(The following editorial appeared on the Orlando Sentinel website on March 29, 2011.)
Republicans hold overwhelming majorities in the Florida House and Senate as well as every statewide elected office except one. But if you think the party is content with the political power it has grabbed in Tallahassee, you haven’t been paying attention during this year’s legislative session.
GOP leaders have been showing about as much restraint as Sesame Street’s “Cookie Monster.” Lately the Legislature’s majority is ready to chew up one of the few remaining political rivals that has dared to challenge its agenda: public employee unions.
Last week the House passed a bill on a largely party-line vote that would starve union coffers by prohibiting state and local governments from deducting dues from union members’ paychecks. The House bill also would force those unions to get approval every year from their members before spending any of their dues for political purposes.
The Legislature’s own analysts concluded unions would face “more difficulty” in collecting dues and money for political purposes under these measures. Surely that’s an understatement. By slapping significant administrative burdens on fundraising and spending, both would deprive unions of dollars they need to have any hope of keeping up with other well-funded special interests in Tallahassee.
It’s so obvious that the Legislature’s GOP majority is singling out public employee unions because they normally plow millions of dollars into supporting Democratic candidates and causes.
Republican legislators, including Dorworth, have said they want to separate paycheck deductions from partisan politics. If they were sincere, they would ban deductions for insurance companies, who put far more money behind Republican candidates and issues.
The complete editorial is on the Orlando Sentinel website.