Union payroll-deduction bill working as planned?

As the misnamed Paycheck Protection Act advanced through the Legislature in 2013, on its way to barring public employees’ automatic payroll deductions for union-backed political activities, one proponent used startlingly plain language to explain its intent: “I need this bill passed so we can get rid of public sector unions,” Eric Stafford, a lobbyist for the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, said during a hearing (later apologizing and saying he misspoke). Mark Desetti, a lobbyist with the Kansas National Education Association, warned, “It will completely silence the teacher’s association.” Though neither prediction has panned out yet, it is telling that the KNEA political action committee’s war chest “is down by about two-thirds” since the law’s passage, according to a Mother Jones article on the gubernatorial race. – Rhonda Holman

This story was originally published October 1, 2014 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Union payroll-deduction bill working as planned?."