LRB-1946/1
CMH&RAC:sbb&jld:md
2011 - 2012 LEGISLATURE
May 10, 2011 - Introduced by Representative Ziegelbauer. Referred to Joint
Committee on Finance.
AB127,2,2 1An Act to repeal 111.70 (3) (a) 6., 111.70 (4) (jm) 5. b. and 111.77 (6) (e); to
2renumber
111.70 (4) (p); to renumber and amend 111.77 (6) (intro.), (a), (b),
3(c), (f), (g) and (h); to consolidate, renumber and amend 111.70 (4) (jm) 5.
4(intro.) and a. and 111.77 (6) (d) (intro.), 1. and 2.; to amend 111.70 (1) (a),
5111.70 (2), 111.70 (4) (jm) 2. and 111.77 (3); and to create 111.70 (1) (ck), 111.70
6(1) (q), 111.70 (4) (jm) 4w., 111.70 (4) (jm) 5b., 111.70 (4) (mc) 5., 6., 7. and 8.,
7111.70 (4) (p) 2., 111.77 (6) (am) and 111.77 (6) (cm) of the statutes; relating to:
8payment by employers of contributions under the Wisconsin Retirement
9System that are required of public safety employees, arbitration under the
10Municipal Employment Relations Act, allowing municipal employers choice in
11health care coverage plan providers and health savings accounts that cover

1public safety employees, and prohibited and permissive subjects of collective
2bargaining.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
The Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA) grants certain protective
occupation participants under the Wisconsin Retirement System (public safety
employees) the right to collectively bargain over wages, hours, and conditions of
employment. There are three categories of collective bargaining subjects regarding
collective bargaining units containing public safety employees. A mandatory subject
of bargaining is one primarily related to wages, hours, and conditions of employment;
the employer is required to bargain over this subject. A permissive subject of
bargaining is one primarily related to the management and direction of the
municipal employer; the employer is permitted, but is not required, to bargain over
this subject. A prohibited subject of bargaining is one that would violate a law if the
parties bargained over it; there may be no bargaining over a prohibited subject.
This bill creates a permissive subject of bargaining under MERA by providing
that a municipal employer is not required to bargain over any decision whether or
not to deduct union dues from the earnings of a public safety employee or over the
impact of the decision on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment of the public
safety employee.
The bill prohibits bargaining over all of the following, as well as the impact of
each on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment of the public safety employee:
1) the decision to contract with any person who is not a municipal employee for the
performance of services; 2) the decision to contract with any other municipal
employer for the performance of services; 3) the decision to contract with any other
municipal employer to consolidate services or units of government; or 4) the decision
to permit individuals who perform services without payment of wages to perform
services for the municipality that would otherwise be performed by municipal
employees.
The bill prohibits bargaining over the selection of health care coverage plans
by municipal employers for their public safety employees, including the option for the
municipal employer to offer a health savings account that complies with federal law
instead of, or in addition to, a health care coverage plan. The bill prohibits
bargaining over the employer's share of premium costs for health care coverage
under a plan or the employer's contribution to a health savings account, as long as
the total employer share of premium costs is at least 75 percent of the total premium
costs of a health care coverage plan or, if the plan includes a health savings account,
at least 90 percent of the total premium cost. In addition, the bill prohibits
bargaining over any requirement that the employer pay, on the behalf of a public
safety employee, the first 5.8 percent of earnings that the employee is required to pay
as contributions under the Wisconsin Retirement System.
Under MERA, if a dispute involving public safety employees that relates to the
terms of a proposed collective bargaining agreement goes to arbitration, the

arbitrator must give weight to different factors, depending on whether the dispute
involves members of a police department employed by a first class city or employees
of a fire department or a city or county law enforcement agency. This bill requires
that an arbitrator of a dispute relating to the terms of a proposed collective
bargaining agreement between a municipal employer and a public safety employee
must give greater weight to the following factors than the arbitrator gives to other
factors: 1) the local economic conditions and the municipality's budget; 2) the
probability that the proposal will require service cuts; 3) the ability of the proposal
to limit fringe benefit increases to the cost-of-living increases; and 4) the ability of
the proposal to reflect cost-of-living adjustments in the increases and decreases in
wages and fringe benefits that are not prohibited or permissive subjects of collective
bargaining (total compensation). In addition, this bill prohibits an arbitrator from
giving any weight either to the total compensation given to employees of similar
organizations in communities with different economic conditions and costs of living
or to any reserve funds held by the municipality.
MERA does not currently limit collective bargaining agreements to any specific
maximum expenditures or increases in expenditures. Under this bill, no final offer
or position involving public safety employees that is submitted to the Wisconsin
Employment Relations Commission for interest arbitration may proceed to
arbitration if the offer or position requires the annual expenditure for total
compensation per employee to be more than the amount spent in the previous year
increased by more than 1 percent over the average annual percentage change of the
consumer price index for the previous three years.
Because this bill relates to public employee retirement or pensions, it may be
referred to the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems for a report to be
printed as an appendix to the bill.
For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be
printed as an appendix to this bill.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
AB127, s. 1 1Section 1. 111.70 (1) (a) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10,
2is amended to read:
AB127,4,83 111.70 (1) (a) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual
4obligation of a municipal employer, through its officers and agents, and the
5representative of its municipal employees in a collective bargaining unit, to meet and
6confer at reasonable times, in good faith, with the intention of reaching an
7agreement, or to resolve questions arising under such an agreement, with respect to

