Bill to define "supervisory employee" for community colleges divides supporters and college leaders

Delegate Alethia McCaskill told the committee HB 1433 is a technical correction requested by the Maryland Public Employee Relations Board to restore a definition of "supervisory employee" that was inadvertently omitted from the 2023 Public Employee Relations Act. She said the bill clarifies that department heads and comparable positions are not automatically excluded from faculty bargaining units unless they exercise true supervisory functions such as sole hiring, firing or discipline.

Marina Sullivan of AFT Maryland said the statutory definition reflects PERB’s prior rulings and prevents repeated litigation over unit composition. "This definition protects faculty who already have collective bargaining rights," she said, arguing the change promotes consistency across campuses.

Sandra Kurtinitis, president of CCBC, urged an unfavorable report, saying Maryland’s community colleges vary widely in size and governance and that a one‑size‑fits‑all statutory definition could force large institutions to create new administrative layers (assistant deans) at significant cost. She asked that supervisory status remain a fact‑specific, PERB‑driven inquiry.

Senators thanked witnesses and said they would take the testimony into account; the committee did not vote on the bill at the hearing.