Relates to certain benefits provided pursuant to collective bargaining agreements; provides that the temporary president of the senate and speaker of the assembly shall approve changes to health benefits for employees or retirees not subject to a collective bargaining agreement.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6743
SPONSOR: Pheffer Amato TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the civil service law and the legislative law, in
relation to certain benefits provided pursuant to collective bargaining
agreements
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 would add to the existing law that the "temporary president of
the senate and the speaker of the assembly" shall be involved and must
approve any changes to benefits for retirees (or other employees) that
are not subject to a collective bargaining ageement.
Section 2 amends the scope so all future and needed provisions necessary
to implement the agreement can be met.
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, the director of the division of the budget and the commis-
sioner of the Civil Service Department maintain the authority to make
change to health insurance benefits for employees and retirees outside
of the bargaining unit where such changes are bargained. This undercuts
the bargaining process puts these workers and retirees at a disadvantage
in the bargaining process.
This legislation would add the Majority Leaders of the NYS Senate (the
temporary president of the Senate) and the Speaker of the Assembly -the
elected leadership of the NYS Legislature- to approval process before
changes that have not been negotiated can be passed onto members and
retirees in other bargaining units. This change is
involve elected, not appointed officials. Additionally, these leaders
also have members and staff and former members and staff who could be
affected by such changes.
This legislation also amends the legislative law to require any legis-
lation implementing a collective bargaining agreement to be limited in
its application to the members of the affected bargaining unit only.
This legislation affirms the intents and purposes enshrined in the
Taylor Law to support the rights of workers to collectively bargain.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6743
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PHEFFER AMATO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the civil service law and the legislative law, in
relation to certain benefits provided pursuant to collective bargain-
ing agreements
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 8 of section 167 of the civil service law, as
2 amended by section 2 of part A of chapter 491 of the laws of 2011, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 8. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, where and to the
5 extent that an agreement between the state and an employee organization
6 entered into pursuant to article fourteen of this chapter so provides,
7 the state cost of premium or subscription charges for eligible employees
8 covered by such agreement may be modified pursuant to the terms of such
9 agreement. The president, with the approval of the director of the budg-
10 et, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the assem-
11 bly, may extend the modified state cost of premium or subscription
12 charges for employees or retirees not subject to an agreement referenced
13 above and shall promulgate the necessary rules or regulations to imple-
14 ment this provision.
15 § 2. The legislative law is amended by adding a new section 49 to read
16 as follows:
17 § 49. Legislation implementing collective bargaining agreements.
18 Legislation which enacts or amends any provision of law for the purpose
19 of implementing an agreement between the state and an employee organiza-
20 tion entered into pursuant to article fourteen of the civil service law
21 shall be limited to the provisions necessary to implement such agree-
22 ment.
23 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all
24 agreements entered into on and after such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10400-01-3
