JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – With just one vote to spare, the Missouri House of Representatives gave first-round approval to legislation aiming to restrict a labor union’s ability to automatically raise political funds from members.
The legislation was perfected by a tight 83 to 70 vote, a rarity in the legislature with a Republican supermajority. Seventeen Republicans – including ones in tough districts like Noel Torpey, R-Independence, and Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia – sided with Democrats in opposition to the bill.
Rep. Chuck Gatschenberger, R-St. Charles, who is currently in a tight primary campaign against former Reps. Bob Onder and Vicki Schneider, did not vote on the bill, despite the fact that he was in the building. He was in the chamber for other votes Monday evening, including one immediately following the vote about the “paycheck protection” bill.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Holly Rehder, R-Scott City, would require members of public employee unions to give their union annual authorization to use dues for political purposes. Currently, union members can opt out of allowing their dues to be used for political purposes.
“This is simply an annual, written authorization by a public employee about whether they want the money they’ve earned taken out of their check and used for political purposes,” she said.
The tight vote on “paycheck protection” could signal a tough road ahead for another bill aiming to weaken labor unions, “right to work,” a top priority for House Speaker Tim Jones, R-Eureka. The bill would disallow unions from collecting fees from non-union employees working in closed shops.
Hypothetically, if all the Republicans who voted against “paycheck protection” were to vote no on “right to work,” it would likely not pass the House. Republican Reps. Kevin Engler and Dave Hinson both indicated their opposition to “right to work,” despite their support of “paycheck protection,” meaning Republicans could be one short of a majority and far short of the number required to override a certain gubernatorial veto.
The “paycheck protection” debate was one of the most contentious debates so far this session. Rep. Jeff Roorda, a Democrat in a contentious battle for a state Senate seat against Republican Rep. Paul Wieland, spoke passionately against the bill. At one point, Roorda quoted the provocative “first they came…” poem about the German Nazis, asking Rehder “Who are you coming after next, lady?”.
Rehder, who herself has taken criticism for making Nazi references, took offense to the characterization, to which Roorda replied, “I hope that you don’t think I’m comparing you to a 1930-something Nazi, because you’re doing just what they were.”
House Minority Leader Jacob Hummel, D-St. Louis, took a less provocative approach – criticizing the bill on its merits and noting that union members opposed to their union’s political positions can already opt out of their dues being used for political purposes.
The bill, House Bill 1617, requires another vote to be sent to the Senate.