The U.S. Supreme Court accepted a landmark challenge to mandatory union dues which it will hear this month as its new term begins. This case could have a significant impact on unions’ political contributions and potentially alter the balance in Sacramento. First, the background.
California recently figured prominently in several high court decisions! "Obamacare," same-sex marriage and congressional redistricting....and the U.S. Supreme Court is not finished with California yet! It accepted a landmark challenge to the California Teachers Association’s state-sanctioned collection of mandatory union dues from its members. The CTA is huge. With about 300,000 members, it is arguably the single most important player in Sacramento. Routinely spending tens of millions of dollar on lobbying and electing friendly legislators. In addition, they finance statewide ballot measures...most notably the 'split property tax roll:' making business property more expensive.
The Supreme Court’s acceptance of the case is not really surprising since the conservative wing on the courts has implied in past cases that is was open to erasing compulsory union dues. If the court sides with the plaintiff, the CTA could lose over $100 million in annual revenue....now that is real money!
Previously, the court declared that teachers could refuse to pay that part of union dues designated for political purposes, which is roughly one third of the CTA’s approximately $1,000 in individual dues. However, the argument being made in this case is that it is impossible to separate out that portion spent on political causes, this forcing teachers to pay for political activities that they don’t support.
As you can see this case has very significant implications for the business community.
Stay Tuned!