Section 273-A:9 Bargaining by State Employees.
I. All cost items and terms and conditions of employment affecting state employees in the classified system generally shall be negotiated by the state, represented by the governor as chief executive, with a single employee bargaining committee comprised of exclusive representatives of all interested bargaining units. Negotiations regarding terms and conditions of employment unique to individual bargaining units shall be negotiated individually with the representatives of those units by the governor.
II. To assist in the conduct of such negotiations the governor may designate an official state negotiator who shall serve at the pleasure of the governor.
III. The governor shall also appoint an advisory committee to assist in the negotiating process. The manager of employee relations appointed under RSA 21-I:44, II shall be a member of this committee.
III-a. No person who is appointed to serve as a state negotiator or as a member of the state negotiating team or any person who serves as a member of the employee bargaining committee shall use his or her position to obtain anything of value for the private benefit of such person or the person's immediate family. Nothing in this section shall prevent an employee or taxpayer from serving on a negotiating team or bargaining committee.
IV. The division of personnel, through the manager of employee relations and the manager's staff, shall provide administrative and professional support to the governor in the conduct of negotiations.
V. There shall be a permanent joint legislative committee known as the joint committee on employee relations.
(a) The joint committee on employee relations shall include the following members:
(1) Speaker of the house of representatives.
(2) President of the senate.
(3) Majority leader of the senate.
(4) Majority leader of the house of representatives.
(5) Minority leader of the senate.
(6) Minority leader of the house of representatives.
(7) Senate finance committee chairperson.
(8) House of representatives finance committee chairperson.
(9) Senate capital budget committee chairperson.
(10) House of representatives public works and highways committee chairperson.
(11) Senate ways and means committee chairperson.
(12) House of representatives finance committee vice chairperson.
(13) House of representatives labor, industrial, and rehabilitative services committee chairperson.
(14) House of representatives labor, industrial, and rehabilitative services committee ranking minority member.
(15) Senate insurance committee chairperson.
(16) Senate insurance committee vice chairperson.
(b) The chair of the committee shall rotate biennially between the president of the senate or designee and the speaker of the house or designee, provided that the president of the senate shall serve as the first chairperson under the provisions of this subparagraph, beginning with the 1995-96 biennium. In the event that the presiding officer or designee serving as chairperson resigns or for any reason is unable to serve, the other presiding officer or designee shall become chairperson, provided that such substitution shall not change the rotation provided for in this subparagraph.
(c) The joint committee on employee relations shall meet with the state negotiating committee after the first Wednesday in December in the even-numbered years as necessary, to discuss the state's objectives in the bargaining process. Meeting shall be at the call of the chairperson of the joint committee on employee relations.
(d) The joint committee on employee relations shall hold hearings on all collective bargaining agreements with state employees and on all fact-finders' reports relative to the collective bargaining process with state employees and shall submit any recommendation on such agreements or reports to the members of the senate and the house of representatives.
(e) The president of the senate may appoint one or more alternates to serve on the joint committee on employee relations in the event that a senate member is unable to attend.
(f) The speaker of the house of representatives may appoint one or more alternates to serve on the joint committee on employee relations in the event that a house member is unable to attend.
Source. 1975, 490:2. 1986, 12:7. 1995, 9:35, 36, eff. June 11, 1995. 1997, 351:53, eff. July 1, 1997. 1999, 225:15, 16, eff. Sept. 7, 1999. 2004, 137:1, eff. July 18, 2004.