Some Utah lawmakers may not like the idea that state resources are used to collect money on behalf of public employee and teacher unions, but there is nothing in state law to prohibit that practice - and there is nothing the state can do to prevent the unions from using the money for political purposes, according to a legal opinion by assistant attorney general Stephen G. Schwendiman.
"An employee can deduct many things through this form of union payroll deduction," Schwendiman wrote. But "the only limitation on the deduction is that the amount cannot exceed 3 percent of the monthly pay."Schwendiman added that the employer, in this case the state of Utah, has "no control or personal interest in what funds are deducted, for what purpose they are being used and how much is being deducted. The amounts deducted and use of the funds is a matter between the labor organization and the individual employee."
Schwendiman's opinion was presented to the Administrative Rules Committee Tuesday morning. Sen. Howard Stephenson had requested examination of payroll deductions for public employees to see if state election laws were being followed.
Currently, state employees and public school teachers can have their union dues automatically deducted from their paychecks. These dues often find their way into political action committees, which then make political contributions. Those contributions may or may not go to candidates who share the political views of the individual contributors.
Stephenson said there is a serious question whether taxpayer resources should be used to further political agendas, adding the practice "is a powerful political tool being utilized, but it is unavailable to people with a differing viewpoint of the political process."
Thomas R. Bielen of the Utah Public Employees Association, the union representing 7,000 state, county, higher education and law enforcement workers, said the UPEA will comply with any rules and policies ordered by the Legislature or the Division of Finance. But he also added the UPEA has never had a complaint that it inappropriately used union funds.
Public employees can specify that their union dues not be used for political contributions. In such cases, the dues would go into a union general fund.
According to Utah law, each public employee must sign a card authorizing the deductions for union dues. But state payroll officials often do not have the signed authorization in their files.
"In order to strictly comply with the statute, we need to have that authorization in our office," said Gordon Crabtree, director of the Division of Finance. Currently, the authorizations are being filed at the union offices.
Crabtree proposed a new rule that will clarify the state is complying with the intent of the statute, guaranteeing that written authorization is filed with the Division of Finance.
Political contributions by the UPEA, the Utah Education Association and other public employee unions have been a sore spot for conservative lawmakers, who often face the prospect of union PAC monies being used to fund the campaigns of their opponents.