HB848

SECTION 1. Section 87A-32, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§87A-32 State and county contributions; active employees. (a) The State, through the department of budget and finance, and the counties, through their respective departments of finance, shall pay to the fund a monthly contribution equal to [~~the amount established under chapter 89C or specified in the applicable public sector collective bargaining agreements, whichever is appropriate, for~~] per cent of the total premium for providing a health benefit plan to each of their respective employee-beneficiaries and employee-beneficiaries with dependent-beneficiaries, which shall be used toward the payment of costs of a health benefits plan; provided that:

[~~(1)~~ ~~The monthly contribution shall be a specified dollar amount;~~

~~(2)~~ ~~The monthly contribution shall not exceed the actual cost of a health benefits plan;~~

~~(3)~~] (1) If two employee-beneficiaries are married or in a civil union, the total contribution by the State or the county shall not exceed the monthly contribution for a family plan; and

[~~(4)~~] (2) If the State or any of the counties establish cafeteria plans in accordance with Title 26, United States Code section 125, the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and section 78-30, the monthly contribution for those employee-beneficiaries who participate in a cafeteria plan shall be made through the cafeteria plan, and the payments made by the State or counties shall include their respective contributions to the fund and their employee-beneficiary's share of the cost of the employee-beneficiary's health benefits plan.

(b) The State, through the department of budget and finance, and the counties, through their respective departments of finance, shall pay to the fund a monthly contribution equal to [~~the amount established under chapter 89C or specified in the applicable public sector collective bargaining agreement, whichever is applicable, for~~] per cent of the total premium for providing a life insurance plan and any administrative fees to each of their respective employees, to be used toward the payment of group life insurance benefits for each employee."

SECTION 2. Section 89-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending the definition of "collective bargaining" to read:

""Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual obligations of the public employer and an exclusive representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to wages, hours, [~~amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund,~~] and other terms and conditions of employment, except that by [~~any such~~] this obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession. For the purposes of this definition, "wages" includes the number of incremental and longevity steps, the number of pay ranges, and the movement between steps within the pay range and between the pay ranges on a pay schedule under a collective bargaining agreement."

2. By amending the definition of "employee organization" to read:

""Employee organization" means any organization of any kind in which public employees participate and which exists for the primary purpose of dealing with public employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, [~~amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the~~ ~~Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund,~~] and other terms and conditions of employment of public employees."

SECTION 3. Section 89-9, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§89-9 Scope of negotiations; consultation. (a) The employer and the exclusive representative shall meet at reasonable times, including meetings sufficiently in advance of the February 1 impasse date under section 89-11, and shall negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, [~~the amounts of contributions by the State and respective counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund to the extent allowed in subsection (e),~~] and other terms and conditions of employment [~~which~~] that are subject to collective bargaining and [~~which~~] that are to be embodied in a written agreement as specified in section 89-10, but [~~such~~] the obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession.

(b) The employer or the exclusive representative desiring to initiate negotiations shall notify the other party in writing, setting forth the time and place of the meeting desired and the nature of the business to be discussed, sufficiently in advance of the meeting.

(c) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all matters affecting employee relations, including those that are, or may be, the subject of a rule adopted by the employer or any director, shall be subject to consultation with the exclusive representatives of the employees concerned. The employer shall make every reasonable effort to consult with exclusive representatives and consider their input, along with the input of other affected parties, prior to effecting changes in any major policy affecting employee relations.

(d) Excluded from the subjects of negotiations are matters of classification, reclassification, benefits of [~~but not~~ ~~contributions to~~] the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund, recruitment, examination, initial pricing, and retirement benefits except as provided in section 88-8(h). The employer and the exclusive representative shall not agree to any proposal that would be inconsistent with the merit principle or the principle of equal pay for equal work pursuant to section 76-1 or that would interfere with the rights and obligations of a public employer to:

(1) Direct employees;

(2) Determine qualifications, standards for work, and the nature and contents of examinations;

(3) Hire, promote, transfer, assign, and retain employees in positions;

(4) Suspend, demote, discharge, or take other disciplinary action against employees for proper cause;

(5) Relieve an employee from duties because of lack of work or other legitimate reason;

(6) Maintain efficiency and productivity, including maximizing the use of advanced technology, in government operations;

(7) Determine methods, means, and personnel by which the employer's operations are to be conducted; and

(8) Take actions as may be necessary to carry out the missions of the employer in cases of emergencies.

