Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/279010
10 Summer 2014 x AEA Advocate This legislative session we have seen a number of bills attacking educators, as well as police and fire fighters. These bills target payroll deduction as a method of association dues collection in an effort to weaken the organizations advocating on behalf of these public service employees. Below is detailed information about these bills: SB1094, sponsored by Senator Chester Crandell, was aimed only at educators and would have required the annual reauthorization for the collection of association dues and imposed a civil penalty of at least $1,500 on a school board or superintendent for failing to comply. This bill was retained on the Senate COW calendar on February 17 and March 11. SB1354, sponsored by Senator Gail Griffin, attempts to re-pass the 2011 law that was voided by the courts (as a result of an AEA lawsuit and victory) by removing some of the unconstitutional issues in the bill. It requires all public employers to require annual authorization for union dues (and other third- party payments from an employee's paycheck). It imposes a minimum $10,000 civil penalty for each violation. SB1355 is another Senator Griffin bill and the same as SB1354 above, but requires the reauthorization every other year. This bill also prohibits a labor organization from using any part of its dues for political purposes unless it allows each person to opt in biennially with advance express consent. It requires the labor organization to identify the amount of the dues used for political purposes and separately account for these monies. The labor organization is required to annually report to its members the expenditures of these monies by types of candidates, legislation or issues and political party. Both of Griffin's bills are ready for a full vote in the Senate. HB2476, sponsored by Representative Adam Kwasman, prohibits any withholding of dues from an employee's paycheck unless the employer has prior written authorization from the employee dated in the same tax year. This bill was held in the House Government Committee on February 18 due to lack of votes to pass the bill out of the committee. This bill is "dead" for the session unless it gets re- introduced as a strike-everything amendment somewhere in the legislative process. These bills are all variations of model ALEC "paycheck deception" legislation since 1998 and are being pushed by the Goldwater Institute, an ALEC member, in an effort to attack teachers' and workers' rights. Find out more about ALEC and their agenda to dismantle public education and weaken professional associations representing public service employees on page 30. The last time legislators passed a law trying to silence educators' voices for speaking up on behalf of students and adequate education funding, AEA defended school employees' rights with a legal challenge and won. AEA will continue to stand up for our members' rights and ensure the voice of educators is heard. 2 Defending School Employees' Rights AT THE CAPITOL You know the opposition public workers face in defending their pensions. Big media and money have created a narrative that portrays our current system as broken, paying six-figure pensions to people who have manipulated the system to get more of the taxpayer's money. You also know the truth: that public workers earn a modest living and a modest retirement. Reforms already in place, combined with some longstanding sound Arizona practices, have the state's pension system on solid financial footing. Switching to defined-contribution plans would actually increase costs to taxpayers. We saw a number of bills this session attempting to reduce public pension benefits and weaken the stability of the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS). The following bills were all defeated this session, thanks to AEA and the Arizona Retirement Security Coalition. Kudos to AEA Retired members Linda Somo and Steve Ramos for their testimony during committee hearings! Protecting Pensions Summer.14advo.indd 10 3/14/14 2:58 PM