Sen. John Thrasher, former state GOP chairman, looks like he has filed a bill (SB830) to starve unions like the Florida Education Association, SEIU, AFL-CIO, firefighters, police unions or AFSCME by banning the Democratic-leaning organizations from using salary deductions for political purposes. The legislation also says any "public employer may not deduct or collect" union dues, etc. Lastly, it says that any public employee who didn't specifically authorize the use of his money could be entitled to a partial refund.
The bill doesn't seem to go as far as Wisconsin's by ending collective bargaining rights in Florida, though in a right-to-work state there's only so much union bargaining that can take place. Still, the language about union dues sure looks like it's right out of the play book of the tea party/Wisconsin's Gov. Scott Walker (who incidentally is not a high-speed rail fan, either).
Here are some excerpts from Thrasher's bill, SB 830, which doesnn't seem to have a house sponsor. Yet.
"Deductions may not be made for purposes of political activity, including contributions to a candidate, political party, political committee, committee of continuous existence, electioneering communications organization, or organization exempt from taxation under s. 501(c)(4) or s. 527 of the Internal Revenue Code."
"A public employer may not deduct or collect the dues, uniform assessments, fines, penalties, or special assessments of an employee organization from the compensation of any person employed by the public employer..."
"Unless an employee has executed a written authorization, the employee is entitled to a pro rata refund of any dues, uniform assessments, fines, penalties, or special assessments paid by the employee and used by the labor organization of which the employee is a member to make contributions or expenditures, as defined in s. 106.011. The written authorization must be executed by the employee separately for each fiscal year of the labor organization and shall be accompanied with a detailed account, provided by the labor organization, of all contributions and expenditures made by the labor organization in the preceding 24 months."
You know, Senators and Legislators only work 2 months out of the year but they get the same benefits that 12 month personnel get, actually better in most cases.
Why doesn't Governor Scott declare them all "temporary/seasonal employees" and put them in OPS without any benefits? That's where they belong.
Posted by: Randall McMurphy | February 21, 2011 at 06:12 PM
poor Johnny "Trash"er's going to get another beat down from the teacher's union!
He reminds me of Wiley E Coyote. "drats that bad old union foiled me again"!
Posted by: joe blow | February 21, 2011 at 07:03 PM
Pretty soon, the Union big-wigs won't be able to afford millions of A.C.M.E. TNT campaign cash, unless they ask for & get it directly from us rank-and-file members.
Then we'll see what big shots those Sopprano wanna-be's are.
Bye-Bye Phony Corleones!
Posted by: average joe | February 21, 2011 at 08:11 PM
We don;t have "union Big Wigs" in Florida. We have hard working professionals keeping the career alive and attracting the best of the best while preserving what is GOOD FOR KIDS!
Posted by: Eileen curran | February 21, 2011 at 10:17 PM
Thrasher's bill is motivated by political payback (over SB 6), not sound lawmaking. The GOP/RPOF campaign to harm working families for the benefit of their corporate cronies will backfire.
Posted by: FloridaModerate | February 22, 2011 at 11:51 AM
WOW, Randall, so the rest of the time that state legislators are back home in their districts, they are not working? They are volunteering their time?
You need a reality check and learn to tell the truth instead of lies or perhaps you are just a delusional sheep, listening to those who spread miss information?
We are a RIGHT TO WORK STATE, thank goodness and we will remain so. Thrasher's bill is exposing the hidden facts of what has been buying out candidates. What ever happened to given the same amount of time in the media to candidates? President Obama now has 1 billion dollars in his campaign fund, be prepared to be bombarded by big UNIONS.
Posted by: JL | February 22, 2011 at 12:19 PM
Can we get a bill to give us a pro-rata refund on the money spent by the State on items I don't specifically authorize in writing - like, legislators salaries and their retirement? They are wasting my contributions in Tallahassee and I want a refund! Better yet, I want it redirected to the public employees pay and benefits.
Posted by: NotMyRepresentative | February 22, 2011 at 01:04 PM