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Freedom Foundation plans biggest TV buy ever........... Supreme Court’s newest member has union baggage ..
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SEIU sues member who dared expose forgery scheme ..
AUGUST 2022
LIVING LIBERTY A Publication of the Freedom Foundation
NEA, AFT leaders double down on politics during annual conventions as members fume
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s if further evidence were needed, America’s two largest teachers’ unions last month proved once again they are political operatives first and foremost, and advocating for the workplace concerns of their members is an afterthought at best. Ensuring the nation’s school children get a quality education, meanwhile, appears nowhere on their list of priorities. Consider that the National Education Association hosted its annual convention in early July, and what weighty matters did its attendees discuss? Critical Race Theory, helping Congressional Democrats abolish the filibuster, overturning Florida’s parental rights law and changing the words “mother” and “father” to “birthing parent” and “non-birthing parent” in union documents. Not to be outdone, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) held its annual convention just a week later, and what was on its agenda? Critical Race Theory, solidarity with Ukraine, divesting from fossil fuels, support for transgender athletes in women’s sports and overturning Florida’s parental rights law. From her bully pulpit at the convention,
By ASHLEY VARNER, VP for Communications & Federal Affairs
AFT President Randi Weingarten doubled down on oblivious by releasing an internal poll showing that nine out of 10 AFT members say schools are too politicized and that 40 percent may leave their job in the next two years. But rather than accepting that the frustration was the logical result of her own ceaseless politicking, Weingarten blamed the parents who’ve grown tired of sending their children off every morning to be indoctrinated rather than educated. “Our members,” she asserted, “see their union as the vehicle to fix the problems, enact solutions and definitively, defiantly and undeniably stand for hope, aspiration and a better country for all.” Some, maybe. But the majority expect the dues dollars confiscated from their paychecks will be used to help them do a better a better job in the classroom. While the unions are imposing their leftist vision, our kids are falling further behind every year in critical skills like reading and math NEA and AFT are focused on divisive politics. Both unions lost more than 2 percent of their membership in the 2020-21 school year alone because a lot of good teachers were outraged to see their union turn the COVID pandemic into a political leverage it could use to advance a radical leftist agenda that didn’t have anything to do with education. In all, the NEA lost 60,000 and AFT lost 22,000 dues-payers in one school year. If that sounds insignificant in relation to their still-bloated total, it’s the equivalent of both unions’ affiliates in Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and Philadelphia combined. See NEA, AFT Page 5
VOLUME 33, ISSUE 8
Our mission is to advance individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government.
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LIVING LIBERTY
Editor: Jeff Rhodes Printed in Canada
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LEADERSHIP MEMO
THE CASE FOR FREEDOM By MAXFORD NELSEN
(360) 956-3482 FreedomFoundation.com
“Quote” ~ of the month ~
Reprinted from theWASHINGTON EXAMINER
AFT members sick of politics, but Weingarten’s convinced they’re taking about someone else.
PAGE 5 Freedom Foundation PO Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507
LITIGATING FREEDOM By JEFF RHODES Chicago, Orange County & Florida targeted in biggest-ever television buy.
By ASHLEY VARNER Freedom Foundation lawsuit calls Oregon corrections officers’ union’s bluff.
Executive Director, California Human Rights Foundation Op-ed in the California Globe
July 16, 2022
Nothing in this publication should be construed as an attempt to aid or hinder the election of any elected official or candidate.
What They Said & What They Meant
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By MAXFORD NELSEN
By LUCAS DUNN
By JEFF RHODES
Supreme Court’s newest justice arrives with union baggage.
Independence without individual freedom isn’t really worth celebrating.
FIGHTING for FREEDOM
FIGHTING for FREEDOM
PAGES 8-9
WENYUAN WU, PH.D.
FREEDOM FIGHTER PROFILE
SBA should be fighting for small business, not Biden’s union cronies.
Challenge Washington capital gains tax bypassed all the way to Supreme Court.
“(T)he education deep state, which had once operated with opacity and little public scrutiny as a revolving door for special interests and bureaucratic captures, feels threatened by formerly inactive and decentralized stakeholders. Moreover, many elected officials are completely beholden to various teachers’ unions and therefore are disinterested in representing their constituents.”
A PUBLICATION OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION
CONTENTS By AARON WITHE
Publisher: Aaron Withe
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FREEDOM STATE BY STATE
By GRACE HELLAND
By ASHLEY VARNER
OREGON: SEIU sues member who dared expose union for forging her signature on membership card.
MINNESOTA: Once they learn the truth about their union, teachers voting with their feet.
By LAUREN BOWEN OHIO: Thwarting union theft of vacation time was no small accomplishment.
By RICK KELLY WASHINGTON: Bus driver has head-on collision with his union.
Reprinted from the DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE
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FREEDOM IN ACTION By JEFF RHODES Arrogant SEIU local can’t even be bothered these days to think up a lie to hide its political agenda.
Freedom Foundation’s Friends, Foes Weigh in On Our Actions.
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FREEDOM IN THE NEWS
ACTION TIMELINE
A P UBLICATIO N O F THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION
AFT members sick of politics, Weingarten convinced they’re talking about somebody else
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f a Nobel Prize were awarded for world-class chutzpah, Randi Weingarten could already have filled a goodsized trophy case with her medals. Around here, it’s literally reached the point that the American Federation of Teachers’ president gives us so much material to work with every week we have to decide which gems we can’t use just to save bandwidth. Most of what finds its way into the reject bin comes under the heading of Weingarten inveighing on issues that ping loudly on her personal radar — think abortion, gun-grabbing, white privilege, climate change, LGBTQ rights … even some head-scratching anti-Semitic comments for her fellow Jews — but have almost nothing to do with the wages, benefits and working conditions vitally important to the AFT members paying her bloated salary. Weingarten’s record is a litany of malfeasance and fraud, but if the only goal was to show AFT — like most government employee unions — functions as little more than a slush fund of someone else’s money with which she and a motley assortment of leftists subsidize their radical political agenda, why bother unearthing evidence in a case proved conclusively years ago? Barefaced lies, on the other hand, can’t go unchallenged, and on July 11 Weingarten uttered yet another whopper. On the eve of the union’s annual convention, Madame President went public with an AFT-financed survey claiming the percentage of teachers expressing dissatisfaction in their work has ballooned by 34 percent, from 45 to 79. To the surprise of no one, poll respondents blamed the increasing politicization of their classrooms as the chief cause for their agitation. But rather than blaming her own ceaseless, hyper-partisan screeds, Weingarten insists the real culprits are outraged parents and conservative voices who have the audacity to take issue with her. “Nearly nine out of 10 say schools have become too politicized following a year of political attacks on teachers waged by politicians stoking culture wars and banning books for personal gain,” Weingarten claims in an AFT news release. For obvious reasons, the survey doesn’t ask the source of this frustration, allowing Weingarten to simply assume teachers are fine with her positioning AFT as a pillar of the extreme left and only offended when her views are exposed. My wife Aubree is a public school teacher, and I know firsthand that most educators simply want to teach. They don’t want to be culture warriors pushing Critical Race Theory, sex education for preschoolers or any of the other ideological hills Randi Weingarten expects them to die on. The survey — conducted by Hart Research & Associates, which has a long history of polling for the union — also found that 40 percent of AFT members across all divisions say they may leave the job in the next two years, and
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three-quarters of teachers say they would not recommend their proBy AARON WITHE, CEO fession to others. Weingarten shoulders no blame for these sentiments, either. The poll show exactly what Aubree and I have been observing for the past couple of years now which is a total dissatisfaction amongst teachers for their own profession because of the teachers’ unions. The tragedy here is that the teachers that will leave are the types of teachers that we want educating our kids. The kinds of teachers that go above and beyond each day to ensure that their students are ready to go into the working world or for the next stage in their academic careers. And the ones that are left? They’ll be the radical leftwing teachers that get up each morning eager to teach CRT, Sex Ed to primary schoolers and ultimately raise the next generation of liberal voters. Weingarten concludes her tissue of lies by boasting, “More than 3,000 delegates representing 1.7 million AFT members will converge in Boston this week for the union’s biennial convention, and, by a 2-1 ratio, they give their local union top marks, while three in four say their national union is an important vehicle to fight for their rights. We see what you did there, Randi. While the rest of the release refers to a poll of all AFT members, only delegates invited to attend the convention were asked their opinion of the union. And shockingly, twice as many of those handpicked to receive an all-expense-paid vacation organized for the sole purpose singing the union’s praises are appreciative of their hosts. The more revealing statistic, of course, is that something like a third — and very likely more, given what we’ve come to understand about the reliability of Weingarten’s analyses — aren’t. No doubt the level of disenchantment is far higher among those not invited to the party. If it wasn’t, Weingarten and her AFT henchmen wouldn’t have to go to award-winning lengths to suppress the truth and abridge the rights of the very workers whose best interests are supposedly the only consideration that matters.