1wages, hours, and conditions of employment for public safety employees and with
2respect to wages for general municipal employees, and with respect to a requirement
3of the municipal employer for a municipal employee to perform law enforcement and
4fire fighting services under s. 61.66, except as provided in sub. (4) (mb) and, (mc), and
5(p)
and s. 40.81 (3) and except that a municipal employer shall not meet and confer
6with respect to any proposal to diminish or abridge the rights guaranteed to any
7public safety employees under ch. 164. Collective bargaining includes the reduction
8of any agreement reached to a written and signed document.
AB127, s. 2 9Section 2. 111.70 (1) (ck) of the statutes is created to read:
AB127,4,1310 111.70 (1) (ck) "Consumer price index average adjustment" means the average
11annual percentage change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, U.S.
12city average, as determined by the bureau of labor statistics of the federal
13department of labor, for the 3 years immediately preceding the current date.
AB127, s. 3 14Section 3. 111.70 (1) (q) of the statutes is created to read:
AB127,4,1615 111.70 (1) (q) "Total compensation" means wages and fringe benefits and
16excludes any item that is a permissive or prohibited subject of collective bargaining.
AB127, s. 4 17Section 4. 111.70 (2) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, is
18amended to read:
AB127,5,2019 111.70 (2) Rights of municipal employees. Municipal employees have the right
20of self-organization, and the right to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to
21bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in
22lawful, concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual
23aid or protection. Municipal employees have the right to refrain from any and all
24such activities. A general municipal employee has the right to refrain from paying
25dues while remaining a member of a collective bargaining unit. A public safety

1employee, however, may be required to pay dues in the manner provided in a
2fair-share agreement; subject to sub. (4) (p) 2., a fair-share agreement covering a
3public safety employee must may contain a provision requiring the municipal
4employer to deduct the amount of dues as certified by the labor organization from the
5earnings of the public safety employee affected by the fair-share agreement and to
6pay the amount deducted to the labor organization. A fair-share agreement covering
7a public safety employee is subject to the right of the municipal employer or a labor
8organization to petition the commission to conduct a referendum. Such petition must
9be supported by proof that at least 30% of the public safety employees in the collective
10bargaining unit desire that the fair-share agreement be terminated. Upon so
11finding, the commission shall conduct a referendum. If the continuation of the
12agreement is not supported by at least the majority of the eligible public safety
13employees, it shall terminate. The commission shall declare any fair-share
14agreement suspended upon such conditions and for such time as the commission
15decides whenever it finds that the labor organization involved has refused on the
16basis of race, color, sexual orientation, creed, or sex to receive as a member any public
17safety employee of the municipal employer in the bargaining unit involved, and such
18agreement is subject to this duty of the commission. Any of the parties to such
19agreement or any public safety employee covered by the agreement may come before
20the commission, as provided in s. 111.07, and ask the performance of this duty.
AB127, s. 5 21Section 5. 111.70 (3) (a) 6. of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act
2210
, is repealed.
AB127, s. 6 23Section 6. 111.70 (4) (jm) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
AB127,6,1224 111.70 (4) (jm) 2. The commission shall conduct a hearing on the petition, and
25upon a determination that the parties have reached an impasse on matters relating

