2023 rundown: Public-sector union legislation in the states

Welcome to the 2023 legislative session! Forty state legislatures are currently in regular session. Today, we’ll look at bills related to public-sector union policy that have been introduced so far this year.

Overview

We’re currently tracking 33 bills related to public-sector union policy in the states. Thirty-one of those bills have been introduced for the 2023 session and two were carried over from 2022. Since 2018, we’ve tracked an average of 136 bills per year.

Of the bills introduced so far for the 2023 session, Democrats have sponsored 21 and Republicans have sponsored eight. Two bills have bipartisan sponsorship.

Three of the Republican-sponsored bills were introduced in Republican trifecta states, and 20 of the Democratic-sponsored bills were introduced in Democratic trifecta states. The two bipartisan bills were introduced in New Hampshire, a Republican trifecta.

Bill details

The following bills have been introduced so far for the 2023 legislative session:

California AB1: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would establish the “Legislature Employer-Employee Relations Act,” which would allow state legislative employees to organize and bargain collectively. The act would go into effect on July 1, 2024.
Connecticut HB05067: Republican sponsorship. This bill would remove statutory language related to an administrators’ unit, categorizing school administrators as management employees for collective bargaining purposes.
Connecticut HB05183: Republican sponsorship. This bill would require collective bargaining agreements and related notices for state and municipal employees to include “a clear and conspicuous statement of an employee’s right to choose not to be a member of an employee organization.”
Illinois HB1083: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would stipulate that any collective bargaining provision limiting a public employer’s ability to investigate employee conduct is unenforceable.
Illinois HB1089: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would prohibit collective bargaining agreements between public employers and police unions from allowing unconstitutional police conduct. A collective bargaining agreement allowing unconstitutional police conduct would be void.
Illinois HB1120: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would require certified charter school contract renewals to include a union neutrality clause stating that the school agrees to be “neutral regarding the unionization of any of its employees …,” to provide “labor organization access at reasonable times…,” and to recognize unions “through a majority card check verified by a neutral third-party arbitrator[.]”
Maryland HB65: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would extend collective bargaining rights to certain county public library employees. It would prohibit employees from striking.
Maryland HB85: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would repeal a provision that says maximum class size is not subject to collective bargaining negotiation.
Maryland HB116: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would extend collective bargaining rights to certain employees of the Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery.
Minnesota HF77 and Minnesota SF83: Democratic sponsorship. These companion bills would allow employees of legislative entities to organize and choose exclusive representatives to bargain over terms and conditions of employment.
Minnesota HF332: Republican sponsorship. This bill would repeal statutory language allowing public employee labor organizations to collect fair share fees or otherwise referring to fair share fees.
Missouri SB54: Republican sponsorship. This bill would bar employers from requiring employees to join or refrain from joining a union as a condition of employment in counties that adopt the provisions of the section.
Montana HB216: Republican sponsorship. This bill would state that public employees may not be required to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment. It would allow public employees to cancel their union membership and cease financial support at any time. It would prohibit public employers from withdrawing union dues from employees’ pay without informing employees annually that union membership and financial support are voluntary and without receiving annual affirmative written consent for dues deductions.
New Hampshire HB134: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would establish the Legislature as a public employer and establish collective bargaining procedures for nonpartisan legislative employees.
New Hampshire HB150: Bipartisan sponsorship. This bill would decrease the number of employees required to certify a public employee collective bargaining unit from 10 to five.
New Hampshire HB241: Bipartisan sponsorship. This bill would define a reasonable opportunity for school district employees to meet with the school district for collective bargaining negotiations as being before 9:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. on scheduled work days.
Oklahoma SB75: Republican sponsorship. This bill would require annual authorizations for payroll dues deductions for school employees. It would require school employees to sign an annual authorization form before school districts may deduct union dues or political contributions from employee paychecks. The bill would prescribe the wording of the authorization form. It would also require school districts to confirm authorizations by email before deducting dues.
Oregon HB2481: Republican sponsorship. This bill would prohibit public employees from striking and require disputed issues to be submitted to final and binding arbitration.
Oregon HB2573: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would require the Employment Relations Board to develop procedures for the electronic preparation of authorizations designating bargaining representatives and for the electronic signing of those authorizations.
Oregon HB2703: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would remove language limiting the inclusion of class size and caseload limits as mandatory subjects of collective bargaining to schools qualifying for Title 1 assistance.
Oregon HB2864: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would allow unions to charge “reasonable fees and costs for representation that are unrelated to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement” to non-union Department of Corrections employees, Oregon Corrections Enterprises employees, and parole or probation officers supervising adult offenders.
Oregon HB2934: Republican sponsorship. This bill would prohibit a public employer from deducting union dues or fees from public employee pay.
Oregon SB187: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would repeal ORS 243.738, which prohibits mass transit district employees, transportation district employees, and municipal bus system employees from striking.
Oregon SB194: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would exclude certain Oregon State Police employees from being defined as supervisory employees for collective bargaining purposes.
Oregon SB197: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would remove language limiting the inclusion of class size and caseload limits as mandatory subjects of collective bargaining to schools qualifying for Title 1 assistance. It would expand class size and caseload as mandatory bargaining subjects to all schools “as necessary to ensure class size and caseload limits align with the class size and caseload limits identified in the quality goals as recommended by the Quality Education Commission.”
Washington HB1122 and Washington SB5141: Democratic sponsorship. These companion bills would remove statutory language excluding Washington management service members from collective bargaining units.
Washington HB1200 and Washington SB5273: Democratic sponsorship. These companion bills would require public employers to provide exclusive bargaining representatives with information including employee name, date of hire, contact information, and employment and salary information within 10 days of hiring a new employee in the bargaining unit. All information for every employee in the unit must be sent to the exclusive bargaining representative every 90 days.
Washington SB5085: Democratic sponsorship. This bill would grant principals and assistant principals the right to bargain for working conditions rather than being limited to bargaining for compensation and hours and days of work.

