|
GUEST EDITORIAL Special session took out the trash It is with some degree of amazement that I’ve watched the liberal spin machine go into high gear over the results of the recent special session. The outright propaganda that is being thrown about in an attempt to terrorize the citizens of this state is shameful. I have a greater degree of trust in the intelligence of my fellow Alabamians. I urge folks to read the contents of the bills that became law, and not simply fall for the desperate cries of those who opposed ethics reform. The chief example of propaganda has been the misrepresentation of Senate Bill 2, commonly referred to as the “Dues Checkoff Bill”. The claims have been made recently that SB2 was a spiteful attempt to “hush the voices of teachers” – that it was “political payback” – that the AEA cannot function on behalf of its members any longer – that teachers could go to jail for calling their legislator. Nothing could be further from the truth. I encourage the readers to read the final Bill itself on the Alabama Legislative Information System Online (ALISON) and see for themselves that none of that is true. I personally spoke to dozens of teachers, answered many emails, and heard some very legitimate concerns prior to the final vote that led me to support the amendments to the bill that brought it to its final state. The final version of SB2 was a compromise bill that ensured the needs of public employees were met, while also maintaining the bill's original intent. The bill I voted for allows all public employees to still have the option of electronic withdrawal of their respective association dues through the state payroll system — even the AEA. Those dues can go to all of the usual association activities (insurance, benefit negotiations, communications, benevolent funds, and more), with one exception – they cannot be used for funding political campaigns. It is inappropriate for taxpayer dollars to be used to funnel money to political campaign activities that many taxpayers would object to, and certainly not support. It’s an abuse of the public trust to take taxpayer dollars to help fund PACS and campaigns. The bill goes on to specifically state that there is no prohibition against any public employee actively participating in political campaigns as long as their activities do not occur on the taxpayer’s time, or the taxpayer’s dime. That’s not too much to ask. But of course that’s not being noted by the spin masters. And this is not a new issue. This same exact issue has already been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2009 case of Ysursa v. Idaho. The Idaho Legislature passed a law that mirrored the new Alabama law, and a public employee union sued the state claiming the rights of its membership had been infringed upon. The Supreme Court upheld the law and in doing so Chief Justice Roberts stated, “Such a decision is reasonable in light of the State’s interest in avoiding the appearance that carrying out the public’s business is tainted by partisan political activity.” Public employees should remain active in politics. Their voices are important, but the AEA should not ask the taxpayers of the state to financially support their efforts. This special session
just concluded was historical for all the right reasons. More was done to
clean out the rats nest on Capitol Hill in that one week than had ever been
imagined under the previous leadership. None of the naysayers we hear from
now had ever made a positive dent in ethics reform despite having the
majority for so long. Don’t believe the lies. We ended PAC-to-PAC transfers,
cut lobbyists influence, stopped double-dipping, mandated ethics training,
and more. In short, in just a few days the new Republican majority took out
136 years of trash.
|