To amend section 4117.10 and to enact section 124.16 of the Revised Code to limit the amount by which a state employee's salary or wage may be increased.

Section 1. That section 4117.10 be amended and section 124.16 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 124.16.  (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Consumer price index" means the consumer price index for all urban consumers as prepared by the United States bureau of labor statistics or its successor index.

(2) "Employee" means an employee paid in whole or in part by the state.

(3) "Salary or wages" do not include employee benefits such as paid leave, insurance coverage, or retirement benefits.

(B) No state agency shall increase the salary or wage of an employee during a one-year period by more than the percentage increase, rounded to the nearest tenth, in the consumer price index for that one-year period. If the consumer price index increases by more than five per cent in that period, the state agency may increase the salary or wage of an employee by a maximum of five per cent. If the consumer price index decreases or otherwise does not increase during that time period, the state agency shall not increase the salary or wage of an employee.

(C) The restrictions described in division (B) of this section do not apply to either of the following circumstances:

(1) If an employee is promoted or transferred to a different position or otherwise changes positions;

(2) If the salary or wage of an employee has not increased for a significant period of time, as determined by the state agency, due to the financial condition of the state or the state agency, any one-time increase in the employee's salary or wage to compensate the employee for the time period during which the employee's salary or wage remained unchanged due to that financial condition, however, the employee's salary or wage shall be subject to division (B) of this section beginning the following year.

(D) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit an employee's progression through the schedules listed in section 124.15 or 124.152 of the Revised Code, however, notwithstanding the rates of pay identified in those sections, any increase in pay resulting from an employee's progress through those schedules is subject to this section.

Sec. 4117.10.  (A) An agreement between a public employer and an exclusive representative entered into pursuant to this chapter governs the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of public employment covered by the agreement. If the agreement provides for a final and binding arbitration of grievances, public employers, employees, and employee organizations are subject solely to that grievance procedure and the state personnel board of review or civil service commissions have no jurisdiction to receive and determine any appeals relating to matters that were the subject of a final and binding grievance procedure. Where no agreement exists or where an agreement makes no specification about a matter, the public employer and public employees are subject to all applicable state or local laws or ordinances pertaining to the wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment for public employees. Laws All of the following prevail over conflicting provisions of agreements between employee organizations and public employers:

(1) Laws pertaining to civil any of the following subjects:

(a) Civil rights, affirmative;

(b) Affirmative action, unemployment;

(c) Unemployment compensation, workers';

(d) Workers' compensation, the;

(e) The retirement of public employees, and residency;

(f) Residency requirements, the;

(g) The minimum educational requirements contained in the Revised Code pertaining to public education including the requirement of a certificate by the fiscal officer of a school district pursuant to section 5705.41 of the Revised Code, the;

(h) The provisions of division (A) of section 124.34 of the Revised Code governing the disciplining of officers and employees who have been convicted of a felony, and the;

(i) The minimum standards promulgated by the state board of education pursuant to division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code prevail over conflicting provisions of agreements between employee organizations and public employers;

(j) The restriction regarding an increase of the salary or wage of an employee as described in section 124.16 of the Revised Code. The

(2) The law pertaining to the leave of absence and compensation provided under section 5923.05 of the Revised Code prevails over any conflicting provisions of such agreements, if the terms of the agreement contain benefits which are less than those contained in that section or the agreement contains no such terms and the public authority is the state or any agency, authority, commission, or board of the state or if the public authority is another entity listed in division (B) of section 4117.01 of the Revised Code that elects to provide leave of absence and compensation as provided in section 5923.05 of the Revised Code. The;

(3) The law pertaining to the leave established under section 5906.02 of the Revised Code prevails over any conflicting provision of an agreement between an employee organization and public employer if the terms of the agreement contain benefits that are less than those contained in section 5906.02 of the Revised Code. Except

Except for sections 306.08, 306.12, 306.35, and 4981.22 of the Revised Code and arrangements entered into thereunder, and section 4981.21 of the Revised Code as necessary to comply with section 13(c) of the "Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964," 87 Stat. 295, 49 U.S.C.A. 1609(c), as amended, and arrangements entered into thereunder, this chapter prevails over any and all other conflicting laws, resolutions, provisions, present or future, except as otherwise specified in this chapter or as otherwise specified by the general assembly. Nothing in this section prohibits or shall be construed to invalidate the provisions of an agreement establishing supplemental workers' compensation or unemployment compensation benefits or exceeding minimum requirements contained in the Revised Code pertaining to public education or the minimum standards promulgated by the state board of education pursuant to division (D) of section 3301.07 of the Revised Code.

(B) The public employer shall submit a request for funds necessary to implement an agreement and for approval of any other matter requiring the approval of the appropriate legislative body to the legislative body within fourteen days of the date on which the parties finalize the agreement, unless otherwise specified, but if the appropriate legislative body is not in session at the time, then within fourteen days after it convenes. The legislative body must approve or reject the submission as a whole, and the submission is deemed approved if the legislative body fails to act within thirty days after the public employer submits the agreement. The parties may specify that those provisions of the agreement not requiring action by a legislative body are effective and operative in accordance with the terms of the agreement, provided there has been compliance with division (C) of this section. If the legislative body rejects the submission of the public employer, either party may reopen all or part of the entire agreement.

As used in this section, "legislative body" includes the governing board of a municipal corporation, school district, college or university, village, township, or board of county commissioners or any other body that has authority to approve the budget of their public jurisdiction and, with regard to the state, "legislative body" means the controlling board.

(C) The chief executive officer, or the chief executive officer's representative, of each municipal corporation, the designated representative of the board of education of each school district, college or university, or any other body that has authority to approve the budget of their public jurisdiction, the designated representative of the board of county commissioners and of each elected officeholder of the county whose employees are covered by the collective negotiations, and the designated representative of the village or the board of township trustees of each township is responsible for negotiations in the collective bargaining process; except that the legislative body may accept or reject a proposed collective bargaining agreement. When the matters about which there is agreement are reduced to writing and approved by the employee organization and the legislative body, the agreement is binding upon the legislative body, the employer, and the employee organization and employees covered by the agreement.

(D) There is hereby established an office of collective bargaining in the department of administrative services for the purpose of negotiating with and entering into written agreements between state agencies, departments, boards, and commissions and the exclusive representative on matters of wages, hours, terms and other conditions of employment and the continuation, modification, or deletion of an existing provision of a collective bargaining agreement. Nothing in any provision of law to the contrary shall be interpreted as excluding the bureau of workers' compensation and the industrial commission from the preceding sentence. This office shall not negotiate on behalf of other statewide elected officials or boards of trustees of state institutions of higher education who shall be considered as separate public employers for the purposes of this chapter; however, the office may negotiate on behalf of these officials or trustees where authorized by the officials or trustees. The staff of the office of collective bargaining are in the unclassified service. The director of administrative services shall fix the compensation of the staff.

The office of collective bargaining shall:

(1) Assist the director in formulating management's philosophy for public collective bargaining as well as planning bargaining strategies;

(2) Conduct negotiations with the exclusive representatives of each employee organization;

(3) Coordinate the state's resources in all mediation, fact-finding, and arbitration cases as well as in all labor disputes;

(4) Conduct systematic reviews of collective bargaining agreements for the purpose of contract negotiations;

(5) Coordinate the systematic compilation of data by all agencies that is required for negotiating purposes;

(6) Prepare and submit an annual report and other reports as requested to the governor and the general assembly on the implementation of this chapter and its impact upon state government.

Section 2.  That existing section 4117.10 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section 3. This act applies to a collective bargaining agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this act.