE UNIT.—The term ‘‘appro-8
priate unit’’ means a group of public employees or 9
a group of supervisory employees appropriate for 10
collective bargaining that share a community of in-11
terest, as demonstrated by factors including whether 12
such group— 13
(A) has a bargaining history or history of 14
prior organization; and 15
(B) reflects the desires of the employees 16
who are seeking or proposing representation by 17
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a labor organization regarding the employees to 1
be included in such bargaining unit. 2
(2) A
UTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 3
the Federal Labor Relations Authority. 4
(3) C
OLLECTIVE BARGAINING .—The term ‘‘col-5
lective bargaining’’, used with respect to public em-6
ployees, supervisory employees, and public employ-7
ers, means the performance of the mutual obligation 8
of the representative of a public employer and the 9
exclusive representative of an appropriate unit of 10
public and supervisory employees of the employer to 11
meet at reasonable times and to consult and bargain 12
in a good-faith effort to reach agreement with re-13
spect to wages, hours, and other terms and condi-14
tions of employment affecting such employees and to 15
execute a written document incorporating any collec-16
tive bargaining agreement reached, but the obliga-17
tion referred to in this paragraph does not compel 18
either party to agree to a proposal or to make a con-19
cession (as described in section 8(d) of the National 20
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(d))). 21
(4) C
ONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYEE .—The term 22
‘‘confidential employee’’ means an employee of a 23
public employer who acts in a confidential capacity 24
with respect to an individual who formulates or ef-25
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fectuates management policies in the field of labor- 1
management relations. 2
(5) C
OVERED PERSON .—The term ‘‘covered 3
person’’ means an individual or a labor organization. 4
(6) E
MERGENCY SERVICES EMPLOYEE .—The 5
term ‘‘emergency services employee’’ means— 6
(A) a public employee providing out-of-hos-7
pital emergency medical care, including an 8
emergency medical technician, paramedic, or 9
first responder; or 10
(B) a public employee providing other serv-11
ices in response to emergencies that have the 12
potential to cause death or serious bodily in-13
jury, including an employee in fire protection 14
activities (as defined in section 3(y) of the Fair 15
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 16
203(y))). 17
(7) L
ABOR ORGANIZATION .—The term ‘‘labor 18
organization’’ means any organization of any kind 19
that is not under the control directly or indirectly by 20
a public employer in which such employees partici-21
pate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or 22
in part, of dealing with public employers concerning 23
grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours 24
of employment, or conditions of work. 25
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(8) LAW.—The term ‘‘law’’, used with respect 1
to a State or a political subdivision thereof, includes 2
the application of the laws of such State or such po-3
litical subdivision, including any regulations or ordi-4
nances issued by such State or such political subdivi-5
sion. 6
(9) L
AW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER .—The term 7
‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given 8
such term in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime 9
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10
10284). 11
(10) M
ANAGEMENT EMPLOYEE .—The term 12
‘‘management employee’’ means an individual em-13
ployed by a public employer in a position the duties 14
and responsibilities of which require the individual to 15
formulate or determine the policies of the public em-16
ployer. 17
(11) P
UBLIC EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘public 18
employee’’— 19
(A) means an individual, employed by a 20
public employer, who in any workweek is en-21
gaged in commerce or is employed in an enter-22
prise engaged in commerce; 23
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(B) includes an individual who is tempo-1
rarily transferred to a supervisory or manage-2
ment position; and 3
(C) does not include— 4
(i) a supervisory employee; 5
(ii) a management employee; 6
(iii) a confidential employee; or 7
(iv) an elected official. 8
(12) P
UBLIC EMPLOYER .—The term ‘‘public 9
employer’’ means an entity that— 10
(A) employs not less than 1 individual; 11
(B) is engaged in commerce; and 12
(C) is either— 13
(i) a State or the political subdivision 14
of a State; or 15
(ii) any authority, agency, school dis-16
trict, board or other entity controlled and 17
operated by an entity described in clause 18
(i). 19
(13) S
UBSTANTIALLY PROVIDES .—The term 20
‘‘substantially provides’’, used with respect to the 21
rights and procedures described in section 3(b), 22
means providing rights and procedures that are 23
equivalent to or greater than each of the rights and 24
procedures described in such section. 25
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(14) SUPERVISORY EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘su-1
pervisory employee’’ means an individual, employed 2
