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Paycheck Protection Passes Senate
Today, the Pennsylvania Senate passed paycheck protection (SB 501) by a 26-23 vote. The bill will now move to the House.
You can view the roll call vote here.
Under current law, public resources are used to deduct both union dues and campaign contributions from workers' paychecks and send them to government union leaders.
Unions use a significant portion of these dues for political activity and lobbying. Just six Pennsylvania government unions spent $46.4 million from union dues on politics since 2007, according to reports they filed with the U.S. Department of Labor.
SB 501 would end the taxpayer-financed collection of campaign contributions and funds used for political activity. It would allow the state and school districts to continue collecting funds used for collective bargaining or representational activities—the amount calculated as the “fair share fee”.
Recently, a Commonwealth Foundation-commissioned poll showed overwhelming support for paycheck protection across all party lines and regions of Pennsylvania.
| Party | ||||
| Overall | Republican | Democrat | Independent | |
| Total Support | 67% | 75 | 59 | 69 |
| Total Oppose | 26% | 16 | 34 | 22 |
| Undecided | 7% | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Region | ||||||||
| NW | SW | Central | NE/Lehigh Vall | S Central | SE | Allegheny | Philly | |
| Total Support | 72% | 75 | 67 | 55 | 76 | 68 | 72 | 53 |
| Total Oppose | 21% | 24 | 22 | 30 | 18 | 25 | 19 | 43 |
| Undecided | 7% | 1 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
| Susquehanna Polling and Research poll of 700 registered voters, September 14-23, 2015 | ||||||||
For more info, check out our paycheck protection toolkit.