SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 486

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: FEBRUARY 10, 1997

      The Senate Education Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 486 with committee amendments.

      As amended, this bill establishes that a board of education is under no obligation to pay an increment on a salary guide of an agreement beyond its expiration date. This change would reverse the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in Galloway Twp. Bd. of Ed. v. Galloway Tp. Ed. Assn. 78 N.J.25 (1978), which has been relied upon by the Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) and the courts to rule that the failure to pay salary increments under an expired collective bargaining agreement is an unfair labor practice.

      The committee amended the bill to make its provisions applicable only to a board of education rather than to all public employers. Several technical amendments were also adopted to conform the text of the bill to the current version of the law.