by a public employer, who in any workweek is en-3
gaged in commerce or is employed in an enterprise 4
engaged in commerce and who— 5
(A) has the authority in the interest of the 6
employer, if the exercise of such authority is 7
not merely routine or clerical in nature but re-8
quires the consistent exercise of independent 9
judgment, to— 10
(i) hire, promote, reward, transfer, 11
furlough, lay off, recall, suspend, dis-12
cipline, or remove public employees; 13
(ii) adjust the grievances of public 14
employees; or 15
(iii) effectively recommend any action 16
described in clause (i) or (ii); and 17
(B) devotes a majority of time at work to 18
exercising the authority under subparagraph 19
(A). 20
(b) F
AIRLABORSTANDARDS ACT OF 1938 21
T
ERMS.—The terms ‘‘commerce’’, ‘‘employ’’, ‘‘enterprise 22
engaged in commerce’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings 23
given such terms in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards 24
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 25
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(c) STATELAW.—If any term defined in this section 1
has a substantially equivalent meaning to a term (or a 2
substantially equivalent term) under applicable State law 3
on the date of the enactment of this Act, such term (or 4
substantially equivalent term) and meaning under such 5
applicable State law shall apply with respect to the term 6
defined under this Act with respect to such State. 7
SEC. 3. FEDERAL MINIMUM STANDARDS. 8
(a) D
ETERMINATION.— 9
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 10
after the date of enactment of this Act (except as 11
provided in paragraph (4)(C)), the Authority shall 12
make a determination for each State as to whether 13
the laws of such State substantially provide for each 14
of the rights and procedures under subsection (b) 15
and not later than 30 days after the enactment of 16
this Act, the Authority shall establish procedures for 17
the implementation of this section. 18
(2) C
ONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL OPIN -19
IONS.—In making the determination under para-20
graph (1), the Authority shall consider the opinions 21
of affected public employees, supervisory employees, 22
labor organizations, and public employers. In the 23
case where the Authority is notified by an affected 24
public employer and labor organization that both 25
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parties agree that the law applicable to such em-1
ployer and labor organization substantially provides 2
for the rights and procedures described in subsection 3
(b), the Authority shall give such agreement weight 4
to the maximum extent practicable in making the 5
Authority’s determination under paragraph (1). 6
(3) L
IMITED CRITERIA.—In making the deter-7
mination described in paragraph (1), the Authority 8
may only consider the criteria described in sub-9
section (b). 10
(4) S
UBSEQUENT DETERMINATIONS .— 11
(A) I
N GENERAL.—A determination made 12
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain in ef-13
fect unless and until the Authority issues a sub-14
sequent determination, in accordance with the 15
procedures set forth in subparagraph (B). 16
(B) R
EQUEST.—A public employee, super-17
visory employee, public employer, or a labor or-18
ganization may submit to the Authority a writ-19
ten request for a subsequent determination with 20
respect to whether a material change of State 21
law has occurred. 22
(C) I
SSUANCE.—If satisfied that a mate-23
rial change in State law has occurred, the Au-24
thority shall issue a subsequent determination 25
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described under paragraph (1) not later than 1
30 days after receipt of such request. 2
(5) J
UDICIAL REVIEW.—Any covered person or 3
public employer aggrieved by a determination of the 4
Authority under this paragraph (1) may, during the 5
60-day period beginning on the date on which the 6
determination was made, petition any United States 7
Court of Appeals in the circuit in which the covered 8
person or public employer resides or transacts busi-9
ness or in the Court of Appeals for the District of 10
Columbia Circuit, for judicial review. In any judicial 11
review of a determination made by the Authority de-12
scribed in paragraph (1), the procedures contained 13
in subsections (c) and (d) of section 7123 of title 5, 14
United States Code, shall be followed. 15
(6) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—In making the 16
determination described in paragraph (1), the Au-17
thority shall, as relevant, consider any requirement 18
imposed by a consent decree entered into by the De-19
partment of Justice before, on, or after the date of 20
enactment of this Act as substantially providing for 21
the rights and procedures under subsection (b). 22
(b) F
EDERALMINIMUMSTANDARD.—The collective 23
bargaining rights and procedures under this subsection 24
are as follows: 25
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(1) A right of public employees and supervisory 1
employees— 2
(A) to self-organization; 3
(B) to form, join, or assist a labor organi-4
zation or to refrain from any such activity; 5
(C) to bargain collectively through rep-6
resentatives of their own choosing; and 7
(D) to engage in other concerted activities 8
