Bill Text: CA AB2886 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2886 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: Public Employee Relations Board: Orange County Transportation Authority: San Joaquin Regional Transit District.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Vetoed) 2018-09-28 - Vetoed by Governor. [AB2886 Detail]

Download: California-2017-AB2886-Amended.html

Amended IN Assembly March 23, 2018

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2886

Introduced by Assembly Member Daly

February 16, 2018

An act to ~~amend Section 216 of~~ add Sections 40122.1 and 40122.2 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to ~~public utilities.~~ public employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2886, as amended, Daly. ~~Public utilities: definition.~~ Public Employee Relations Board: Orange County Transit District.

Existing law establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) in state government as a means of resolving disputes and enforcing the statutory duties and rights of specified public employers and employees under various acts regulating collective bargaining, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act. Existing law includes within PERB’s jurisdiction the resolution of disputes alleging violation of rules and regulations adopted by a public agency, as defined, concerning unit determinations, representations, recognition, and elections, as specified. Existing law does not apply the above provisions to employees of specified transit agencies, including the Orange County Transit District, among others.
Existing law, the Orange County Transit District Act of 1965, establishes a transit district within the County of Orange to create, among other things, a permanent rapid transit system. Existing law authorizes employees of the district to enter into labor organizations, as specified, and requires the California State Mediation and Conciliation Service to participate in labor organization disputes, as provided. Under existing law, the district may sue, and be sued, in all courts and tribunals of competent jurisdiction.
This bill, on and after January 1, 2020, would require employers and employees of the Orange County Transit District to adjudicate complaints of specified labor violations before PERB as an unfair practice and would authorize specified parties aggrieved by PERB’s decision or order to petition for relief from that decision or order, as provided. By requiring the district to adjudicate claims before PERB, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.
~~Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, as defined.~~
~~This bill would make nonsubstantive revisions to the definition of a “public utility” in the Public Utilities Act.~~

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NOYES Local Program: NOYES

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 40122.1 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

40122.1.
(a) The Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Government Code, and the powers and duties of that board, as described in Section 3541.3 of the Government Code, shall apply, as appropriate, to this chapter and shall include the authority as set forth in subdivision (b).
(b) A complaint alleging any violation of this chapter or of any rules and regulations adopted by the district shall be processed as an unfair practice charge by the Public Employment Relations Board. The initial determination as to whether the charge of unfair practice is justified and, if so, the appropriate remedy necessary to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, shall be a matter within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Public Employment Relations Board, except that in an action to recover damages due to an unlawful strike, the Public Employment Relations Board shall have no authority to award strike-preparation expenses as damages, and shall have no authority to award damages for costs, expenses, or revenue losses incurred during, or as a consequence of, an unlawful strike. The Public Employment Relations Board shall apply and interpret unfair labor practices consistent with existing judicial interpretations of this chapter.
(c) The Public Employment Relations Board shall not find it an unfair practice for an employee organization to violate a rule or regulation adopted by a public agency if that rule or regulation is itself in violation of this chapter. This subdivision shall not be construed to restrict or expand that board’s jurisdiction or authority as set forth in subdivisions (a) and (b).
(d) This section shall be operative on January 1, 2020.

SEC. 2.

