Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

H.B. 243 (2023GS)

Sponsor

Rep. Hawkins, J.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/23/2023

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• excludes confidential employees, managerial employees, and supervisors of a public transit district from certain employee rights and benefits, including the right to:
• self-organization;
• form, join, or assist a labor organization; and
• bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing;
• defines terms; and
• makes technical and conforming changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

PUBLIC TRANSIT EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
AMENDMENTS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Jon Hawkins
Senate Sponsor: 
Michael K. McKell
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill makes changes to provisions related to collective bargaining for employees of
a public transit district.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ excludes confidential employees, managerial employees, and supervisors of a public
transit district from certain employee rights and benefits, including the right to:
• self-organization;
• form, join, or assist a labor organization; and
• bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing;
▸ defines terms; and
▸ makes technical and conforming changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
17B-2a-802
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2022, Chapters 69, 406
17B-2a-813
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2013, Chapter 448
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
17B-2a-802
 is amended to read:
17B-2a-802.
Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Affordable housing" means housing occupied or reserved for occupancy by
households that meet certain gross household income requirements based on the area median
income for households of the same size.
(a) "Affordable housing" may include housing occupied or reserved for occupancy by
households that meet specific area median income targets or ranges of area median income
targets.
(b) "Affordable housing" does not include housing occupied or reserved for occupancy
by households with gross household incomes that are more than 60% of the area median
income for households of the same size.
(2) "Appointing entity" means the person, county, unincorporated area of a county, or
municipality appointing a member to a public transit district board of trustees.
(3) (a) "Chief executive officer" means a person appointed by the board of trustees of a
small public transit district to serve as chief executive officer.
(b) "Chief executive officer" shall enjoy all the rights, duties, and responsibilities
defined in Sections 
17B-2a-810
 and 
17B-2a-811
 and includes all rights, duties, and
responsibilities assigned to the general manager but prescribed by the board of trustees to be
fulfilled by the chief executive officer.
(4) "Confidential employee" means a person who, in the regular course of the person's
duties:
(a) assists in and acts in a confidential capacity in relation to other persons who
formulate, determine, and effectuate management policies regarding labor relations; or
(b) has authorized access to information relating to effectuating or reviewing the
employer's collective bargaining policies.
[
(4)
] 
(5)
 "Council of governments" means a decision-making body in each county
composed of membership including the county governing body and the mayors of each
municipality in the county.
[
(5)
] 
(6)
 "Department" means the Department of Transportation created in Section
72-1-201
.
[
(6)
] 
(7)
 "Executive director" means a person appointed by the board of trustees of a
large public transit district to serve as executive director.
[
(7)
] 
(8)
 "Fixed guideway" means the same as that term is defined in Section
59-12-102
.
[
(8)
] 
(9)
 "Fixed guideway capital development" means the same as that term is defined
in Section 
72-1-102
.
[
(9)
] 
(10)
 (a) "General manager" means a person appointed by the board of trustees of a
small public transit district to serve as general manager.
(b) "General manager" shall enjoy all the rights, duties, and responsibilities defined in
Sections 
17B-2a-810
 and 
17B-2a-811
 prescribed by the board of trustees of a small public
transit district.
[
(10)
] 
(11)
 "Large public transit district" means a public transit district that provides
public transit to an area that includes:
(a) more than 65% of the population of the state based on the most recent official
census or census estimate of the United States Census Bureau; and
(b) two or more counties.
[
(11)
] 
(12)
 (a) "Locally elected public official" means a person who holds an elected
position with a county or municipality.
(b) "Locally elected public official" does not include a person who holds an elected
position if the elected position is not with a county or municipality.
(13) "Managerial employee" means a person who is:
(a) engaged in executive and management functions; and
(b) charged with the responsibility of directing, overseeing, or implementing the
effectuation of management policies and practices.
[
(12)
] 
(14)
 "Metropolitan planning organization" means the same as that term is
defined in Section 
72-1-208.5
.
[
(13)
] 
(15)
 "Multicounty district" means a public transit district located in more than
one county.
[
(14)
] 
(16)
