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Read. Follow. Verify.Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act
Last action · February 19, 2025: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.Sponsors: John Hickenlooper and 2 others
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What This Bill Would Do
This bill proposes a federal requirement for states and local governments to provide rights to public safety officers, including police, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel. It aims to standardize labor-management cooperation to improve emergency response and workplace stability.
If passed, this bill would mandate that state and local governments allow public safety employees to negotiate their pay, hours, and working conditions, potentially overriding state laws that currently restrict these rights.
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Public safety officers
They would gain federal protections to engage in collective bargaining with their employers.
State and local governments
They would be required to recognize and negotiate with labor organizations representing public safety officers if they do not already meet federal standards.
Key Facts
- The bill mandates collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by states or local political subdivisions.
- Public safety officers are defined as law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services employees.
- The bill excludes supervisory, management, and confidential employees from these collective bargaining protections.
- States that already provide collective bargaining rights comparable to or greater than those in this Act are exempt from new requirements.
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- The Federal Labor Relations Authority is designated as the oversight body for the Act.
- The bill defines 'public safety employers' as being engaged in interstate commerce, providing the constitutional basis for federal intervention.
- The legislation encourages the use of conciliation, mediation, and arbitration to resolve labor disputes regarding pay, hours, and working conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this bill apply to all public employees?
What if my state already has laws about public safety unions?
Who is excluded from these bargaining rights?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 19, 2025SenateCommitteeRead twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Feb 19, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced in Senate
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Federal Preemption of State Labor Law
The bill explicitly frames public safety labor relations as a matter of interstate commerce to justify federal intervention into state-level employment policy.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.congress.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance85How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy75Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz40Current news / social attention level
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