Proposition 75 -- Paycheck Protection


Proposition 75 “Paycheck Protection�
Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is Paycheck Protection?


Proposition 75, also known as “Paycheck Protection,� gives workers like police officers, firefighters and teachers the right to choose whether or not union dues money from their paychecks should be used for political purposes. It simply requires public labor unions to get consent from employees before deducting money from their paychecks for political purposes.
Union bosses currently spend hundreds of millions of dollars, taken without permission from workers’ paychecks, on political activities that their members may not even agree with. If you are a Democrat, you should not be forced to pay for campaigns, which support Republicans, and vice-versa. Proposition 75 simply gives workers a choice as to whether or not they want their money used for politics by their union.

Q: Why should union members support Proposition 75?

Public employee union members should be given a choice of whether their dues can be used to fund political campaigns or not. This proposal will make union leaders more accountable to their members.

Q: Why does it matter if Proposition 75 passes?

This issue is based on the premise of fairness. Labor unions should receive permission before they automatically begin deducting political contributions from employee paychecks to give to campaigns or candidates that the employee may not support.

Q: What’s wrong with the way things are now?

Union members should be able to decide whether to contribute their money to candidates or political campaigns. This proposal will give individual union members more control over how their dues are spent.

Q. How much are union bosses spending to defeat Proposition 75?

There are tens of millions of dollars being spent to defeat this measure – millions of dollars that could be going to local organizing or for benefits for workers.

Q. Is this measure really needed? Don’t unions already allow opting out?

Union leaders make the process for opting out extremely difficult so they can still extract dues for political purposes their membership may not agree with. Many union bosses play shell games with member dues – shuffling money from one pot to another in order to meet their needs and fund their political agendas. Also, when union members try to opt out, some union leaders penalize workers by taking away benefits like a member’s liability insurance, voting rights, and counsel. And besides, if they already allow it, then why are they spending so much money to defeat Proposition 75?

Q. Who is supporting Proposition 75?

Public polls show that the majority of Californians support Proposition 75. Polls also show that union members like teachers, firefighters and police officers support Prop. 75, as well as anti-tax groups.

Q. How is Proposition 75 different than 1998’s Proposition 226?

There are a number of significant differences between Proposition 226, which ultimately did not pass, and Proposition 75.

Proposition 75:

Applies only to public employee unions, the unions whose advocacy directly affect taxpayers
Clarifies any confusion that charities would be impacted by the measure
Protects law enforcement officers from having their names disclosed to the public for making political contributions
Does not include language that would prevent foreigners from contributing to campaigns