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Stepping Onto the Battlefield Charles F. Mitchell is vice president and chief operating officer of the Commonwealth Foundation.
What does a Middle Eastern battlefield from biblical times "have to do with where you buy your booze? Actually, quite a lot. Like the Israelites of old, we too have a “Goliath” to face in this commonwealth — the leadership of the government employee unions. They are the power that maintains the status quo and fights against innovative reforms on almost every issue of critical importance to the hardworking families and taxpayers of Pennsylvania. One of these is reforming the arcane liquor control laws of our state. Whether you drink or not, privatizing the governmentrun liquor stores — which is not a core function of government — and letting citizens buy their bread, beer and Bordeaux all at the same place makes sense. So why has it been so difficult? Lawmakers are being intimidated by Goliath. Did you see the TV ad showing a young girl at a funeral, mourning a parent who was killed by a drunk driver and then claiming this would happen more if grocery stores sold wine? These were funded by one of Pennsylvania’s government unions, the UFCW, which claimed it had spent $1 million on these political ads. What about political ads accusing Governor Corbett of giving away money when he reduced business taxes by the anonymous “Pennsylvanians for Accountability”? While not all of the group’s funders are known, one is. That’s right, government union bosses. In this case, it was the SEIU, whose Pennsylvania chapter, Local 668, spent more than $210,000 on political activity and lobbying in 2012. What may shock you is this: Pennsylvania’s taxpayers are indirectly funding these attack ads on Governor Corbett and state legislators through government-provided union dues. This is a gross violation of the public’s trust, and it shows just how far union bosses will go to protect their own power — even if it comes at the expense of the taxpayer. State government, school districts and local governments deduct unions’ dues — even PAC contributions — from workers’ paychecks, then send funds to union leaders.
For example, the state sends UFCW about $1.2 million in dues collected from state liquor store workers each year. This allows the UFCW to fund politically charged ads and lobbying efforts. Our political Goliath, with his vested interests in keeping government in the booze business, depends on taxpayers’ money to maintain his fight against their interests. And it is the same political power with which they influence legislators, who end up serving the interests of the same Goliath, instead of the taxpayers. But, like David, we should not fear stepping onto the battlefield with Goliath. Worker fairness victories in Wisconsin and Michigan offer tangible examples for us to follow and adapt to the situation in our commonwealth. Goliath may be strong — in fact, he outmans and out-guns us freedom-lovers on almost every front — but he has a weakness. You see, Wisconsin has taught us that eliminating automatic dues collection fundamentally changes the battlefield by decimating the union bosses’ political and economic clout. Ending the practice of using taxpayerfunded resources to automatically collect union political money fundamentally changes the game in which Goliath dominates the policy battlefield. Putting an end to automatic dues deduction is the “Keystone Reform” on our way to defeating the government union Goliath. With it, every future battle for freedom will be easier to fight, and each achievement easier to defend. In Wisconsin and Michigan, business and community leaders communicated their expectations to their elected officials and held them accountable to their actions (or lack thereof). It is this type of involvement in Pennsylvania that is critical to ensure the success of Keystone Reform and that taxpayer Davids, not Goliath, are being served by Harrisburg. If Wisconsin and Michigan did it, we have no excuse not to follow their lead. For more information, visit www.commonwealthfoundation.org. August 2013 > www.mbabizmag.com > 25