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Democrats want taxpayers to fund unions April 5, 2023
Encouraged by their victory in repealing right to work, Democrats now want Michigan taxpayers to fund unions. House Bill 4235 will give union members a refundable tax credit for the dues they pay. Since the revenue lost from this tax credit will have to be made up by other Michigan taxpayers, they will indirectly pay the dues for all union members, including those in the public sector.
I mention that public sector union members are included because that is not the case with the repeal of right to work. Right to work is still in effect for public sector workers because in 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Janus v. AFSCME that forcing public sector workers to pay union dues violated their First Amendment rights. Government workers still cannot be required to pay union dues
House Bill 4235 was introduced in March by Democratic Representative Alabas Farhat of Dearborn and co-sponsored by these 33 representatives, all Democrats:
The bill was referred to the Committee on Tax Policy on March 9.
Maybe this bill has no chance of becoming law, even with majorities in both the House and the Senate. Some must realize that their non-union constituents will be averse to (indirectly) paying union dues.
Also, some Democratic voters are known to oppose collective bargaining. Actually, I may be the only one. I don't believe unions are good for society. Unions frequently do win wage increases, but any gains for union members are ultimately paid for by the rest of us. There is no net benefit. That is because union gains won in collective bargaining do not increase production. Without an increase in production, there is no increase in real wages. When administrative costs and work stoppages are taken into account, collective bargaining is a net loss for society - a burden.
One of the reasons Democratic politicians support unions is that union PACs contribute generously to political campaigns, almost entirely to Democrats. The tax credit for union dues will go a long way toward paying them back. However, contributions to union PACs are not likely to increase with the repeal of right to work. Employees who are forced to pay dues are not going to be eager to contribute to a PAC that is going to give that money to the politicians responsible for making them pay dues.
Send comments, questions, and tips to stevenrharry@gmail.com or call or text me at 517-730-2638. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a new story, let me know.
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