Freedom at the Capital

Jan. 16, 2015 Freedom Foundation lobbyists educate legislatures. Freedom Foundation exposes taxpayer-funded union special interest group. Complaints filed. Worker protection bill introduced: Lets union members know how money is spent. Action Step for This Week   Call the Legislative Hotline 1-800-562-6000 and ask lawmakers to support SB 5045 and SB 5226 which protect public union workers.   LEGISLATURES EDUCATED ON UNION ISSUES Max and Jami have spoken with nearly twenty legislators in the last five days as the Freedom Foundation seeks to raise awareness about how state law gives extraordinary power to the government union enterprise. Many lawmakers are courageous champions of leveling the playing field and curbing the obvious special privileges in law. Others need to hear from you, their constituents, before they have the courage to tackle this issue. Be sure your lawmakers hear from you this session. Each week Freedom Foundation hopes to provide an opportunity for you to take a simple action step which requires less than two minutes. Your phone call does help us succeed in these meetings.   FREEDOM FOUNDATION EXPOSES TAXPAYER-FUNDED SCHEME Did you know that you, as a taxpayer, helped fund a march on behalf of the Seatac $15 minimum wage mandate ballot initiative? Or that you helped train union activists in how to oppose “right to work” laws? The state budget provides $160,000 each year to the Labor Education & Research Center (LERC) at South Seattle Community College. Max Nelsen’s study showed that the office functions essentially as an extension of the AFL-CIO—a private special interest group. Laws and ethical standards have been violated, and Freedom Foundation has filed three official complaints to seek appropriate actions. Max discussed LERC’s law breaking activities on the radio with hosts John Carlson and David Boze.   SEN. RANDI BECKER INTRODUCES WORKER PROTECTION BILL Currently, union members in the private-sector have access to basic financial information about their unions. When the public-sector unionization laws were written for Washington, this basic consumer protection was left out. Sen. Randi Becker (R-Eatonville) told us how a constituent expressed frustration about never knowing if the union was spending money wisely. The Freedom Foundation prepared legislation modeled on the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s reporting requirements for private-sector unions. She introduced Senate Bill 5226 this week.   Action Step: SB 5226 requires public employee unions to report basic financial information. SB 5045 allows public employees to vote out forced union fees. Both bills have been scheduled for a public hearing on Wednesday the 21st. Please call the hotline at 1-800-562-6000 and leave a message for your Senator, Support SB 5226 and support SB 5045. It takes less than two minutes. After you call the hotline, forward this information to any public employees who might agree that these are good changes in the law. If testifying before the legislature is on your bucket list, please reply and we can help you make this a reality next Wednesday afternoon.   SECRET ITEM FOR THOSE WHO READ THIS FAR This is amusing but sad. Senator Rolfes (D-Kitsap county) accidently proved our point when she asked about a bill Senator Miloscia (R-Federal Way) introduced to require transparency for collective bargaining agreements: I've never seen what a real collective bargaining agreement looks like As a legislator, Rolfes has voted to approve over 100 collective bargaining agreements for public employees.