Public Employer Payroll Deduction Policy Act Exposed

The Public Employer Payroll Deduction Policy Act was adopted by ALEC's Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development Task Force at the States and Nation Policy Summit, December 1998 and approved by the ALEC Board of Directors in January 1999. This policy is included in more recent ALEC model legislation, see Section 5 of the Public Employee Freedom Act: Prohibition of automatic payroll deductions. The Public Employee Freedom Act was approved by the ALEC Board of Directors in January 1999 and approved by the ALEC Board of Directors in January 2013.

CMD's Bill Summary

This bill limits funding for public employee unions by prohibiting public employers from deducting union dues from workerpaychecks. Unions will have to collect dues directly from workers, reducing total dues that the unions will collect, and distracting fromother workplace or union member issues by requiring unions focus energy on the task of collecting dues.

This is part of the package of public labor union reforms Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker put forth in his "Budget Repair Bill," 2011, which became Wisconsin Act 10.

ALEC Bill Text

Summary

This model bill prohibits the payroll deduction of membership dues by public employers.

Model Legislation

A BILL to amend the Code of ________ by adding a section relating to the payroll deduction policy of public employers.

Section 1. {Short Title}

This Act shall be known as the Public Employer Payroll Deduction Policy Act.

Section 2. {Legislative Declarations}

The legislature finds and declares:

A. Employee organizations have no inherent Constitutional, nor statutory right, to deduct membership dues for any purpose by automatic payroll deductions;

B. That it is in the interest of this State's citizens to ensure that government resources, including public employee time, public property or equipment, and supplies be used exclusively for activities that are essential to carrying out the necessary functions of government;

C. That necessary governmental functions do not include using government resources to confer the special convenience of deducting membership dues from members' and nonmembers' paychecks for any private individual or organization, public employee unions and their members;

Be it enacted by the Legislature:

That the Code of __________ is amended by adding a section as follows:

Section 3. {Definitions}

For the purposes of this Act, "public employer" means any state or local government, government agency, government instrumentality, special district, joint powers authority, school board or special purpose organization that employs one or more persons in any capacity.

Section 4. {Public Employer Payroll Deduction Policy}

No dues, fees, assessments or any other automatic payroll deductions by public employers from public employee payroll compensation shall be allowed for transmission to any public employee organization, any intermediary, or a private individual, other than for primary and supplemental pension plans, life, health and other employee benefits, or contributions made to 501C(3) charitable organizations through a workplace givings program.