IB 
Union Calendar No. 143 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 980 
[Report No. 110–232] 
To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed 
by States or their political subdivisions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 12, 2007 
Mr. KILDEE (for himself and Mr. DUNCAN) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
JULY 13, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HOLT, Mr. SAXTON, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 
LATOURETTE, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. MELANCON, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. RAMSTAD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. 
COSTELLO, Mr. HARE, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. DAVIS of Ala-
bama, Ms. SUTTON, Mr. WELLER of Illinois, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. GER-
LACH, Mr. SHAYS, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. WELCH of Vermont, Mrs. CAPPS, 
Mr. MATHESON, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. HILL, Mr. RENZI, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Mr. GRAVES, Mr. VISCLOSKY, Mr. ROSS, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. 
YARMUTH, Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia, Mrs. WILSON of New Mexico, Ms. 
HARMAN, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. PORTER, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. VAN 
HOLLEN, Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. SIRES, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 
Mr. BAIRD, Mr. DENT, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Mr. PALLONE, 
Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mrs. TAUSCHER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. OBERSTAR, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. SKELTON, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. GENE 
GREEN of Texas, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. FILNER, Mr. UDALL of New Mex-
ico, Mr. ALLEN, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. KIND, Mr. FARR, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. CHANDLER, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of Cali-
fornia, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. FOSSELLA, Mr. PRICE of North Caro-
lina, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. LAHOOD, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. 
ROSKAM, Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin, Mr. ENGLISH of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
LOEBSACK, Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. JOHNSON of Il-
linois, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. TIM 
MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. SHIMKUS, Mr. BONNER, Ms. BEAN, Mr. 
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CARNAHAN, Mrs. EMERSON, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. LARSEN of 
Washington, Mr. DAVIS of Kentucky, Mrs. BIGGERT, Mr. MCGOVERN, 
Mr. TERRY, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. GIFFORDS, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. DICKS, 
Mr. ROGERS of Michigan, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ARCURI, Mr. 
MCNERNEY, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. COO-
PER, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. KIRK, Mr. MILLER of North Carolina, Mr. 
LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MEEK of Florida, 
Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee, Mr. RAHALL, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 
Mr. POMEROY, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. MEEKS of 
New York, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. PETRI, Mr. 
BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. WU, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. PASTOR, 
Mr. POE, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. WALSH of 
New York, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. TIAHRT, Mr. SPACE, Mr. WILSON of Ohio, 
Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. DON-
NELLY, Mr. MURPHY of Connecticut, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LINCOLN DIAZ- 
BALART of Florida, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SHULER, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 
KUCINICH, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. GALLEGLY, Mr. WATT, Mrs. MCCARTHY of 
New York, Ms. HOOLEY, Mr. LINCOLN DAVIS of Tennessee, Ms. ROS- 
LEHTINEN, Mr. TIBERI, Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida, Mr. 
DEFAZIO, Mr. COHEN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 
MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. 
HONDA, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. LEWIS of Kentucky, Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. 
SHERMAN, Mr. ALTMIRE, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. ELLSWORTH, Mr. YOUNG 
of Alaska, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. RUSH, Mr. CARDOZA, Mr. CROW-
LEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. BACA, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. 
PASCRELL, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. BERRY, Ms. CARSON, Mr. BARROW, 
Ms. PRYCE of Ohio, Mr. SESTAK, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. 
HODES, Mrs. BACHMANN, Mr. PATRICK MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
MURTHA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. LANTOS, 
Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. MCNULTY, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, 
Mr. DINGELL, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mr. 
ENGEL, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Ms. WATSON, Ms. LEE, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. 
RODRIGUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. ACK-
ERMAN, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. MAHONEY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 
WALZ of Minnesota, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. UDALL of Colorado, Mr. UPTON, 
Mr. KUHL of New York, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mr. SHUSTER, Mr. ALEX-
ANDER, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. 
AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. ORTIZ, Mr. WYNN, Mr. REYES, Mr. HOEKSTRA, 
Mr. REYNOLDS, Mr. FRANK
of Massachusetts, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. 
SALAZAR, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. CONYERS, 
Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, 
Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. TURNER, Mr. BOREN, Mr. 
JEFFERSON, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. STARK, Ms. CASTOR, Mr. 
MEEHAN, Mr. CAMP of Michigan, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. 
RANGEL, Mr. REHBERG, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. SCOTT of Vir-
ginia, Mr. KELLER, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, 
Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. LYNCH, 
Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mrs. BONO, Mr. PEARCE, 
Mr. WEINER, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. NADLER, Ms. WATERS, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 
COLE of Oklahoma, and Mr. LAMPSON 
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JULY 13, 2007 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 12, 2007] 
A BILL 
To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety 
officers employed by States or their political subdivisions. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Safety Employer- 
Employee Cooperation Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSE. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Labor-management relationships and part-
nerships are based on trust, mutual respect, open 
communication, bilateral consensual problem solving, 
and shared accountability. In many public safety 
agencies it is the union that provides the institutional 
stability as elected leaders and appointees come and 
go. 
(2) State and local public safety officers play an 
essential role in the efforts of the United States to de-
tect, prevent, and respond to terrorist attacks, and to 
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respond to natural disasters, hazardous materials, 
and other mass casualty incidents. As the first to ar-
rive on scene, State and local public safety officers 
must be prepared to protect life and property and to 
preserve scarce and vital Federal resources, avoid sub-
stantial and debilitating interference with interstate 
and foreign commerce, and to protect the national se-
curity of the United States. Public safety employer- 
employee cooperation is essential in meeting these 
needs and is, therefore, in the National interest. 
(3) The health and safety of the Nation and the 
best interests of public safety employers and employ-
ees may be furthered by the settlement of issues 
through the processes of collective bargaining. 
(4) The Federal Government is in the position to 
encourage conciliation, mediation, and voluntary ar-
bitration to aid and encourage employers and the rep-
resentatives of their employees to reach and maintain 
agreements concerning rates of pay, hours, and work-
ing conditions, and to make all reasonable efforts 
through negotiations to settle their differences by mu-
tual agreement reached through collective bargaining 
or by such methods as may be provided for in any 
applicable agreement for the settlement of disputes. 
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(5) The potential absence of adequate cooperation 
between public safety employers and employees has 
implications for the security of employees, impacts the 
upgrading of police and fire services of local commu-
nities, the health and well-being of public safety offi-
cers, and the morale of the fire and police depart-
ments, and can affect interstate and intrastate com-
merce. 
(6) Many States and localities already provide 
public safety officers with collective bargaining rights 
comparable to or greater than the rights and respon-
sibilities set forth in this Act, and such State laws 
should be respected. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘Authority’’ means the Federal 
Labor Relations Authority. 
(2) The term ‘‘public safety officer’’— 
(A) means an employee of a public safety 
agency who is a law enforcement officer, a fire-
fighter, or emergency medical services personnel; 
(B) includes an individual who is tempo-
rarily transferred to a supervisory or manage-
ment position; and 
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(C) does not include a permanent super-
visory or management employee. 
(3) The term ‘‘firefighter’’ has the same meaning 
given the term ‘‘employee in fire protection activities’’ 
defined in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards Act 
(29 U.S.C. 203(y)). 
(4) The term ‘‘emergency medical services per-
sonnel’’ means an individual who provides out-of-hos-
pital emergency medical care, including an emer-
gency medical technician, paramedic, or first re-
sponder. 
(5) The term ‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the 
same meaning given such term in section 1204(5) of 
the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 
1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(5)). 
