(1) The office of state legislative labor relations is created to assist the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies in implementing and managing the process of collective bargaining for employees of the legislative branch of state government.

(2)(a) Subject to (b) of this subsection, the secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives shall employ a director of the office. The director serves at the pleasure of the secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives, who shall fix the director's salary.

(b) The secretary of the senate and the chief clerk of the house of representatives shall, before employing a director, consult with legislative employees, the senate facilities and operations committee, the house executive rules committee, and the human resources officers of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies.

(c) The director serves as the executive and administrative head of the office and may employ additional employees to assist in carrying out the duties of the office. The duties of the office include, but are not limited to, conducting negotiations on behalf of the employer.

(d) The director shall contract with an external consultant for the purposes of gathering input from legislative employees, taking into consideration RCW 42.52.020 and rules of the house of representatives and the senate. The gathering of input must be in the form of, at a minimum, surveys.

(3) The director, in consultation with the secretary of the senate, the chief clerk of the house of representatives, and the administrative heads of legislative agencies shall:

(a) Examine issues related to collective bargaining for employees of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies; and

(b) After consultation with the external consultant, develop best practices and options for the legislature to consider in implementing and administering collective bargaining for employees of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies.

(4)(a) By December 1, 2022, the director shall submit a preliminary report to the appropriate committees of the legislature that provides a progress report on the director's considerations.

(b) By October 1, 2023, the director shall submit a final report to the appropriate committees of the legislature. At a minimum, the final report must address considerations on the following issues:

(i) Which employees of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies for whom collective bargaining may be appropriate;

(ii) Mandatory, permissive, and prohibited subjects of bargaining;

(iii) Who would negotiate on behalf of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies, and which entity or entities would be considered the employer for purposes of bargaining;

(iv) Definitions for relevant terms;

(v) Common public employee collective bargaining agreement frameworks related to grievance procedures and processes for disciplinary actions;

(vi) Procedures related to the commission certifying exclusive bargaining representatives, determining bargaining units, adjudicating unfair labor practices, determining representation questions, and coalition bargaining;

(vii) The efficiency and feasibility of coalition bargaining;

(viii) Procedures for approving negotiated collective bargaining agreements;

(ix) Procedures for submitting requests for funding to the appropriate legislative committees if appropriations are necessary to implement provisions of the collective bargaining agreements; and

(x) Approaches taken by other state legislatures that have authorized collective bargaining for legislative employees.

(5) The report must include a summary of any statutory changes needed to address the considerations listed in subsection (4) of this section related to the collective bargaining process for legislative employees.