As always, an overview of the current legislation we’re tracking and a list of legislative actions from the past week are included at the end of this newsletter.

To view spreadsheets with information about all of the public-sector labor bills we’ve tracked since 2018, click here.

What we’re reading

The big picture

Number of relevant bills by state

We are currently tracking 33 pieces of legislation dealing with public-sector employee union policy. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we’re tracking.

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s)

Recent legislative actions

Below is a complete list of relevant legislative actions taken since our last issue. This list of bills overlaps with—but is not identical to—the list of 2023 bills above.

Connecticut HB05067: This bill would remove statutory language related to an administrators’ unit, categorizing school administrators as management employees for collective bargaining purposes.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Referred to Joint Education Committee Jan. 9.
Connecticut HB05183: This bill would require collective bargaining agreements and related notices for state and municipal employees to include “a clear and conspicuous statement of an employee’s right to choose not to be a member of an employee organization.”
- Republican sponsorship.
- Referred to Joint Labor and Public Employees Committee Jan. 11.
Illinois HB5107 (2022 session): This bill would define educational supervisors (e.g., principals and assistant principals) as educational employees for the purpose of collective bargaining. The bill would not allow educational supervisors in positions requiring an administrative license to strike. The bill would only apply to districts organized under Article 34 of the Illinois School Code, which applies to cities with a population of more than 500,000.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Passed both chambers Jan. 6.
Illinois HB1083: This bill would stipulate that any collective bargaining provision limiting a public employer’s ability to investigate employee conduct is unenforceable.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Prefiled with clerk Jan. 4.
Illinois HB1089: This bill would prohibit collective bargaining agreements between public employers and police unions from allowing unconstitutional police conduct. A collective bargaining agreement allowing unconstitutional police conduct would be void.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Prefiled with clerk Jan. 4.
Illinois HB1120: This bill would require certified charter school contract renewals to include a union neutrality clause stating that the school agrees to be “neutral regarding the unionization of any of its employees …,” to provide “labor organization access at reasonable times…,” and to recognize unions “through a majority card check verified by a neutral third-party arbitrator[.]”
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Prefiled with clerk Jan. 10.
Maryland HB65: This bill would extend collective bargaining rights to certain county public library employees. It would prohibit employees from striking.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- First reading House Appropriations Committee Jan. 11.
Maryland HB85: This bill would repeal a provision that says maximum class size is not subject to collective bargaining negotiation.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- First reading House Ways and Means Committee Jan. 11.
Maryland HB116: This bill would extend collective bargaining rights to certain employees of the Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- First reading House Appropriations Committee Jan. 11. Hearing scheduled for Jan. 24.
Minnesota HF77 and Minnesota SF83: These companion bills would allow employees of legislative entities to organize and choose exclusive representatives to bargain over terms and conditions of employment.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- HF77 referred to House State and Local Government Finance and Policy Committee Jan. 5.
- SF83 referred to Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee Jan. 9.
Minnesota HF332: This bill would repeal statutory language allowing public employee labor organizations to collect fair share fees or otherwise referring to fair share fees.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Introduction and first reading, referred to House Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee Jan. 11.
Missouri SB54: This bill would bar employers from requiring employees to join or refrain from joining a union as a condition of employment in counties that adopt the provisions of the section.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Senate first read Jan. 4.
Montana HB216: This bill would state that public employees may not be required to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment. It would allow public employees to cancel their union membership and cease financial support at any time. It would prohibit public employers from withdrawing union dues from employees’ pay without informing employees annually that union membership and financial support are voluntary and without receiving annual affirmative written consent for dues deductions.