This subsection shall not be used to invalidate provisions of collective bargaining agreements in effect on and after June 30, 2007, and except as otherwise provided in this chapter, shall not preclude negotiations over the implementation of management decisions that affect terms and conditions of employment that are subject to collective bargaining. Further, this subsection shall not preclude negotiations over the procedures and criteria on promotions, transfers, assignments, demotions, layoffs, suspensions, terminations, discharges, or other disciplinary actions as subjects of bargaining during collective bargaining negotiations or negotiations over a memorandum of agreement, memorandum of understanding, or other supplemental agreement; provided that [~~such~~] the obligation shall not compel either party to agree to a proposal or make a concession.

Violations of the procedures and criteria so negotiated may be subject to the grievance procedure in the collective bargaining agreement.

[(e) Negotiations relating to contributions to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund shall be for the purpose of agreeing upon the amounts which the State and counties shall contribute under section 87A-32, toward the payment of the costs for a health benefits plan, as defined in section 87A-1, and group life insurance benefits, and the parties shall not be bound by the amounts contributed under prior agreements; provided that section 89-11 for the resolution of disputes by way of arbitration shall not be available to resolve impasses or disputes relating to the amounts the State and counties shall contribute to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund.

~~(f)~~] (e) The repricing of classes within an appropriate bargaining unit shall be negotiated and determined as follows:

(1) Within thirty days of receipt of a written request from the exclusive representative to negotiate and at times allowed under the collective bargaining agreement, the employer shall negotiate the repricing of classes within the bargaining unit. The negotiated repricing actions that constitute cost items shall be subject to the requirements in section 89-10; and

(2) If the employer fails to timely initiate a negotiation in compliance with paragraph (1) or the parties cannot reach an agreement within one hundred fifty days after the exclusive representative's written request to negotiate or by January 31 of a year in which the agreement is due to expire, whichever is earlier, an impasse exists and the impasse procedures in section 89-11 shall apply;

provided that the parties may mutually agree on repricing procedures in conformance with this section; provided further that a repricing request can only be submitted once per occupation in any eighteen-month period; provided further that impasse procedures shall not apply if the impasse occurs within one hundred eighty days after a collective bargaining agreement has been reached between the employer and the exclusive representative of the bargaining unit. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no more than fifteen repricing impasse procedures shall be active at any time. If an impasse procedure would have triggered, but cannot begin because it would exceed the maximum fifteen active repricing impasse procedures, the parties shall continue to negotiate until such time as the repricing impasse procedure begins; provided that preference for new repricing impasse procedures shall be given to repricings in the order in which they began."

SECTION 4. Section 89-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (g) to read as follows:

"(g) The decision of the arbitration panel shall be final and binding upon the parties on all provisions submitted to the arbitration panel. [If the parties have reached agreement with respect to the amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund by the tenth working day after the arbitration panel issues its decision, the final and binding agreement of the parties on all provisions shall consist of the panel's decision and the amounts of contributions agreed to by the parties. If the parties have not reached agreement with respect to the amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund by the close of business on the tenth working day after the arbitration panel issues its decision, the parties shall have five days to submit their respective recommendations for such contributions to the legislature, if it is in session, and if the legislature is not in session, the parties shall submit their respective recommendations for such contributions to the legislature during the next session of the legislature. In such event, the final and binding agreement of the parties on all provisions shall consist of the panel's decision and the amounts of contributions established by the legislature by enactment, after the legislature has considered the recommendations for such contributions by the parties. It is strictly understood that no member of a bargaining unit subject to this subsection shall be allowed to participate in a strike on the issue of the amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund.] The parties shall take whatever action is necessary to carry out and effectuate the final and binding agreement. The parties [~~may~~], at any time and by mutual agreement, may amend or modify the panel's decision.

Agreements reached pursuant to the decision of an arbitration panel [~~and the amounts of contributions by the State and counties to the Hawaii employer-union health benefits trust fund, as provided herein,~~] shall not be subject to ratification by the employees concerned. All items requiring any moneys for implementation shall be subject to appropriations by the appropriate legislative bodies and the employer shall submit all [~~such~~] items within ten days after the date on which the agreement is entered into as provided herein, to the appropriate legislative bodies."

SECTION 5. Act 234, Session Laws of Hawaii 2024, is amended by amending section 4 to read as follows:

"SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect July 1, 2024, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2029; provided that [~~any~~]:

(1) Section 88-9 and Section 88-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, shall be reenacted in the form in which it read on the day prior to the effective date of this Act;

(2) Any negotiations on repricing pursuant to this Act that started prior to June 30, 2029, may continue after this Act is repealed."

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that the amendments made to sections 89-9 and 89-11, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by sections 3 and 4 of this Act shall not be repealed when those sections are repealed and reenacted on June 30, 2029, pursuant to Act 234 Session Laws of Hawaii 2024.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	848
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII