Posted on 10/16/2015 10:22:20 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
We’ll never see anything like this go through at the federal level while Barack Obama is president, but the Keystone State is is mounting an effort to protect public sector workers from having dues automatically deducted from their pay and then used to fund political campaigns. It comes in the form of a bill which has passed the state senate and now moves on to the House. (Fox 34 News)
Pennsylvania’s state senate approved a controversial bill Wednesday which would prevent unions from taking money from workers’ paychecks and using it for political purposes.
Senate Bill 501, dubbed the “Paycheck Protection” bill by supporters, narrowly passed a senate vote by 26-23. Despite four Republicans voting against the legislation, enough voted for it to pass. It will now await assignment in a House committee.
Currently, public sector union workers, such as teachers, police officers, and firefighters, have money deducted from their paychecks which can go towards political reasons or groups, such as PACs. The “Paycheck Protection” bill would be “leveling the playing field,” according to State Sen. Scott Wagner.
Wagner has attempted this before but the bill hasn’t yet made it into law. The odds of getting it done this time aren’t much better than they would be in Washington, sadly, because Pennsylvania’s Governor, Democrat Tom Wolf, has benefited quite handsomely from the status quo. His campaign snagged almost $3.5M in donations from public worker unions last time around, so expecting him to break out his pen and cut off the cash spigot would be a bit of a stretch to say the least.
So is there a need for this sort of reform? Let’s take a look at the data from Open Secrets on the all time top groups donating money to political campaigns and how much each has ponied up on a national level.
Of the top eleven groups, seven of them are unions, with the public sector unions at the front of the pack. And where is their money going? If you look at the top of the list, SEIU has racked up more than $222M in payouts and of that, 99% went to Democrats. Scanning down the list at the rest of the unions the proportions are pretty much the same. You have to make it to #7 (Las Vegas Sands) before you find a group giving significantly to the GOP and they only managed a quarter of what SEIU was kicking in. Now to consider this in terms of the Pennsylvania question, this is a pretty evenly divided state. Roughly half of the residents will fall into either of the Dem/GOP, Liberal/Conservative wings so it’s unlikely that all of the union members are Democrats. How much of that union cash came from the pockets of people voting for a conservative agenda and was pumped into the campaigns of Democrats?
But don’t let that bother you, folks. Just shoot down the legislation because… look for the union label.
Doesn’t PA have a Dhimmicrap governor?
So why is it "controversial?" Because the Rats and unions say so?
[Rhetorical question]
Yes, which is why it will probably be vetoed.
And why didn’t the republicans pass this LAST YEAR when they had a republican senator who might have signed it????
The legislature is worthless. Most are RINOS and I wouldn’t be surprised if the unions pay them off.
There is no chance in the world that Wolfe will sign this bill into law, anymore than there's a chance that the Republican controlled legislature will allow him to make good on his outrageous budget demands. Nevertheless, if Republicans at the Federal level had passed just one piece of reasonable -- but confrontational -- legislation during the current Congress, they might not find themselves at the nadir of disdain.
I salute PA the legislature for this sensible, and doomed, legislation. At least they're trying.
Yup. Wolf is gonna veto this faster than you can say Conshohocken. The unions got this guy elected specifically so that he could play defense for them on stuff like this.
Wolf. Duh.
Say what you like, but they have held out on the budget, which is no small thing with a new governor just inaugurated.
No one should be forced to pay the unions. It’s protection money in this day and age.
Oh, they want a lot more than defense.
PSEA was promised a billion dollars in kickbacks for "education." They're expecting huge payoffs, and so far at least, the Republicans have refused to pony up the money to pay Wolf's campaign promise slush fund.
The legislature recently passed privatizing the liquor stores (getting rid of more blue laws) which Wolf is going to veto as well. Anything that is good for PA Wolf will veto or crush where he can. The large cities and east PA gave us this asshole and they have no idea what they are in for. The Frackers around my area have already packed up and left; serious royalties out the window for many of us. I love PA, but if the legislature cannot hold out against Wolf I might be packing my bags as well.
No.
The decline in the GOP's fortunes in PA is directly attributable to two things, neither of which is going to change: 1) A completely moribund Party organization, and 2) a shrinking population. The residue left behind is increasingly composed of seniors dependent on entitlements and 47%'ers who have no intention of stopping the gravy train.
The real problem in Pennsylvania is that the Philly suburbs, once conservative, are now full of liberal soccer moms and weanie dads, and the last remaining
contested region — Coal Country — has now gone almost completely over to the Dark side.
I’m expecting the legislature to cave eventually. Already the media is full of tales of woe allegedly resulting from the budget impasse and naturally, the blame is on the Republicans.
Far left governor so you can forget it.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe in 2008 when commercials were being run non-stop about obama’s intent to kill the coal industry (with soundbites and facts) and the idiots voted for him anyway.
I know there is a snowball’s chance, but I think PA needs split in two, damn near right down the center.
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