House Election Committee Chair Penelope Tsernoglou, an East Lansing Democrat who sponsors one of the bills, contends union donations benefit “pro-worker” candidates regardless of party affiliation. She said “we don’t have enough Republicans who are pro-worker.”
“It will benefit campaigns that are pro-worker. I think that’s really the heart of it,” she said. “If those are Democratic campaigns, then that’ll be who benefits.”
During a committee hearing last week, multiple union members offered similar statements. At one point, Rep. Jaime Churches, D-Wyandotte, asked Earl Cox, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union in Kalamazoo, whether he believed “political donations have the potential to influence the way the candidates govern.”
“No, I do not,” Cox responded.
Democrats argue the pro-union legislation would simply right a past wrong by removing Republican-backed restrictions that made it harder for workers to donate. The laws were signed into effect by former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who also signed the state’s Right-to-Work law Democrats recently repealed.
Public sector unions were banned from collecting PAC contributions via automatic payroll deductions under a 2012 state law, according to a House Fiscal Agency analysis of the proposed bills.
In 2015, the state Legislature further limited private sector unions from utilizing a company’s payroll deductions while allowing private companies to deduct corporate PAC contributions from employees’ paychecks.
