Analysis: Conservatives See Payroll Deduction Bill as Key on Two Fronts (Texas)
Texas is hardly a union state, but a payroll deduction bill that is stuck in the Texas House is getting attention from conservatives who think it could undermine financial support for unions — and Democrats — if it passes.
It’s a flip on the idea of money as speech: If you can cut off the money, you can hush the speakers.
Public employees in Texas are allowed to pay their dues to unions or nonunion employee organizations by having them deducted from their paychecks. Senate Bill 1968 by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, would prohibit those deductions for everyone except employees in certain police, fire and emergency medical services organizations.
It’s the union version of automatic bill payments, like the ones that ping your credit card or bank account each month on behalf of the phone or cable or utility company. They have a couple of reasons for being. Automation unburdens payers and payees from processing bills, checks and whatnot every 30 days. And it takes what might be a monthly decision away from the person who would be writing checks; they’re less likely to cancel a bill they don’t have to look at every month.
Read more: http://www.texastribune.org/2015/05/19/analysis-conservatives-two-birds-one-stone/
Cross-posted in the Texas Group.
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