- Republican sponsorship.
- Introduced Jan. 10.
New Hampshire HB134: This bill would establish the Legislature as a public employer and establish collective bargaining procedures for nonpartisan legislative employees.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Introduced Jan. 4, referred to House Legislative Administration Committee.
New Hampshire HB150: This bill would decrease the number of employees required to certify a public employee collective bargaining unit from 10 to five.
- Bipartisan sponsorship.
- Introduced Jan. 4, referred to House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee. Public hearing scheduled for Jan. 26.
New Hampshire HB241: This bill would define a reasonable opportunity for school district employees to meet with the school district for collective bargaining negotiations as being before 9:00 a.m. or after 6:00 p.m. on scheduled work days.
- Bipartisan sponsorship.
- Referred to House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee Jan. 9.
Oregon HB2481: This bill would prohibit public employees from striking and require disputed issues to be submitted to final and binding arbitration.
- Republican sponsorship.
- First reading, referred to speaker’s desk Jan. 9. Referred to House Business and Labor Committee Jan. 11.
Oregon HB2573: This bill would require the Employment Relations Board to develop procedures for the electronic preparation of authorizations designating bargaining representatives and for the electronic signing of those authorizations.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- First reading, referred to speaker’s desk Jan. 9.
Oregon HB2703: This bill would remove language limiting the inclusion of class size and caseload limits as mandatory subjects of collective bargaining to schools qualifying for Title 1 assistance.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- First reading, referred to speaker’s desk Jan. 9.
Oregon HB2864: This bill would allow unions to charge “reasonable fees and costs for representation that are unrelated to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement” to non-union Department of Corrections employees, Oregon Corrections Enterprises employees, and parole or probation officers supervising adult offenders.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- First reading, referred to speaker’s desk Jan. 9.
Oregon HB2934: This bill would prohibit a public employer from deducting union dues or fees from public employee pay.
- Republican sponsorship.
- First reading, referred to Speaker’s desk Jan. 9.
Oregon SB187: This bill would repeal ORS 243.738, which prohibits mass transit district employees, transportation district employees, and municipal bus system employees from striking.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Introduction and first reading, referred to president’s desk Jan. 9.
Oregon SB194: This bill would exclude certain Oregon State Police employees from being defined as supervisory employees for collective bargaining purposes.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Introduction and first reading, referred to president’s desk Jan. 9.
Oregon SB197: This bill would remove language limiting the inclusion of class size and caseload limits as mandatory subjects of collective bargaining to schools qualifying for Title 1 assistance. It would expand class size and caseload as mandatory bargaining subjects to all schools “as necessary to ensure class size and caseload limits align with the class size and caseload limits identified in the quality goals as recommended by the Quality Education Commission.”
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Introduction and first reading, referred to president’s desk Jan. 9. Referred to Senate Education Committee Jan. 11.
Washington HB1122 and Washington SB5141: These companion bills would remove statutory language excluding Washington management service members from collective bargaining units.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- HB1122 scheduled for House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee public hearing on Jan. 13 and executive session on Jan. 20.
- SB5141 referred to Senate Labor & Commerce Committee Jan. 9.
Washington HB1200 and Washington SB5273: These companion bills would require public employers to provide exclusive bargaining representatives with information including employee name, date of hire, contact information, and employment and salary information within 10 days of hiring a new employee in the bargaining unit. All information for every employee in the unit must be sent to the exclusive bargaining representative every 90 days.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- HB1200 referred to House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee Jan. 10, scheduled for public hearing Jan. 20.
- SB5273 referred to Senate Labor & Commerce Committee Jan. 11.
Washington SB5085: This bill would grant principals and assistant principals the right to bargain for working conditions rather than being limited to bargaining for compensation and hours and days of work.
- Democratic sponsorship.
- Senate Early Learning & K-12 Education Committee public hearing held Jan. 12.

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