Court interpreters.

Assembly Member Lee's proposal to modify California's Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor Relations Act would allow employee organizations to pursue multiregional bargaining when multiple regions conduct negotiations in the same calendar year. The measure maintains existing requirements for uniform hourly pay rates within regions while creating a pathway for coordinated negotiations across regional boundaries.

Under the proposed framework, recognized employee organizations could initiate multiregional bargaining subject to mutual agreement from the regional court interpreter employment relations committees involved. The bill preserves current provisions that enable individual trial courts to negotiate additional local compensation with employee organizations, provided these arrangements do not alter the terms of regional agreements. Regional committees would retain their authority to establish binding employment terms and conditions for court interpreters within their jurisdictions.

The measure adds flexibility to the existing four-region structure without changing core requirements around uniform compensation or the ability of trial courts to supplement regional pay scales through local negotiations. Implementation would occur through established employment relations processes, with no new appropriations required.