for the purpose of collective bargaining or other 9
mutual aid (including the filing of joint, class, 10
or collective legal claims) or protection. 11
(2) A requirement for public employers to— 12
(A) recognize the labor organization of its 13
public employees and supervisory employees 14
(freely chosen in an election by a majority of 15
such employees voting in the appropriate unit 16
or chosen by voluntary recognition if that meth-17
od is permitted under State law) without re-18
quiring an election to recertify or decertify a 19
labor organization that is already recognized as 20
the representative of such employees unless not 21
less than 30 percent of such employees in the 22
bargaining unit freely sign a petition to decer-23
tify such labor organization— 24
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(i) not earlier than the date that is 1 1
year after the date of the election (or after 2
a voluntary recognition if permitted under 3
State law) of the representative; 4
(ii) not earlier than 1 year after the 5
expiration of a valid collective bargaining 6
agreement; 7
(iii) not during the term of a valid col-8
lective bargaining agreement (except as 9
permissible under clause (iv)); or 10
(iv) during the 30-day period begin-11
ning on the date that is 90 days before the 12
end of a valid existing contract; 13
(B) collectively bargain with such recog-14
nized labor organization; and 15
(C) commit any agreements with such rec-16
ognized labor organization to writing in a con-17
tract or memorandum of understanding. 18
(3) An interest impasse resolution mechanism, 19
such as fact-finding, mediation, arbitration, or com-20
parable procedures that culminate in binding resolu-21
tion. 22
(4) Payroll deduction of labor organization fees 23
for any duly chosen representative of a public em-24
ployee or supervisory employee pursuant to the 25
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terms of an agreement between the labor organiza-1
tion and such public or supervisory employee, which 2
shall remain in effect until revoked by such employee 3
in accordance with its terms. 4
(5) The prohibition of practices that interfere 5
with, restrain, or coerce public or supervisory em-6
ployees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in para-7
graph (1) or regulations issued thereunder. 8
(6) The enforcement of all relevant rights and 9
procedures provided by State law and enumerated in 10
this subsection. 11
(7) The enforcement of all rights and proce-12
dures provided by any written contract or memo-13
randum of understanding between a labor organiza-14
tion and a public employer, through— 15
(A) a State agency, if the State so chooses; 16
(B) at the election of an aggrieved party, 17
the State courts, if so permitted under State 18
law; or 19
(C) a grievance resolution procedure culmi-20
nating in binding arbitration negotiated in such 21
contract or memorandum. 22
(c) C
OMPLIANCE WITHRIGHTS AND PROCE-23
DURES.—If the Authority determines under subsection 24
(a)(1) that the laws of a State substantially provide each 25
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of the rights and procedures described in subsection (b), 1
then subsection (d) shall not apply and this Act shall not 2
preempt the laws of such State. 3
(d) F
AILURETOSUBSTANTIALLYPROVIDE.— 4
(1) I
N GENERAL.—If the Authority determines 5
under subsection (a)(1) that the laws of a State do 6
not substantially provide for each of the rights and 7
procedures described in subsection (b), then such 8
State shall be subject to the rules and activities of 9
the Authority under section 4 beginning on the later 10
of— 11
(A) the date that is 2 years after the date 12
of enactment of this Act; 13
(B) the date that is the last day of the 14
first regular session of the legislature of the 15
State that begins after the date of the enact-16
ment of this Act; or 17
(C) in the case of a State receiving a sub-18
sequent determination described under sub-19
section (a)(4), the date that is the last day of 20
the first regular session of the legislature of the 21
State that begins after the date the Authority 22
made the determination. 23
(2) P
ARTIAL FAILURE.—If the Authority deter-24
mines under subsection (a)(1) that a State does not 25
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substantially provide for each of the rights and pro-1
cedures described in subsection (b) because the 2
State fails to substantially provide for all of such 3
rights and procedures with respect to any public or 4
supervisory employees, the Authority shall identify— 5
(A) the categories of public or supervisory 6
employees of such State that shall be subject to 7
the rules and activities of the Authority under 8
section 4, pursuant to section 7(b)(4), begin-9
ning on the applicable date under paragraph 10
(1); 11
(B) the categories of public employees and 12
supervisory employees of such State that shall 13
not be subject to the rules and activities of the 14
Authority under section 4; 15
(C) the categories of rights and procedures 16
described in subsection (b) for which the State 17
does not substantially provide for certain public 18
employees and supervisory employees; and 19
(D) the categories of rights and procedures 20
described in such subsection for which the State 21
