TITLE: CONCERNING THE PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST EMPLOYEES BASED UPON LABOR UNION PARTICIPATION.

Fiscal Impact Summary	FY 1999/2000	FY 2000/2001
State Revenues General Fund	Minimal Fines	Minimal Fines
State Expenditures General Fund
FTE Position Change	0.0 FTE	0.0 FTE
Other State Impact: TaborNone
Effective Date: July 1, 1999
Appropriation Summary for FY 1999-2000: None required
Local Government Impact: Potential impact to county jail costs

This bill prohibits an employer from requiring any person, as a condition of employment, to become or remain a member of any labor organization, to be referred or recommended by such an organization, or to pay any dues, fees, or other assessments beginning July 1, 1999. The term employer means any individual, corporation, association, organization, entity or state or local government that employs one or more persons. It also prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee because the employee has failed or refused to become a member of any labor organization. The bill provides for criminal and civil penalties and requires the Attorney General and the district attorney in each judicial district to investigate any complaint and to prosecute violators.

Since the bill creates a new misdemeanor and imposes it on anyone who directly or indirectly imposes on any person any requirement prohibited by the bill, there may be an impact to the General Fund from the amount of fine revenue collected. The misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a $1,000 fine that is deposited into the General Fund, and/or a possible jail sentence of up to ninety days to be served in the county jail. It is at the discretion of the court whether to impose a fine, a jail sentence, or both. Therefore, the amount of fine revenue cannot be determined. Additionally, sufficient data are not available from the Judicial Branch at this time to determine the number of violations. The amount of fine revenue is expected to be minimal.

The Department of Labor and Employment does not anticipate many, if any, violations of the provisions of the bill and would not be significantly impacted by the bill. If there were any violations, it is estimated that the Department of Law (AG) would require ninety additional hours of AG time at a cost of $51.40 per hour or a total cost of $4,626.

The bill may have an impact on the county jails from persons convicted of this misdemeanor. The court may sentence a person to the county jail for between zero and ninety days for this misdemeanor. The court may also impose a fine up to $1,000 in addition to, or in lieu of a jail sentence, and since it is at the discretion of the court to determine the proper sentence, the impact on the county jails cannot be estimated. This fiscal note assumes the impact to local governments will be minimal.