A bill aiming to change the way police grievance arbitrations are conducted was amended last week and passed out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee. The bill may soon be heading to the floor.
We originally discussed SB 5055 in the first week of the session here. The bill sets up an alternative system for law enforcement grievance arbitrations, namely that the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) would manage a roster of specialized law enforcement grievance arbitrators
with special training to decide police discipline disputes. Law enforcement discipline disputes would need to be arbitrated using a PERC specialized law enforcement arbitrator form the roster. PERC would also publish the final arbitration decisions.
AWC and some city leaders testified in favor of the bill while offering some additional ways to
further improve police reform legislation.
On February 3, SB 5055 was amended and voted out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on a bipartisan 7-0-2 vote and was sent to the Senate Rules Committee to be considered for the Senate floor calendar. Amendments to the bill include:
- Removing the bill’s prohibition on law enforcement collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) that prevent implementation of local police reform laws.
- Clarifying which law enforcement personnel are covered by the bill.
- Limiting the application of the bill to CBAs that provide for disciplinary grievance arbitration.
- Establishing how arbitration fees are to be divided up between the parties.
- Increasing the size of the roster to a maximum of 18 specialized arbitrators.
- Changing some of the minimum qualifications and considerations for arbitrator candidates to be included on the roster.
- Including additional trainings to the list of training specialized arbitrators will receive, including citizen’s academy and shoot/don’t shoot training.
- Requiring the PERC director to appoint the next arbitrator on the roster if the previous arbitrator was unable to hear a dispute within three months.
AWC maintains its support for the bill overall and for additional efforts this session at police reform. 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.