substantially provides for all employees. 22
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SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS ADMINISTERED BY THE FED-1
ERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 3
date of enactment of this Act, the Authority shall issue 4
rules and take such actions that the Authority determines 5
appropriate to establish and administer collective bar-6
gaining rights and procedures that substantially provide 7
for the minimum standards described in section 3(b) for 8
States described in section 3(d). 9
(b) R
OLE OF THEFEDERALLABORRELATIONSAU-10
THORITY.— 11
(1) I
N GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 12
(a), the Authority shall— 13
(A) provide for the rights and procedures 14
described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of sec-15
tion 3(b); 16
(B) supervise or conduct elections to deter-17
mine whether a labor organization has been 18
chosen as an exclusive representative by a ma-19
jority of the public employees and supervisory 20
employees voting in such election in an appro-21
priate unit; 22
(C) determine the appropriateness of units 23
for labor organization representation; 24
(D) conduct hearings and resolve com-25
plaints concerning violations of this Act or any 26
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rule or order issued by the Authority pursuant 1
to this Act; 2
(E) resolve exceptions to the awards of ar-3
bitrators that violate or exceed the scope of 4
public policy of this Act; and 5
(F) take such other actions as are nec-6
essary and appropriate to effectively administer 7
this Act, including issuing subpoenas requiring 8
the attendance and testimony of witnesses and 9
the production of documentary or other evi-10
dence from any place in the United States, ad-11
ministering oaths, taking or ordering the taking 12
of depositions, ordering responses to written in-13
terrogatories, and receiving and examining wit-14
nesses. 15
(2) R
ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—In providing for 16
the rights and procedures under paragraph (1)(A), 17
nothing in this Act shall be construed as super-18
seding, or creating or imposing any requirement in 19
conflict with, any consent decree entered into by the 20
Department of Justice before, on, or after the date 21
of enactment of this Act. 22
(c) E
NFORCEMENT.— 23
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Authority may issue an 24
order directing compliance by any covered person or 25
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public employer found to be in violation of this sec-1
tion, and may petition any United States Court of 2
Appeals with jurisdiction over the parties, or the 3
United States Court of Appeals for the District of 4
Columbia Circuit, to enforce any such final orders 5
issued pursuant to this section or pursuant to rules 6
issued under this section, and for appropriate tem-7
porary relief or a restraining order. Any covered per-8
son or public employer aggrieved by an order issued 9
by the Authority under this section may, during the 10
60-day period beginning on the date on which the 11
order was issued petition, any United States Court 12
of Appeals in the circuit which the covered person or 13
public employer resides or transacts business, or in 14
the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 15
Circuit, for judicial review. Any petition or appeal 16
under this section shall be conducted in accordance 17
with subsections (c) and (d) of section 7123 of title 18
5, United States Code. 19
(2) P
RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 20
(A) F
ILING A CIVIL ACTION.—Unless the 21
Authority has filed an order of enforcement as 22
provided in paragraph (1), any party may, after 23
the 180-day period following the filing of a 24
charge with the Authority pursuant to the rules 25
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of the Authority under this section, file a civil 1
action against any named State administrator 2
in an appropriate district court of the United 3
States to enjoin such administrator to enforce 4
compliance— 5
(i) with this Act or the rules issued by 6
the Authority under this section; or 7
(ii) to enforce compliance with any 8
order issued by the Authority. 9
(B) T
IMING.—Any civil action brought 10
under subparagraph (A) shall be brought not 11
later than the earlier of— 12
(i) the date that is 180 days after the 13
expiration of the 180-day period in sub-14
paragraph (A); or 15
(ii) the date that is 180 days after the 16
date that the Authority dismisses a charge 17
described in subparagraph (A). 18
(C) N
OTICE.—The party shall serve notice 19
of the Federal lawsuit to the Authority. 20
(D) J
URISDICTION AND ATTORNEYS ’ 21
FEES.—A district court shall have jurisdiction 22
over the civil action filed under subparagraph 23
(A) without regard to the amount in con-24
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troversy or the citizenship of the parties and 1
may award reasonable attorneys’ fees. 2
SEC. 5. LOCKOUTS AND EMPLOYEE STRIKES PROHIBITED 3
WHEN EMERGENCY OR PUBLIC SAFETY SERV-4
ICES IMPERILED. 5
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), any em-6
ployer, emergency services employee, or law enforcement 7
officer, subject to the rules and activities of the Authority 8
