Bill
SB 914
Allows supervisory BCPL employees to form, join, and bargain in a dedicated unit, alongside non-supervisory staff.
Status and procedural posture
- Bill number: SB 914 (Finance Committee). Introduced January 24, 2025. Hearing scheduled February 27, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. Cross‑file: HB 1071 (Appropriations). Sponsors: Blanco; Kanuha.
- Note: the packet included an unrelated Illinois bill excerpt; this summary addresses the Maryland SB 914 materials (fiscal note and bill text).
- Effective date in the bill text: July 1, 2025. The bill also contains a preservations clause for units/agreements in place on or before June 30, 2025.
Purpose and intent
- Expand collective bargaining eligibility at the Baltimore County Public Library (BCPL) to include supervisory employees, allowing them to form, join, and participate in employee organizations and related collective bargaining processes previously limited to nonmanagement employees.
Key provisions
- Authorizes at most two bargaining units under the BCPL collective bargaining subtitle:
- One unit for non‑supervisory (nonmanagement) employees.
- One unit for supervisory employees.
- Preserves any bargaining units and collective bargaining agreements that were recognized or in existence on or before June 30, 2025 (i.e., does not terminate or modify existing agreements or units).
- Revises definitions and classification rules:
- Retains definition of “employee” as full‑time or part‑time BCPL employee and continues to exclude confidential and management employees.
- Defines “supervisory employee” as someone authorized to take personnel actions (hire, transfer, promote, discipline, etc.), direct employees for more than 50% of their working hours, or handle and resolve grievances.
- Clarifies that an employee who can effectively recommend such actions may be deemed a management employee (rather than a supervisory employee) if the exercise of that authority requires independent judgment and is not merely routine or clerical. Single functions alone do not automatically establish management status.
- Collective bargaining procedure and funding interaction:
- Collective bargaining agreements or mediator decisions must be submitted to the County Executive with the recommending board’s assessment about whether additional appropriations are required.
- Under current framework described in the fiscal note, the County Executive may approve/reject/partially approve funding requests and the County Council can modify those requests. If an impasse occurs under the existing framework, final offers are exchanged and the County Executive selects a binding offer.
Fiscal and operational impact
- State: no direct fiscal effect.
- Local (BCPL / Baltimore County): minimal expected fiscal impact. BCPL can administer payroll deductions for union/service fees with current resources. Possible but limited increases in expenditures from (a) hiring outside mediators and (b) negotiated salary increases — described in the fiscal note as expected to be minimal.
- Small business: none.
Who is affected
- Primary: supervisory employees of the Baltimore County Public Library (newly eligible to join bargaining units).
- Secondary: existing non‑supervisory BCPL employees, BCPL administration, Baltimore County government (budgetary/funding interactions), and labor organizations.
Timing and limitations
- The bill’s text specifies a July 1, 2025 effective date and protects any bargaining units or agreements in existence on or before June 30, 2025 from being altered or terminated by this legislation.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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