Arizona SB 1459: event wagering; fantasy sports; fees

Bill Text

SB1459 - 572R - I Ver 

 REFERENCE TITLE: public employees; collective bargaining

 State of Arizona

 Senate

 Fifty-seventh Legislature

 Second Regular Session

 2026

 SB 1459

 Introduced by 

 Senators 
 Kuby: Alston, Bravo, Epstein, Gabald�n, Hatathlie, Miranda, Ortiz, 
 Sundareshan

AN 
ACT

amending title 
38, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding chapter 9; amending section 41-1092.02, 
Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 41, chapter 27, article 2, Arizona 
Revised Statutes, by adding section 41-3034.01; relating to public employees.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 38, Arizona Revised Statutes, 
is amended by adding chapter 9, to read:

CHAPTER 9

PUBLIC EMPLOYEE BARGAINING ACT

ARTICLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS 

START_STATUTE38-1201. Definitions

In this article, 
unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Appropriate 
bargaining unit" means a group of public employees designated by the 
public employee labor relations board or a local board for the purpose of 
collective bargaining.

2. "Appropriate 
governing body" means the policymaking body or individual representing a 
public employer.

3. "Board" 
means the public employee labor relations board.

4. "Certification" 
or "certifying" means the designation by the public employee labor 
relations board of a labor organization or a local board of a labor 
organization as the exclusive representative for all public employees in an 
appropriate bargaining unit.

5. "Collective 
bargaining" means the act of negotiating between a public employer and an 
exclusive representative for the purpose of entering into a written agreement 
regarding wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.

6. "Confidential 
employee" means an individual who assists and acts in a confidential 
capacity to an individual who formulates, determines and effectuates management 
policies for meeting and conferring.

7. "Exclusive 
representative" means the labor organization that is certified to be the 
sole meet-and-confer agent of all public employees in the appropriate 
bargaining unit for the purposes of collective bargaining.

8. "Impasse" 
means the failure of a public employer and an exclusive representative, after 
good faith bargaining, to reach agreement in the course of negotiating a 
collective bargaining agreement.

9. "Labor 
organization" means an employee organization whose purpose is the 
representation of public employees in collective bargaining and in meeting, 
consulting and conferring with public employers on matters pertaining to 
employment relations.

10. "Local 
board" means a local labor relations board that is established by a public 
employer that is a political subdivision of this state through ordinance, 
resolution or charter amendment.

11. "Lockout" 
means an act by a public employer to prevent its public employees from going to 
work for the purpose of resisting the demands of the public employees' 
exclusive representative or for the purpose of gaining a concession from the 
exclusive representative.

12. "Management 
employee":

(a) Means a public employee who is engaged primarily in 
executive and management functions and who is charged with the responsibility 
of developing, administering or effectuating management policies.

(b) Does not include 
a public employee who participates in cooperative decision-making programs on 
an occasional basis.

13. "Mediation" means 
assistance by an impartial third party to resolve, through interpretation, 
suggestion and advice, an impasse between a public employer and an exclusive 
representative regarding employment relations.

14. "Public employee":

(a) Means an 
employee of this state or any political subdivision of this state.

(b) Does not 
include elected officials or individuals who are appointed to serve on boards 
or commissions.

15. "Public employer" means 
this state and any political subdivision of this state.

16. "Strike" means a public 
employee's refusal in concerted action with others to report for duty, an 
employee's wilful absence from the employee's position or the stopping of work 
or the absence from the full, faithful or proper performance of duties for the 
purpose of inducing, influencing or coercing a change in the conditions, 
compensation, rights, privileges or obligations of public employment.

17. "Supervisor" means an 
individual who is employed by a public employer and who:

(a) Has the 
authority in the interest of the public employer to hire, transfer, furlough, 
lay off, recall, suspend, discipline or remove other public employees, if the 
exercise of the authority is not merely routine or clerical in nature but 
requires the consistent exercise of independent judgment.

(b) Devotes a 
majority of time at work exercising this authority. END_STATUTE

START_STATUTE38-1202. Public employee rights

A. Public employees may form, join 
and participate in, or refrain from for