 "Operator" means a public entity or other person engaged in the
transportation of passengers for hire.
[
(15)
] 
(17)
 (a) "Public transit" means regular, continuing, shared-ride, surface
transportation services that are open to the general public or open to a segment of the general
public defined by age, disability, or low income.
(b) "Public transit" does not include transportation services provided by:
(i) chartered bus;
(ii) sightseeing bus;
(iii) taxi;
(iv) school bus service;
(v) courtesy shuttle service for patrons of one or more specific establishments; or
(vi) intra-terminal or intra-facility shuttle services.
[
(16)
] 
(18)
 "Public transit district" means a local district that provides public transit
services.
[
(17)
] 
(19)
 "Small public transit district" means any public transit district that is not a
large public transit district.
[
(18)
] 
(20)
 "Station area plan" means a plan developed and adopted by a municipality
in accordance with Section 
10-9a-403.1
.
(21) (a) "Supervisor" means a person who has authority, in the interest of the employer,
to:
(i) hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or
discipline other employees; or
(ii) adjust another employee's grievance or recommend action to adjust another
employee's grievance.
(b) "Supervisor" does not include a person whose exercise of the authority described in
Subsection (21)(a):
(i) is of a merely routine or clerical nature; and
(ii) does not require the person to use independent judgment.
[
(19)
] 
(22)
 "Transit facility" means a transit vehicle, transit station, depot, passenger
loading or unloading zone, parking lot, or other facility:
(a) leased by or operated by or on behalf of a public transit district; and
(b) related to the public transit services provided by the district, including:
(i) railway or other right-of-way;
(ii) railway line; and
(iii) a reasonable area immediately adjacent to a designated stop on a route traveled by
a transit vehicle.
[
(20)
] 
(23)
 "Transit vehicle" means a passenger bus, coach, railcar, van, or other
vehicle operated as public transportation by a public transit district.
[
(21)
] 
(24)
 "Transit-oriented development" means a mixed use residential or
commercial area that is designed to maximize access to public transit and includes the
development of land owned by a large public transit district.
[
(22)
] 
(25)
 "Transit-supportive development" means a mixed use residential or
commercial area that is designed to maximize access to public transit and does not include the
development of land owned by a large public transit district. 
Section 2. Section 
17B-2a-813
 is amended to read:
17B-2a-813.
Rights, benefits, and protective conditions for employees of a public
transit district -- Strike prohibited -- Employees of an acquired transit system.
(1) 
As used in this section:
(a) (i) "Employee" means an individual employed by an employer.
(ii) "Employee" does not include a person employed as a supervisor, managerial
employee, or confidential employee.
(b) "Employer" means a person that employs an employee.
(2)
 The rights, benefits, and other employee protective conditions and remedies of
Section 13(c) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964, 49 U.S.C. Sec. 5333(b), as
determined by the Secretary of Labor, apply to a public transit district's establishment and
operation of a public transit service or system.
[
(2)
] 
(3)
 (a) Employees of a public transit system established and operated by a public
transit district have the right to:
(i) self-organization;
(ii) form, join, or assist labor organizations; and
(iii) bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing.
(b) Employees of a public transit district and labor organizations may not join in a
strike against the public transit system operated by the public transit district.
(c) Each public transit district shall:
(i) recognize and bargain exclusively with any labor organization representing a
majority of the district's employees in an appropriate unit with respect to wages, salaries, hours,
working conditions, and welfare, pension, and retirement provisions; and
(ii) upon reaching agreement with the labor organization, enter into and execute a
written contract incorporating the agreement.
[
(3)
] 
(4)
 If a public transit district acquires an existing public transit system:
(a) all employees of the acquired system who are necessary for the operation of the
acquired system, except executive and administrative officers and employees, shall be:
(i) transferred to and appointed employees of the acquiring public transit district; and
(ii) given sick leave, seniority, vacation, and pension or retirement credits in
accordance with the acquired system's records;
(b) members and beneficiaries of a pension or retirement plan or other program of
benefits that the acquired system has established shall continue to have rights, privileges,
benefits, obligations, and status with respect to that established plan or program; and
(c) the public transit district may establish, amend, or modify, by agreement with
employees or their authorized representatives, the terms, conditions, and provisions of a
pension or retirement plan or of an amendment or modification of a pension or retirement plan.
[
(4)
] 
(5)
 A pension administrator for a retirement plan sponsored by a public transit
district or a person designated by the administrator shall maintain retirement records in
accordance with Subsection 
49-11-618
(2).