Bill improving collective bargaining process for schools and teachers advances in Senate
01/25/2017

A bill that would push back the formal collective bargaining start date to Sept. 15 of each year has advanced out of committee on to the full Senate. The vote was 10 – 0.

Under SB 409, the parties could informally bargain prior to Sept. 15.

All of the timelines for mediation, fact-finding, impasse, etc. move forward as well to ensure the parties still have 60 days to formally bargain. 

SB 409 would enable the parties to bargain real numbers associated with student counts and upcoming insurance costs, rather than theoretical numbers or best guesses.

ISTA would like to thank the bill’s author Sen. Erin Houchin (R – Salem), as well as the chair of the Senate Pensions and Labor Committee Sen. Phil Boots (R – Crawfordsville), for adding himself as a co-author and hearing it and Sen. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) for becoming a co-author.

Please send a message of thanks to Sen. Houchin for authoring this bill, or send her a tweet @Erin_Houchin.