under section 4, may not engage in a lockout, strike, or 9
any other organized job action of which a reasonably prob-10
able result is a measurable disruption of the delivery of 11
emergency or public safety services. No labor organization 12
may cause or attempt to cause a violation of this sub-13
section. 14
(b) N
OPREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall 15
be construed to preempt any law of any State or political 16
subdivision of any State with respect to strikes by emer-17
gency services employees or law enforcement officers. 18
SEC. 6. EXISTING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UNITS AND 19
AGREEMENTS. 20
The enactment of this Act shall not invalidate any 21
certification, recognition, result of an election, collective 22
bargaining agreement, or memorandum of understanding 23
that— 24
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(1) has been issued, approved, or ratified by 1
any public employee relations board or commission, 2
or by any State or political subdivision or an agent 3
or management official of such State or political 4
subdivision; and 5
(2) is in effect on the day before the date of en-6
actment of this Act. 7
SEC. 7. EXCEPTIONS. 8
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Authority shall not make a 9
determination under section 3(a)(1) that the laws of a 10
State do not substantially provide for the rights and proce-11
dures under section 3(b) on the basis that relevant State 12
laws— 13
(1) permit a public or supervisory employee to 14
appear on the employee’s own behalf with respect to 15
the relationship of the public employee with the pub-16
lic employer involved; 17
(2) do not cover public or supervisory employees 18
of the State militia or national guard; 19
(3) do not apply to a political subdivision of a 20
State if— 21
(A) such political subdivision has a popu-22
lation of fewer than 5,000 people or employs 23
fewer than 25 public employees; and 24
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(B) the State in which such political sub-1
division is located notifies the Authority that 2
such subdivision is exempt from such laws be-3
fore the date on which the Authority makes the 4
determination; or 5
(4) do not require bargaining with respect to 6
pension or retirement income benefits. 7
(b) C
OMPLIANCE.— 8
(1) A
CTIONS OF STATES.—Nothing in this Act 9
shall be construed to require a State to rescind or 10
preempt the laws of any political subdivision of the 11
State if such laws substantially provide for the 12
rights and procedures described in section 3(b). 13
(2) A
CTIONS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUM -14
BIA.—Nothing in this Act or in the rules issued 15
under this Act shall be construed— 16
(A) to require the District of Columbia to 17
rescind— 18
(i) section 501 of the District of Co-19
lumbia Government Comprehensive Merit 20
Personnel Act of 1978 (1–605.01, D.C. 21
Official Code), establishing the Public Em-22
ployee Relations Board of the District of 23
Columbia; or 24
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(ii) section 502 of such Act (1– 1
605.02, D.C. Official Code), establishing 2
the power of the Board; 3
(B) to preempt the laws described in sub-4
paragraph (A); or 5
(C) to limit or alter the powers of the gov-6
ernment of the District of Columbia pursuant 7
to the District of Columbia Home Rule Act 8
(Public Law 93–198; 87 Stat. 774). 9
(3) A
CTIONS OF THE AUTHORITY .—Nothing in 10
this Act shall be construed to preempt— 11
(A) the laws of any State or political sub-12
division of a State that substantially provide for 13
the rights and procedures described in section 14
3(b); 15
(B) the laws of any State or political sub-16
division of a State that substantially provide for 17
the rights and procedures described in section 18
3(b), solely because such laws provide that a 19
contract or memorandum of understanding be-20
tween a public employer and a labor organiza-21
tion must be presented to a legislative body as 22
part of the process for approving such contract 23
or memorandum of understanding; or 24
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(C) the laws of any State or political sub-1
division of a State that permit or require a pub-2
lic employer to recognize a labor organization 3
on the basis of signed authorizations executed 4
by employees designating the labor organization 5
as their representative. 6
(4) L
IMITED ENFORCEMENT POWER .—In the 7
case of a law described in section 3(d)(2), the Au-8
thority shall only exercise the authority under sec-9
tion 4 with respect to the categories of public or su-10
pervisory employees for whom State law does not 11
substantially provide the rights and procedures de-12
scribed in section 3(b). 13
SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 14
If any provision of this Act or the application thereof 15
to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remain-16
der of this Act, or the application of that provision to per-17
sons or circumstances other than those as to which it is 18
held invalid, is not affected thereby. 19
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 20
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 21
as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 22
Æ
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