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AB 465

Local public employees: memoranda of understanding.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Rick Zbur

AB 465 requires MOUs with recognized employee organizations to include progressive discipline with due process, a final-and-binding arbitration grievance process, and paid release

In committee: Held under submission.
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Bill Summary · AB 465

AB 465 (Zbur) — Summary

Status: Introduced Feb 6, 2025. In committee; held under submission (last action 2025‑05‑23).
Subject: Local public employees; memoranda of understanding (MOU).

Purpose / Intent

AB 465 amends the Meyers‑Milias‑Brown Act (MMBA) to require that, on or after January 1, 2026, certain provisions be included in memoranda of understanding between public agencies and recognized employee organizations upon the organization’s request. The bill seeks to standardize employee discipline and grievance protections (including just‑cause and due‑process protections), guarantee union representative release time, and require final and binding arbitration for MOU interpretation disputes. It also makes a nonsubstantive edit to the Political Reform Act’s definition of “gift.”

Key provisions

  • Amends Government Code §3501 to add definitions:
    • “Progressive discipline”: written preventive/corrective or disciplinary actions that notify employees of expectations and allow correction of performance.
    • “Due process”: notice of factual basis and penalty; effective date; causes; factual allegations; pre‑deprivation rights per Skelly (1975); right to appeal; and reasonable opportunity to respond.
  • Adds §3502.2 (effective for MOUs entered on/after Jan 1, 2026):
    • Upon request of a recognized employee organization, an MOU must include:
    • A system of progressive discipline that grants due process, and includes a just‑cause standard.
    • A grievance procedure culminating in compulsory final and binding arbitration for disputes over MOU interpretation/application.
    • Paid, reasonable release time for designated employee representatives to investigate and participate in the grievance process without loss of pay or benefits.
    • If an existing MOU does not include these items, the public agency must promptly bargain to adopt them as an addendum; they may thereafter be incorporated into the main MOU.
  • Specifies that refusing or failing to include these provisions upon request constitutes a refusal/failure to meet and negotiate in good faith under the MMBA.
  • Amends §3506.5 and makes a nonsubstantive change to the Political Reform Act’s gift definition (no substantive policy change intended).

Who is affected

  • Public agencies subject to the MMBA (cities, counties, districts, public service corporations, etc.). The bill states its changes address statewide concerns and apply to all cities (including charter cities).
  • Recognized employee organizations and public employees covered by those MOUs.
  • Note: the MMBA definition excludes school districts and certain education personnel; those entities are generally not covered.

Fiscal/procedural notes

  • The bill creates new requirements on local agencies (a state‑mandated local program). It declares that no state reimbursement will be provided under the usual mandate reimbursement statutes, though local entities may seek other remedies.
  • Enforcement consequences: failure to bargain or to implement required provisions may be treated as bargaining in bad faith and addressed under existing collective bargaining enforcement processes (e.g., PERB).

Legislative timeline / actions (selected)

  • Introduced 02/06/2025; amended and referred to Assembly Public Employment & Retirement Committee; passed that committee and re‑referred to Assembly Appropriations (April 2, 2025). Set for hearings and ultimately held under submission as of 05/23/2025.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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