CARSON CITY, Nev. – Imagine, during a financial emergency, local school officials having the ability to make budget adjustments to maintain crucial services for students.

That may seem like common sense, but in many states it’s not a reality, because employee unions have collective bargaining contracts that stipulate certain levels of compensation for staff, regardless of economic conditions.

School boards may ask unions for concessions, but the answer is frequently “no.”

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That leaves the boards no option but to lay off teachers and other employees, cut services for students, beg state governments for more revenue, or all of the above.

In Nevada, that sort of desperate scenario may not be necessary in the future.

The Nevada state Assembly’s Government Affairs Committee approved a landmark bill last week that would give local governments, including school boards, the power to opt out of union collective bargaining at any time, after existing union contracts have expired.

The legislation, if enacted, would simply create that option for local governments. Those that chose to continue collective bargaining could do so, with no interference from the state.

“This would not eliminate collective bargaining – just mandatory collective bargaining,” said Andy Matthews, president of the Nevada Policy Research Institute. “The bottom line is that it would allow local officials to be more responsive to their constituents.”

The bill, AB 280, is currently being studied in the Assembly’s Ways and Means Committee, according to Assemblyman Erv Nelson, R-Las Vegas, who sponsored the legislation.

It will soon go to the full Assembly for consideration, and then to the Senate if it passes. If it’s approved by both chambers, the bill would go to Gov. Brian Sandoval.

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This is the first time in decades that legislation curtailing public sector union power has any chance of passing in Nevada. That’s because, for the first time since the 1920s, Nevada has a Republican governor and GOP majorities in both chambers of the legislature.

“We’ve been talking publicly and consistently about the need to reform collective bargaining laws, but this is the first time we’ve seen it move forward with this type of credibility,” Matthews said. “We’ve had a legislature in Democratic hands for a long time, especially the Assembly, and given that Democrats tend to oppose reforms to collective bargaining, there was no chance of it going anywhere.”

There is still no guarantee that AB 280 will get through the legislature. While Nelson says he’s optimistic about approval in the Assembly, it would also have to pass the Senate by the end of the legislative session on June 1.

While the Republicans control the Senate, they only have a one-member majority.

News reports have indicated strong union opposition to the bill, which means there could be a heated and lengthy debate.

“I think we can get it through the Assembly, but I’m not sure about the Senate yet,” Nelson said. “In the governor’s state of the state speech, he mentioned collective bargaining reform, but I’m not sure if he’s willing to go this far. I haven’t talked to him about it.”

Nelson, a freshman legislator, said he was motivated to sponsor the bill by the financial struggles of local governments during the recent recession, when tax revenues stagnated at the state and local level.

Many local governments were stuck with high labor costs stipulated by union contracts, he said. A good example is the Clark County (Las Vegas) school district, where the union contract says the district must cover employee contributions to the state pension system, according to Nelson.

“Local governments had severe economic problems, but because of existing collective bargaining agreements, they were not able to reduce salaries or benefits,” Nelson said.”They were faced with two difficult choices – severely cut services, which many did, or lay off workers, which many also had to do.

“I’ve heard many stories from officials who said they went to the unions and said ‘Let’s reduce salaries and benefits so we don’t have to lay anyone off,’ but a number of senior members of the unions refused. They said if you have to lay off some people, it’s based on seniority, so go ahead.

“A number of unions made concessions by rolling back benefits and agreeing not to have raises, but not all of them.”

Nelson and Matthews acknowledge that the worst of the recession has passed, and Nevada schools are no longer in a severe budget crisis. But there remains a great need for better management of financial resources, Matthews said.

Public schools typically spend a high percentage of their total budgets – usually over 50 percent – on labor costs.

“I don’t think (schools) are hurting for money right now,” Matthews said. “But the way they are forced to use current resources is inefficient. There isn’t enough flexibility. On a lot of things their hands are tied. So when they put their budgets together, and know that collective bargaining brings so much rigidity in terms of expenses, it’s hard for them to draft a budget that accomplishes their goals.

“So they figure, ‘If we can ‘t take an innovative approach to finances, we will just have to sound the alarm for higher taxes,’ which takes more money out of the private sector. We get these cries that the system is underfunded.

“Our position is that (schools) have plenty of resources. In the last 50 years we have nearly tripled spending on education, but we’re not seeing anything better in terms of test results.”

Matthews noted that collective bargaining has other negative impacts on schools, beyond financial considerations.

One example is the “last in, first out” layoff policy typical in many union contracts. It forces districts to lay off the least senior teachers, even if they are more effective than some of their peers.

“This is about allowing public officials to have the flexibility to carry out their mission,” Matthews said. “It allows them to identify the most capable employees and reward them, rather than the current system, where you can have hard-working, capable employees, but if they’re the lowest on the totem pole they’re out of luck.”