A proposal that would prohibit public schools from automatically deducting union dues from employee paychecks is advancing in the Michigan Legislature.

The Republican-led House Oversight, Reform and Ethics Committee approved the measure Tuesday with a party line 4-2 vote. The measure advances to the House floor.

An email blast from the Education Action Group Foundation explains how this sort of proposal can help make unions more accountable to the members they serve:

We’ve long believed that the union leadership’s bare knuckled political tactics don’t represent the views of many [Michigan Education Association] members, who care primarily about helping students. But these teachers have little control over how their union operates, given that union dues are automatically taken out of their paychecks.

If that practice were to stop, both the taxpayers and the union leadership would get a true sense of how many rank-and-file educators actually support their union and its progressive political agenda.

We suspect support for the MEA is significantly overstated.

House Bill 4929 tries to achieve a similar objective to Colorado’s Amendment 49, which was defeated on the ballot in 2008. (Nonetheless, in the months leading up to that election, 16 local Colorado governments — including 12 counties — made similar “Ethical Standards” proposals an official policy.)

The Michigan legislation has drawn some criticism for explicitly and directly stopping government payroll deductions for “labor organizations” but not other groups like the United Way or scholarship funds. A 2008 Independence Institute issue backgrounder on Amendment 49 explains the crucial difference here, and another key argument in support of the reform being pursued in Michigan:

The primary argument for Amendment 49 is that it eliminates a major conflict of interest. Proponents say government should not be able to transfer money to politically active groups that use the same money to influence the officials who represent that government. [emphasis added]

Whether it’s legally and politically preferable to specifically single out “labor organizations” as Michigan’s HB 4929 does, or to define more carefully in terms of ethical standards what governments can deduct (as the Amendment 49 language did) is a debate for another day. The important point to contemplate about what Michigan is attempting is that this type of payroll reform promotes good government and empowers individual teachers.

All the more reason for Colorado’s local governments, school boards and state policy makers to revisit the issue in the near future.

Well, at least through October 28 of this election cycle (all but the last five days of the campaign), the final figure for the share of CEA and AFT political giving going to Democrats is 99.9 percent of more than $1.5 million total — including more than a quarter million to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado called out by journalists and by candidates in both parties for maliciously distorting the truth in attacking political candidates.

See the breakdown of numbers below (click “Fullscreen” for clearest view):

2009-2010 Union Summary

Click here to see more on Colorado teachers union political contributions, including comparisons with 2006 and 2008.

Five organizations – the Colorado Education Association, American Federation of Teachers-Colorado, the Colorado Association of School Executives, Stand for Children and Democrats for Education Reform – backed legislative candidates. (The school executives only endorsed; political committees affiliated with the other groups gave financial contributions. Stand didn’t give money to every candidate it endorsed.)

Here’s the scorecard by organization:

* CEA – Contributed to 41 candidates; 31 of those won. 75.6 percent.
* AFT – Contributed to 42 candidates; 31 of those won. 73.8 percent.
* CASE – Endorsed 32 candidates; 27 of those won. 84.3 percent.
* Stand – Endorsed or contributed to 18 candidates; 15 of those won. 83.3 percent.
* DFER – Contributed to only two Democratic Senate candidates; both won. 100 percent.

While the unions won about 75 percent of their endorsed candidate races, more telling is the close and high-profile races where they invested the most money. Below is a more detailed scorecard that shows the top 20 state candidates supported by Colorado teachers union contributions in 2010.

In their biggest 20 financial outlays of member dues to support Democrats running for office (99.9% of CEA and AFT political funds backed Colorado Democrats), the unions finished an even .500 — winning 10 and losing 10. Those who were successfully elected are marked in green, while those who were defeated are marked in red. Click “Fullscreen” for the best view of the list:

Colorado Teachers Union Top 20 Candidates 2010

Click here to see more on Colorado teachers union political contributions, including comparisons with 2006 and 2008.

• Are we talking about the national union headquarters, state union affiliates and/or local union offices?
• Are we only discussing “PAC money” or all the kinds of independent expenditures that regular dues money may be spent on?
• Are we looking at spending only on political candidates or on local and state ballot issues, too?
• Are we including only direct campaign contributions, or also “member communications” on political topics?

No one understands how this all works better than Mike Antonucci from the Education Intelligence Agency, and he explains it well in his latest Communique. Bookmark for future reference.

Through September 1, here’s an updated overview of how the two unions have spent on political action for the current 2010 election cycle (all information provided by reports on the Colorado Secretary of State’s campaign finance database). First, CEA and its local affiliates have given:

• $494,015 to progressive and Democratic 527 and 501c4 political action groups
• $260,110 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
• $1,500 to a Republican organization (but no candidates) — That’s one dollar to Republicans for every 173 dollars to Democrats

And now the AFT:

• $63,980 to progressive and Democratic 527 and 501c4 political action groups
• $50,000 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
• $0 to Republicans

Added together, Colorado teachers unions have contributed 99.8 percent of their combined political spending for 2010 to one party: the Democrats. Somehow, I’m guessing that CEA and AFT members won’t vote this year in quite the same proportion. Where’s the balance?