Section 40122.2 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

40122.2.
(a) Any charging party, respondent, or intervenor aggrieved by a final decision or order of the Public Employment Relations Board in an unfair practice case, except a decision of that board not to issue a complaint in such a case, may petition for a writ of extraordinary relief from that decision or order.
(b) A petition for a writ of extraordinary relief shall be filed in the district court of appeal having jurisdiction over the county where the events giving rise to the decision or order occurred. The petition shall be filed within 30 days from the date of the issuance of the Public Employment Relations Board’s final decision or order, or order denying reconsideration, as applicable. Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall cause notice to be served upon the Public Employment Relations Board and thereafter shall have jurisdiction of the proceeding. The Public Employment Relations Board shall file in the court the record of the proceeding, certified by that board, within 10 days after the clerk’s notice unless that time is extended by the court for good cause shown. The court shall have jurisdiction to grant any temporary relief or restraining order it deems just and proper, and in like manner to make and enter a decree enforcing, modifying, and enforcing as modified, or setting aside in whole or in part the decision or order of the Public Employment Relations Board. The findings of the Public Employment Relations Board with respect to questions of fact, including ultimate facts, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive. Title 1 (commencing with Section 1067) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to writs shall, except where specifically superseded by this section, apply to proceedings pursuant to this section.
(c) If the time to petition for extraordinary relief from a Public Employment Relations Board decision or order has expired, the Public Employment Relations Board may seek enforcement of any final decision or order in a district court of appeal or superior court having jurisdiction over the county where the events giving rise to the decision or order occurred. The Public Employment Relations Board shall respond within 10 days to any inquiry from a party to the action as to why the Public Employment Relations Board has not sought court enforcement of the final decision or order. If the response does not indicate that there has been compliance with the Public Employment Relations Board’s final decision or order, the Public Employment Relations Board shall seek enforcement of the final decision or order upon the request of the party. The Public Employment Relations Board shall file in the court the record of the proceeding, certified by that board, and appropriate evidence disclosing the failure to comply with the decision or order. If, after hearing, the court determines that the order was issued pursuant to the procedures established by the Public Employment Relations Board and that the person or entity refuses to comply with the order, the court shall enforce the order by writ of mandamus or other proper process. The court may not review the merits of the order.
(d) This section shall be operative on January 1, 2020.

SEC. 3.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

SECTION 1.Section 216 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read:
216.
(a)“Public utility” includes every common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation, and heat corporation, where the service is performed for, or the commodity is delivered to, the public or any portion thereof.
(b)Whenever any common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation performs a service for, or delivers a commodity to, the public or any portion thereof for which any compensation or payment whatsoever is received, that common carrier, toll bridge corporation, pipeline corporation, gas corporation, electrical corporation, telephone corporation, telegraph corporation, water corporation, sewer system corporation, or heat corporation, is a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the commission and the provisions of this part.
(c)When any person or corporation performs any service for, or delivers any commodity to, any person, private corporation, municipality, or other political subdivision of the state, that in turn either directly or indirectly, mediately or immediately, performs that service for, or delivers that commodity to, the public or any portion thereof, that person or corporation is a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, and regulation of the commission and the provisions of this part.
(d)Ownership or operation of a facility that employs cogeneration technology or produces electricity from other than a conventional power source or the ownership or operation of a facility which employs landfill gas technology does not make a corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of the ownership or operation of that facility.
(e)Any corporation or person engaged directly or indirectly in developing, producing, transmitting, distributing, delivering, or selling any form of heat derived from geothermal or solar resources or from cogeneration technology to any privately owned or publicly owned public utility, or to the public or any portion thereof, is not a public utility within the meaning of this section solely by reason of engaging in any of those activities.
(f)The ownership or operation of a facility that sells compressed natural gas or hydrogen at retail to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, and the selling of compressed natural gas or hydrogen at retail from that facility to the public for use only as a motor vehicle fuel, does not make the corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of that ownership, operation, or sale.
(g)Ownership or operation of a facility that is an exempt wholesale generator, as defined in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 16451(6)), does not make a corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this section, solely due to the ownership or operation of that facility.
(h)The ownership, control, operation, or management of an electric plant used for direct transactions or participation directly or indirectly in direct transactions, as permitted by subdivision (b) of Section 365, as modified by Section 365.1, sales into a market established and operated by the Independent System Operator or any other wholesale electricity market, or the use or sale as permitted under subdivisions (b) to (d), inclusive, of Section 218, shall not make a corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of that ownership, participation, or sale.
(i)The ownership, control, operation, or management of a facility that supplies electricity to the public only for use to charge light duty plug-in electric vehicles does not make the corporation or person a public utility within the meaning of this section solely because of that ownership, control, operation, or management. For purposes of this subdivision, “light duty plug-in electric vehicles” includes light duty battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. This subdivision does not affect the commission’s authority under Section 454 or 740.2 or any other applicable statute.