Monday, February 09, 2015

Illinois: Rauner issues executive order blocking forced collection of union dues from state workers

Illinois' reform governor, Republican Bruce Rauner, is off to a fantastic start in Springfield. I'm proud to have voted for him in last year's primary and the general election.

Oh, 29 states have laws preventing forced-collection of union dues from state workers. Rauner's move--which will certainly be challenged in court--will be the thirtieth.

From the Bloomington Pantagraph:
State workers represented by labor unions would no longer have to pay their "fair share" dues under the latest bombshell dropped by Illinois' new Republican governor.

In a move that surprised lawmakers and infuriated public-sector union officials, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed an executive order Monday absolving members of the state workforce under his control from having to contribute dues.

He said a legal review found current law unconstitutional because it requires nonunion workers to pay union dues that may help fund political campaigns they don't agree with.

"I believe its important that state government stop forcing state employees to pay union dues against their will," Rauner said.
As my friends with Illinois Review write, the Harris v. Quinn US Supreme Court decision was studied by the governor's lawyers and likely helped establish what Rauner believes is the legal standing for his executive order.

The plantiff in Harris v. Quinn was Pam Harris, the tough mother who cares for her developmentally disabled son. Harris receives state money for her efforts--and the SEIU viewed people like her as walking ATMs whose pockets they could pick through union dues. But Harris beat the bosses. The defendant was Rauner's predecessor, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why can't Rauner work with the legislature? Does he think he is king? Are we back to the days of Bush the Lesser, where we are liking executive orders? Isn't that kind of, I don't know, PHONY, even for the pukes that make up the modern conservative movement?

Marathon Pundit said...

Because the General Assembly, which has a veto-proof majority courtesy of gerrymandering, was bought by the public sector unions.

Anonymous said...

If you aren't a complete PHONY, that dubious 'fact' should be as irrelevant as the Koch-bought, gerrymandered majority in the House, the Koch-bought Senate, and the wholly Koch-owned subsidiary known as the Supreme Court, that you embrace. What were the 291 acceptable excuses that you blithely accepted for King George the Inferior, phony?