22102743D
HOUSE BILL NO. 790
Offered January 12, 2022
Prefiled January 11, 2022
A BILL to amend and reenact §40.1-57.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to collective bargaining; law enforcement; transparency and accountability.
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Patron-- LaRock
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Committee Referral Pending
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §40.1-57.2 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§40.1-57.2. Collective bargaining.

A. No state, county, city, town, or like governmental officer, agent, or governing body is vested with or possesses any authority to recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, or to collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment or service unless, in the case of a county, city, or town, such authority is provided for or permitted by a local ordinance or by a resolution. Any such ordinance or resolution shall provide for procedures for the certification and decertification of exclusive bargaining representatives, including reasonable public notice and opportunity for labor organizations to intervene in the process for designating an exclusive representative of a bargaining unit. As used in this section, "county, city, or town" includes any local school board, and "public officers or employees" includes employees of a local school board.

B. No ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to subsection A shall include provisions that restrict the governing body's authority to establish the budget or appropriate funds.

C. For any governing body of a county, city, or town that has not adopted an ordinance or resolution providing for collective bargaining, such governing body shall, within 120 days of receiving certification from a majority of public employees in a unit considered by such employees to be appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, take a vote to adopt or not adopt an ordinance or resolution to provide for collective bargaining by such public employees and any other public employees deemed appropriate by the governing body. Nothing in this subsection shall require any governing body to adopt an ordinance or resolution authorizing collective bargaining.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A regarding a local ordinance or resolution granting or permitting collective bargaining, no officer elected pursuant to Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution of Virginia or any employee of such officer is vested with or possesses any authority to recognize any labor union or other employee association as a bargaining agent of any public officers or employees, or to collectively bargain or enter into any collective bargaining contract with any such union or association or its agents, with respect to any matter relating to them or their employment or service.

E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection A, no county, city, or town shall enter into a collective bargaining contract with a labor union or other employee association representing law-enforcement officers or employees of a law-enforcement agency that (i) prevents the Attorney General from seeking equitable relief against a law-enforcement agency engaging in a pattern or practice of unconstitutional misconduct; (ii) includes any stipulation that delays officer interviews or interrogations after alleged wrongdoing for a set length of time; (iii) provides officers with access to evidence before interviews or interrogations about alleged wrongdoing; (iv) mandates the destruction or purging of disciplinary records from personnel files after a set length of time, or limits the consideration of disciplinary records in future employment actions; (v) prohibits the interrogation, investigation, or punishment of officers on the basis of alleged wrongdoing if a set length of time has elapsed since its alleged occurrence, or since the initiation of the investigation; (vi) prohibits supervisors from interrogating, investigating, or disciplining officers on the basis of anonymous civilian complaints; or (vii) requires arbitration of disputes related to disciplinary penalties or termination. As used in this subsection, "law-enforcement officer" has the same meaning as provided in §9.1-101.