Question Submitted by: The Honorable Mark McBride, Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 53

2023 OK AG 9
Oklahoma Attorney General Reports·Decided June 26, 2023·Unpublished·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

OSCN Found Document:Question Submitted by: The Honorable Mark McBride, Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 53
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Question Submitted by: The Honorable Mark McBride, Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 53
2023 OK AG 9
Decided: 06/26/2023
Oklahoma Attorney General Opinions


Cite as: 2023 OK AG 9, __ __

¶0 This office has received your request for an Attorney General Opinion in which you ask, in effect, the following question:

Does title 62, section 34.70.1 of the Oklahoma Statutes prohibit Oklahoma school districts from making payroll deductions for membership dues in professional organizations?1

I.

SUMMARY

¶1 The phrase "collectively bargains on behalf of its membership pursuant to any provision of federal law" in title 62, section 34.70.1 of the Oklahoma Statutes means the organization collectively bargains "according to," or "in conformance with," any provision federal law. So defined, section 34.70.1 does not apply to Oklahoma school districts and their employees that either do not collectively bargain or that do so pursuant to the Oklahoma School Code (the "School Code").2 Further, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services ("OMES")--the agency historically charged with developing procedures for certain payroll deductions for state employees--has also interpreted section 34.70.1 to not apply to school districts and their employee's voluntary payroll deductions. OMES has continued to permit payroll deductions for professional organizations that have a connection to the state and its interests, including statewide education employee organizations. According to the State Department of Education (the "Department"), such a construction of "pursuant to" leads to a potential conflict between the provisions of the School Code, namely 70 O.S.2021, § 5-139, and 62 O.S.2021, § 34.70.1. These sections are reconcilable, though, each being harmonized and given their effect, as intended. Even if there were an irreconcilable conflict, the provisions of the School Code, which were most recently amended in 2018, prevail under the last-in-time rule. Accordingly, school districts are authorized to make payroll deductions for membership dues in professional organizations that (a) collectively bargain pursuant to state, as opposed to federal, law or (b) do not collectively bargain at all.

II.

BACKGROUND

A. Payroll deductions and labor relations in local school districts.

¶2 Historically, payroll deductions for public school employees have been governed by the School Code, and those for state employees have been pursuant to provisions within title 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes. For public school employees, beginning in 1977, the Legislature placed the following language into the School Code:

School districts shall make payroll deductions for either or both professional organization dues and political contributions at the written request of any school employee and shall transmit deducted funds to the organization designated by the school district employee. Such deductions shall be on a ten-month basis unless otherwise designated by the employee organization.

70 O.S.2021, § 5-139.

¶3 While section 5-139 was amended in 2005 and again in 2018, it has continuously required school districts, upon the voluntary written request of any school district employee, to make payroll deductions for professional organization dues. Id.

¶4 Additionally, since 1971, Oklahoma school districts and their employees have relied on the provisions of 70 O.S.2021, §§ 509.1--509.10 for collective bargaining. 1971 Okla. Sess. Laws c. 325, 1--10. Entitled "Negotiation Between School Employees and Districts" (the "Act"), these sections of the School Code were established for the express purpose of improving negotiations and relations between school employees and their employing school district. 70 O.S.2021, § 509.1. The Oklahoma Supreme Court has interpreted the Act as imposing a legal duty on boards of education and professional educators, as well as granting a "statutory right of professional educators to collectively bargain[.]" Association of Classroom Tchrs. v. Independent Sch. Dist. 89 of Oklahoma Cnty., 1975 OK 118, ¶¶ 9--10, 540 P.2d 1171, 1174.3 Whether an educator invokes this right is a voluntary decision of the educator.4 The local board of education must recognize an organization that educators elect to serve as their representative for negotiations. 70 O.S.2021, § 509.2.

B. Payroll deductions for state employees.

¶5 In 1984, the Legislature began requiring state agencies to make voluntary payroll deductions for a state employee who makes such a request. Pursuant to procedures established by the Director of OMES, a state agency is required to make state employee payroll deductions for nine categories of benefits and services, including among others, membership dues for the Oklahoma Public Employees Association or a statewide education association. 62 O.S.2021, § 34.70.

¶6 In 2015, the Oklahoma Legislature enacted, and the Governor signed, House Bill 1749, which is now codified at title 62, section 34.70.1. Section 34.70.1 immediately follows statutes that permit state employee payroll deductions according to OMES's procedures. Under its express terms, section 34.70.1 prohibits a state agency from making payroll deductions on behalf of a state employee for membership dues in any public employee association or organization that collectively bargains pursuant to federal law. In its entirety, the text of section 34.70.1 provides:

A. It shall be unlawful for any state agency to make payroll deductions on behalf of a state employee for membership dues in any public employee association or organization or professional organization that on or after November 1, 2015, collectively bargains on behalf of its membership pursuant to any provision of federal law.
B. For purposes of this section:
1. "State agency" means any office, officer, bureau, board, counsel, court, commission, institution, unit, division, body or house of the executive or judicial branches of the state government, whether elected or appointed, excluding political subdivisions of the state. State agency shall include public school districts, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, the institutions, centers, or other constituent agencies of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, the State Board of Career and Technology Education, technology center school districts, the State Legislature, and the Office of the Governor; and
2.

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Question Submitted by: The Honorable Mark McBride, Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 53, 2023 OK AG 9 (Okla. Super. Ct. 2023).

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