The Senate bill to change the way police grievance arbitrations are conducted is scheduled to receive its first hearing in the House this week.

With the House of Origin floor cutoff coming on March 9, legislative committee hearings are returning to kick off the second half of the 2021 session. This includes a number of police reform bills, including SB 5055. You may recall that SB 5055 establishes a roster of specialized police grievance arbitrators at the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) to hear disciplinary grievances for police officers. Under the bill, all arbitrations disputing police discipline, discharges, or terminations would be required to be heard by one of PERC’s specialized arbitrators.

We discussed SB 5055 here after it was voted out of committee. The bill was voted out of the Senate on February 18 on a strong, bipartisan 41-8 vote. AWC continues to actively support the bill as part of our police reform agenda. We will continue to work with lawmakers to refine the legislation and ensure that any police reform policies passed this session promote equity, maintain public safety, and be practical for cities to implement.

Dates to remember

SB 5055 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on March 10 at 10 am.