1to wages, hours and conditions of employment or other matters subject to arbitration
2under subd. 4. on which there is no mutual agreement, the commission shall ensure
3that neither party's position requires an expenditure for wages and fringe benefits
4per employee in any year of the contract that exceeds the amount spent per employee
5in the previous year by more than 1 percent over the consumer price index average
6adjustment. If the commission determines that a party's position requires greater
7expenditure, the commission shall require that party to revise its position before
8submitting it again. Once both positions do not require greater expenditure, the
9commission shall
appoint an arbitrator to determine those terms of the agreement
10on which there is no mutual agreement. The commission may appoint any person
11it deems qualified, except that the arbitrator may not be a resident of the city which
12is party to the dispute.
AB127, s. 7 13Section 7. 111.70 (4) (jm) 4w. of the statutes is created to read:
AB127,6,1614 111.70 (4) (jm) 4w. In determining the proper compensation to be received by
15members of the police department under subd. 4., the arbitrator shall give greater
16weight to the following factors than to factors under subd. 5.:
AB127,6,1917 a. The local economic conditions and the budget of the 1st class city, which may
18include a comparison between the proposed total compensation of the municipal
19employees and similar factors in the private sector in the 1st class city.
AB127,6,2020 b. The probability that the proposal would require service cuts.
AB127,6,2321 c. The ability of the proposal to limit any increase in fringe benefits since the
22previous adjustment to any increase in the cost of living since the previous
23adjustment.
AB127,7,3
1d. The ability of the proposal to reflect any increase or decrease in the cost of
2living since the previous adjustment in the increase or decrease of the total
3compensation since the previous adjustment.
AB127, s. 8 4Section 8. 111.70 (4) (jm) 5. (intro.) and a. of the statutes are consolidated,
5renumbered 111.70 (4) (jm) 5. and amended to read:
AB127,7,126 111.70 (4) (jm) 5. In determining the proper compensation to be received by
7members of the police department under subd. 4., in addition to the factors under
8subd. 4w.,
the arbitrator shall utilize: a. The the most recently published U.S.
9bureau of labor statistics "Standards of Living Budgets for Urban Families,
10Moderate and Higher Level", as a guideline to determine the compensation
11necessary for members to enjoy a standard of living commensurate with their needs,
12abilities, and responsibilities; and .
AB127, s. 9 13Section 9. 111.70 (4) (jm) 5. b. of the statutes is repealed.
AB127, s. 10 14Section 10. 111.70 (4) (jm) 5b. of the statutes is created to read:
AB127,7,1715 111.70 (4) (jm) 5b. In determining the proper compensation to be received by
16members of the police department under subd. 4., the arbitrator may not consider the
17following factors:
AB127,7,1918 a. The total compensation given to employees in municipalities other than the
191st class city that is subject to the arbitration decision.
AB127,7,2020 b. Any reserve fund held by the 1st class city.
AB127, s. 11 21Section 11. 111.70 (4) (mc) 5., 6., 7. and 8. of the statutes are created to read:
AB127,8,222 111.70 (4) (mc) 5. Any requirement that the employer pay, on behalf of a public
23safety employee, the first 5.8 percent of earnings that are required to be paid as
24employee-required contributions under s. 40.05 (1) (a) 3. or 4., and the impact of this

1requirement on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment of the public safety
2employee.
AB127,8,83 6. a. The selection of a health care coverage plan, or the decision to offer a health
4savings account under 26 USC 223 instead of, or in addition to, a health care coverage
5plan, by the municipal employer for public safety employees as long as the municipal
6employer, if offering only a health care coverage plan, offers to enroll the public safety
7employees in a health care coverage plan that complies with the requirements under
8s. 40.51 (8) for health care coverage plans offered by the state.
AB127,8,189 b. If the municipal employer offers only a health care coverage plan, the
10determination by the municipal employer of the municipal employer's share of the
11premium costs for health care coverage under the plan if the municipal employer
12contributes at least 75 percent of the total cost of the coverage. If the municipal
13employer offers a health savings account under 26 USC 223 instead of, or in addition
14to, a health care coverage plan, the determination by the municipal employer of the
15municipal employer's share of premium costs for health care coverage under the plan
16and the amount contributed by the municipal employer to the health savings account
17if the municipal employer contributes at least 90 percent of the total cost of the
18coverage.
AB127,8,2319 c. The impact of the health care coverage plan or health savings account under
2026 USC 223 and the impact of the determination of the municipal employer's and the
21public safety employee's shares of premium costs or health savings account
22contributions on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment of the public safety
23employee.
AB127,9,324 7. The municipal employer's decision to permit individuals who perform
25services without payment of wages to perform services for the municipality that

1would otherwise be performed by public safety employees, or the impact of any such
2decision on the wages, hours, or conditions of employment of the public safety
3employees.
AB127,9,94 8. The municipal employer's decision to contract with any person who is not a
5public safety employee for the performance of municipal services, to contract with
6any other municipal employer for the performance of municipal services, or to
7contract with any other municipal employer to consolidate municipal services or
8units of government, or the impact of any such decision on the wages, hours, or
9conditions of employment of the public safety employees.
AB127, s. 12 10Section 12. 111.70 (4) (p) of the statutes, as affected by 2011 Wisconsin Act 10,
11section 210, is renumbered 111.70 (4) (p) 1.
AB127, s. 13 12Section 13. 111.70 (4) (p) 2. of the statutes is created to read:
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