Op-Ed: Taxpayers should not subsidize government unions

This article originally appeared in Washington Examiner on February 9, 2023

How much should taxpayers spend subsidizing political advocacy groups? If you answered “nothing,” you have more sense than the government.

Many public employers pay their employees to work for government unions instead of the taxpayers who pay their salaries while on the clock. They also collect dues for unions from employees’ paychecks. Both practices are a problem because tax dollars should not fund political organizations’ operational expenses.

Government unions are, in the Supreme Court’s words , inherently political. They exist to bargain over how the government operates and spends tax dollars. These are fundamentally political questions.

One notable debate, for example, is whether the government should adopt merit pay or continue to base pay on seniority. Government unions take sides in this debate and many others, pushing for contracts that reflect their preferences. In doing so, they are effectively acting as political advocacy groups.

Government union subsidies are abnormal. The government does not usually cover political groups’ operational costs. For example, states do not mail out National Rifle Association fundraisers. Nor do they pay the salaries of political parties’ employees...

Read full op-ed in Washington Examiner