New Publication on Public Employee Union Payroll Deductions for Campaign Contributions

On February 22, the 1851 Center released The Path Remains Clear for Ohio’s New Legislators to Separate Government Employment from Public Employee Union Politics, a Constitutional Viewpoint on automated payroll deductions for political contributions, a service provided to public employee union members and paid for by taxpayers.

From the Overview:

As the debate on the role of government employee unions in Ohio intensifies, citizens and lawmakers shouldn’t lose sight of the prominent role that these organizations play in Ohio politics and policymaking. Nor should they overlook an immediate solution to leveling the playing field in the state: simply stop subsidizing government workers’ political contributions to their employers.

• Ohio’s top donors to Ohio legislative and statewide candidate campaigns are public employee unions.
• The taxpayers of Ohio facilitate political donations to public employee unions by providing, at no cost to those unions, automated payroll deduction benefits.
• Ending automated payroll deductions for union politics causes sharp decline in contributions to public employee unions, and puts these unions on equal footing with the private sector.
• Ohio once banned automated political payroll deductions from all public employee paychecks, but through historical accident, that ban was stricken and never re-enacted.
• Due to recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent, banning these political contributions is unquestionably constitutional.
• 46 percent of Ohio’s government employees are unionized.
• Public employee unions contribute to causes and candidates that increase the size and scope of government.
• It is estimated that Ohio residents could pay 20.73% less in state income taxes if they weren’t paying for inflated government employee union wages.

Read the full publication