Check out our political contributions page for some context, to see how imbalanced teachers union political giving is even by recent historical standards.

Members of the Texas State Teachers Association who want to give to their organization’s political agenda still have the right and the convenient access to make contributions directly. Kudos to Mr. Abbott for using his authority to take the government out of the role as middleman in political contributions and empower teachers to make individual choices that suit them best.

Someone closely involved with the situation gives the history behind the new policy.

What’s good for teachers in Texas just might also be good for teachers in Colorado, don’t you think?

The CEA and its local unions gave more than $600,000 directly to state legislative candidates over the five years, often piling on in tight races. Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, the chair of the Senate Education Committee and one of the top recipients of teachers’ union donations, hit the contribution limit from the statewide CEA and from each of the Denver, Fort Collins and Jefferson County unions in his hard-fought 2004 election victory….

In 2008, as Colorado Democrats sought to build their leadership margins in the State House and Senate, local teachers’ unions increasingly gave to legislative candidates who did not represent their geographic area but who were locked in tight contests….

This has given a distinct teachers’ union edge to Democrats. Of the more than 100 candidates who received teachers’ union money over the past five years, fewer than 10 were Republican. Of the more than $75,000 the statewide CEA donated directly to political parties and their committees, fewer than $2,000 went to Republican groups such as the Senate Republican Majority Fund….

The CEA and its local affiliates gave more than $1.5 million to 527s in the past five years, including $10,000 to the conservative Colorado Leadership Fund to elect Republican candidates. But the great majority of those dollars went to seven apparently Democrat-leaning groups managed by the same registered agent and bookkeeper, Julie Wells. Wells did not respond to a request for comment.

Among the seven groups is the Colorado Citizens’ Coalition, the recipient of $200,000 from the CEA, which lists its mission as “to provide information to Colorado citizens.” The coalition filed reports indicating it was working on behalf of 17 legislative candidates – all Democrats. The coalition and several of the other 527s – Accountability for Colorado, Main Street Colorado, 21st-Century Colorado, Colorado Values – frequently sent money back and forth to each other.

The same article (and you really have to read it all) also takes notice of CEA’s political collection and refund mechanism for members — first documented in the Independence Institute issue paper Should Colorado School Districts Stop Collecting Political Funds? (PDF).

It’s certainly encouraging to see such an investigative validation of the work we do here — namely, notifying Colorado teachers of their rights and options.

Here are the details:

The Colorado Education Association (CEA) and its affiliates, mostly through Every Member Option funds, have reported $1,000,585 in political contributions during the 2007-08 election cycle – including:

* $452,360 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
* $263,500 to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado to support political candidates — Accountability for Colorado is also funded by liberal billionaires from the “Gang of Four”
* $210,000 to the 527 group Colorado Citizens’ Coalition to support “progressive” political candidates
* $9,250 to Republican candidates and party organizations — that’s 1 dollar to Republicans for every 49 dollars to Democrats

Note: This does not include $4,657,810 contributed to the issue committee Protect Colorado’s Future and $1,600,000 to the issue committee Coloradans for Middle Class Relief to oppose three Colorado state ballot initiatives.

And for AFT:

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Colorado has reported $60,275 in political contributions during the current election cycle – including $40,275 to Democratic candidates and party organizations and $0 to Republicans.

As usual, other membership groups that Colorado teachers are eligible to join did not spend any money on the 2008 election because they do not sponsor any committees to fund political action:

• Professional Association of Colorado Educators (PACE) ($0)
• Christian Educators Association International (CEAI) ($0)
• Teachers Legal Coverage (TLC) ($0)

That closes the book on the 2008 election cycle and the roles of different Colorado teacher organizations. Where did your money go this past year?

Through October 8, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and its affiliates, mostly through Every Member Option funds, have reported $890,335 in political contributions during the current election cycle – including:

* $422,635 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
* $200,000 to the 527 group Colorado Citizens’ Coalition to support “progressive” political candidates
* $173,500 to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado to support political candidates — Accountability for Colorado is also funded by liberal billionaires from the “Gang of Four”
* $9,250 to Republican candidates and party organizations — that’s 1 dollar to Republicans for every 30 dollars to Democrats

And for AFT:

Through October 8, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Colorado has reported $28,775 in political contributions during the current election cycle – $28,775 to Democratic candidates and party organizations and $0 to Republicans.

As usual, these records are obtained through searches on the Colorado Secretary of State campaign finance database.

Through September 10, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) and its affiliates, mostly through Every Member Option funds, have reported $825,885 in political contributions during the current election cycle – including:

* $280,685 to Democratic candidates and party organizations
* $200,000 to the 527 group Colorado Citizens’ Coalition to support “progressive” political candidates
* $150,000 to the 527 group Accountability for Colorado to support political candidates — Accountability for Colorado is also funded by liberal billionaires from the “Gang of Four”
* $9,250 to Republican candidates and party organizations — that’s 1 dollar to Republicans for every 30 dollars to Democrats

And for AFT:

Through September 10, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Colorado has reported $28,375 in political contributions during the current election cycle – $26,875 to Democratic candidates and party organizations and $0 to Republicans.

As usual, these records are obtained through searches on the Colorado Secretary of State campaign finance database.