-
- Union
politics
- PDC notes
most active PACs
- OLYMPIA (Wednesday 3-08-00)---The WA
Public Disclosure Commission's 1998 Fact
Book reveals which union-funded Political Action
Committees have been most active in peddling their
political biases across the evergreen state in
recent years.
-
- The info was uncovered by Evergreen
Freedom Foundation's top investigator,
Jami
Lund.
-
- Lund noted that "some PACs must rely upon
voluntary donors to engage in campaign influence.
Others do not."
-
- He observed that those which do not were the
ones that kicked in the most cash to political
causes and candidates
-
- PACs by activity rank included in the
investigation included:
-
- Rank:
1
- Washington Federation
of State Employees Legislative Fund
- Received: $532,357
- Spent: $447,780
- Permission from members:
no
-
- Rank:
2
- Washington Education
Association
- Received: $619,549
- Spent: $370,351
- Permission from members:
only for about $11,000
per month
-
- Rank:
4
- Washington State
Machinist Council
- Received: $236,482
- Spent: $232,542
- Permission from members:
unsure
-
- Rank:
7
- Washington State Labor
Council (AFL-CIO)
- Received: $190,911
- Spent: $190,306
- Permission from members:
unsure,
but WSLC receives
money
- from affiliated
unions' dues.
-
- Rank:
11
- Washington State
Council of County & City
Employees
- Received: $166,129
- Spent: $139,235
- Permission from members:
unsure
-
- Reported expenditures usually don't include
hundreds of thousands spent on staff or activities
intended to influence votes of union members'
households, Lund said.
-
- "I certainly want the concerns of workers
(and also those of union
- officials) reflected in the election
process," Lund said. But he quoted the Seattle P
when he said:
-
- "To the extent that the unions' political
voice is based on dues from unwilling members, that
voice is false. Unions should be free to amplify
their voice with increased dues, but only from
willing members."
-
- In other matters, Evergreen Freedom
Foundation noted there's been no word yet from the
Washington State Supreme Court on whether the WEA's
collective bargaining dues may be diverted to
election campaigns without teachers'
authorization.
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