Our Legislators Take Aim . . . At Us!

Paycheck Protection (Deception) Bill Passes House, Sent to Governor

Yes, our stellar state legislature has once again demonstrated who they truly represent, and it ain't us.

SB 29 is an obstructive bill aimed at making it more difficult for association members to pay their dues through voluntary payroll deductions. The bill was manufactured out-of-state and was pushed hard all session despite having zero support from school districts, administrators and education associations.

In its original form, the legislation would have blocked school districts and other employers from deducting voluntary association member dues from employees’ paychecks. But after an eight-hour filibuster on the paycheck deduction legislation in March, the GOP-controlled Senate passed a version (SB 29) that scaled back the proposal to requiring the completion of yearly consent forms.

That's right, a fabricated new form for all public school districts and association members - brought to you by the same folks who constantly complain about intrusive government.

Short of a governor's veto, SNEA members will have to fill out a form for payroll deduction of dues next year . . . and each and every year thereafter. The intent is obvious. Not only does this bill seek to obstruct our association's ability to collect voluntary dues, it also creates a boat load of new paperwork for the district to handle each year . . . and it effectively destroys a time-tested process that has worked flawlessly for 30 years.

Nice work General Assembly! High fives all around for promoting a worthless bill that nobody wanted!

Area legislators voting in favor of the bill:

Eric Burlison (sponsor of a similar bill in House as well as repeal teacher tenure bill)
Lincoln Hough
Kevin Elmer
Elijah Hahrr
Bob Dixon (Senate)

Those who voted against SB 29:

Charlie Norr (thank you, Charlie, for being the lone voice of reason from our area)

For more info, here's an article from St. Louis Today:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elizabeth-crisp/missouri-legislation-could-weaken-public-labor-unions/article_8499e734-cda2-5df3-97a1-d090ed17623d.html