(6) The term ‘‘supervisory employee’’ has the 
meaning given such term, or a substantially equiva-
lent term, under applicable State law on the date of 
enactment of this Act. In the absence of such State 
law on the date of enactment of this Act, the term 
means an individual, employed by a public safety 
employer, who— 
(A) has the authority in the interest of the 
employer to hire, direct, assign, promote, reward, 
transfer, furlough, lay off, recall, suspend, dis-
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cipline, or remove public safety officers, to adjust 
their grievances, or to effectively recommend such 
action, if the exercise of the authority is not 
merely routine or clerical in nature but requires 
the consistent exercise of independent judgment; 
and 
(B) devotes a preponderance of employment 
time exercising such authority. 
(7) The term ‘‘management employee’’ has the 
meaning given such term, or a substantially equiva-
lent term, under applicable State law in effect on the 
date of enactment of this Act. If no such State law 
is in effect, the term means an individual employed 
by a public safety employer in a position that re-
quires or authorizes the individual to formulate, de-
termine, or influence the policies of the employer. 
(8) The terms ‘‘employer’’ and ‘‘public safety 
agency’’ mean any State, political subdivision of a 
State, the District of Columbia, or any territory or 
possession of the United States that employs public 
safety officers. 
(9) The term ‘‘labor organization’’ means an or-
ganization composed in whole or in part of employ-
ees, in which employees participate, and the purpose 
of which is to represent such employees before public 
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safety agencies concerning grievances, conditions of 
employment and related matters. 
(10) The term ‘‘substantially provides’’ means 
substantial compliance with the rights and respon-
sibilities described in section 4(b). 
SEC. 4. DETERMINATION OF RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBIL-
ITIES. 
(a) DETERMINATION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Authority shall 
make a determination as to whether a State substan-
tially provides for the rights and responsibilities de-
scribed in subsection (b). In making such determina-
tions, the Authority shall consider the opinion of af-
fected employers and labor organizations. Where the 
Authority is notified by an employer and an affected 
labor organization that both parties agree that the 
law applicable to such employer and labor organiza-
tion substantially provides for the rights and respon-
sibilities described in subsection (b), the Authority 
shall give such agreement weight to the maximum ex-
tent practicable in making its determination under 
this subsection. 
(2) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATIONS.—(A) A de-
termination made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 
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remain in effect unless and until the Authority issues 
a subsequent determination, in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in subparagraph (B). 
(B) An employer or a labor organization may 
submit a written request for a subsequent determina-
tion, on the basis of a material change in State law 
or its interpretation. If the Authority determines that 
a material change in State law or its interpretation 
has occurred, the Authority shall issue a subsequent 
determination not later than 30 days after receipt of 
such request. 
(3) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any person aggrieved by 
a determination of the Authority under this section 
may, during the 60-day period beginning on the date 
on which the determination was made, petition any 
United States Court of Appeals in the circuit in 
which the person resides or transacts business or in 
District of Columbia circuit, for judicial review. In 
any judicial review of a determination by the Author-
ity, the procedures contained in section 7123(c) of 
title 5, United States Code, shall be followed. 
(b) RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES.—In making a de-
termination described in subsection (a), the Authority shall 
consider a State’s law to provide adequate rights and re-
sponsibilities unless such law fails to substantially provide 
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rights and responsibilities comparable to or greater than 
each of the following: 
(1) Granting public safety officers the right to 
form and join a labor organization, which may ex-
clude management and supervisory employees, that is, 
or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining 
representative of such employees. 
(2) Requiring public safety employers to recog-
nize the employees’ labor organization (freely chosen 
by a majority of the employees), to agree to bargain 
with the labor organization, and to commit any 
agreements to writing in a contract or memorandum 
of understanding. 
(3) Providing for bargaining over hours, wages, 
and terms and conditions of employment. 
(4) Making available an interest impasse resolu-
tion mechanism, such as fact-finding, mediation, ar-
bitration, or comparable procedures. 
(5) Requiring enforcement through State courts 
of— 
(A) all rights, responsibilities, and protec-
tions provided by State law and enumerated in 
this subsection; and 
(B) any written contract or memorandum 
of understanding. 
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