AUSTIN – The National Federation of Independent Business/Texas, the state’s leading small business association, applauds efforts of Texas lawmakers to end the practice of the state and local government collecting dues from public employees on behalf of national labor unions.
Legislation to level the playing field between organized labor and the business community has been identified as one of the 20 priority items Gov. Abbott included on the special session call.
Although Texas is a right-to-work state, Texas is one of the few remaining states to grant special privilege to labor unions by serving as a membership dues collector on the state and local level.
Per Texas State Comptroller data, the state alone has collected $60 million for unions over the last decade. Those funds are then used to push policies that undermine job providers in Texas, and in some cases, used to fund campaigns against individual businesses. 93 percent of the small business owners who responded to an NFIB/Texas member ballot agreed that the government should not collect money for unions.
“It’s puzzling to the business community that pro-active legislation asking the government to remain neutral by not collecting dues (and millions of dollars) for one group over the other, has been labeled as anti-union legislation,” said NFIB/Texas Executive Director Will Newton. “We know that membership dues are the main source of revenue for most organizations, and in this case, our government is helping to directly fund the lobby and litigation efforts of labor unions vs. small business in this state.”
NFIB says the common-sense legislation failed to pass the 85thRegular Session despite it being deemed a legislative priority by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Abbott, and the business community.
NFIB/Texas has 21,000 dues-paying members representing a cross-section of the state’s economy from agriculture, construction, and manufacturing to wholesale, retail, and services. Additionally, NFIB/Texas membership is 96 percent comprised of businesses who have 40 employees or less and is the largest association advocating for small business in the capitol.