HB 1437 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to public employers; amending s. 447.203,
3	F.S.; providing successor public employers to the Florida
4	Board of Education; amending s. 447.309, F.S.; providing
5	specific obligations for successor public employers;
6	providing an effective date.
7
8	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
9
10	Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 447.203, Florida
11	Statutes, is amended to read:
12	447.203 Definitions.--As used in this part:
13	(2) "Public employer" or "employer" means the state or any
14	county, municipality, or special district or any subdivision or
15	agency thereof which the commission determines has sufficient
16	legal distinctiveness properly to carry out the functions of a
17	public employer. With respect to all public employees
18	determined by the commission as properly belonging to a
19	statewide bargaining unit composed of State Career Service
20	System employees or Selected Professional Service employees, the
21	Governor shall be deemed to be the public employer; and the
22	university board of trustees shall be deemed to be the successor
23	public employer to the Florida Board of Educationwith respect
24	to all public employees of the respective state university. The
25	board of trustees of a community college shall be deemed to be
26	the public employer with respect to all employees of the
27	community college. The district school board shall be deemed to
28	be the public employer with respect to all employees of the
29	school district. The Board of Trustees of the Florida School
30	for the Deaf and the Blind shall be deemed to be the public
31	employer with respect to the academic and academic
32	administrative personnel of the Florida School for the Deaf and
33	the Blind. The Governor shall be deemed to be the public
34	employer with respect to all employees in the Correctional
35	Education Program of the Department of Corrections established
36	pursuant to s. 944.801.
37	Section 2. Subsection (6) is added to section 447.309,
38	Florida Statutes, to read:
39	447.309 Collective bargaining; approval or rejection.--
40	(6) If there is material change in the identity or
41	structure of the public employer, the successor public employer
42	shall maintain the existing wages, hours, and terms and
43	conditions of employment, including those set forth in a
44	collective bargaining agreement, which are in effect at the time
45	of the change for all public employees represented by a
46	certified bargaining agent. The successor public employer shall
47	continue to bargain, upon proper request, with the certified
48	bargaining agent over any changes in such terms and conditions
49	until the commission determines that the new entity is not a
50	successor employer.
51	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.