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LIVING LIBERTY
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(I)t’s hard to take information seriously when it’s filtered through the same people who openly support defunding law enforcement ... and work every day to deny teachers a choice on matters even so basic as whether unions should speak for them at all.
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A P U B LICAT IO N OF T HE FR EED O M FOUNDAT IO N
THE CASE FOR FREEDOM
Freedom Fighter Profile
Charli Brown Communications Specialist
When did you join the Freedom Foundation? July 2022. What were you doing before? “I was the press secretary for the Josh Mandel’s Ohio U.S. Senate race. I first started on the fundraising side of the campaign as the finance coordinator, then I moved over to the political side to become the press secretary. I worked closely with the campaign manager and general consultant to carry out their decisions on media and communications-related activities.” Where are you from originally? “Perry, Ohio, less than an hour east of Cleveland.” What makes you politically conservative? “I grew up in a conservative household, but I come from a family of small business owners; I’ve watched how easily the government can hurt business. The Obama era destroyed the small business owner, while the Trump administration let it thrive.” What does a Communications Specialist do? “I’m here to convey the message of the Freedom Foundation, to help public sector employees know their constitutional rights in the workplace. In some areas, I’ll be the designated spokesperson. I’ll also write blogs and help place content with local and national media outlets.” What’s the best thing about working for the Freedom Foundation? “To be chipping away at politicians funded and controled by public -sector unions. Public sector unions are the funding arm of the loony left in this country.” Do you have any notable hobbies or talents? “I have been a drummer since I was 12 years old, as well as a singer. I performed at the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland when I was in high school. It’s a moment in my life I will never forget.”
SBA should be fighting for entrepreneurs, not Biden’s union cronies By MAXFORD NELSEN Reprinted from the Washington Examiner June 24, 2022
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t is a reality as sure as death and taxes that bureaucrats desire to increase their turf as a means of justifying new powers and additional funding. But President Joe Biden’s penchant for “ whole of government ” approaches to advancing his policy priorities, from the “ climate crisis ” to “ racial equity ” to “ [increasing] union membership ,” has certain agencies working well outside their lanes. Few examples are quite as stark as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s recent promotion of labor unions. As federal agencies go, the SBA’s mission is largely uncontroversial. When it created the SBA in 1953, Congress directed it to “aid, counsel, assist, and protect, insofar as is possible, the interests of small-business concerns in order to preserve free competitive enterprise.” But the SBA’s handling of key COVID-19 relief programs has undermined the agency’s standing. A major component of the CARES Act , the first COVID-19 spending bill passed by Congress in March 2020, involved creation of the Paycheck Protection Program . The SBA-administered program provided forgivable loans to businesses with fewer than 500 employees to help maintain payroll and avoid mass layoffs during the government-imposed pandemic lockdowns. While the initial eligibility criteria were quite broad, PPP eligibility for tax-exempt organizations was limited to 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit groups and 501(c)(19) veterans’ organizations. Nonetheless, a recent Freedom Foundation analysis of SBA’s PPP loan database identified 223 loans totaling $36.1 million made to labor unions and related organizations between March 2020 and March 2021 that, as mostly 501(c)(5) nonprofit groups, were not eligible to participate in the program. The recipient list included a dozen teachers unions and advocacy groups, such as the Michigan Education Association and the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, ironically among the fiercest champions of lockdown policies, the effects of which PPP funds were intended to alleviate. Other government unions, from the Alabama State Employees Association to the Maryland Public Employees Council, also received sizable loans for which they apparently were not eligible. Even affiliates of the AFL-CIO — essentially a political advocacy and trade association for unions — from the Alaska AFL-CIO to the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, secured hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sending PPP funds to ineligible unions deprived small businesses of the much-needed relief the program was meant to provide. And it’s difficult to argue unions needed the funds. Private-sector unions already benefited from the program, as the loans to employers helped keep
paychecks flowing to union members and dues to their unions, while hundreds of billions of federal dollars were separately allocated to states, municipal governments, and schools and used to keep unionized government workers on the payroll. While the SBA could be forgiven for some oversights in administering a massive new program in the middle of a pandemic, the agency’s continued inaction in the face of its errors is inexcusable. Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show White House officials alerted SBA staff as early as July 2020 that PPP loans were being approved for ineligible labor unions, but the SBA continued approving first and even second loans for ineligible labor groups. When the Freedom Foundation published its findings in February, it also submitted complaints to the SBA’s inspector general and the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud. The following month, in his State of the Union address, Biden accused his predecessor of undermining “the watchdogs whose job was to keep pandemic relief funds from being wasted” and promised to go after “the criminals who stole billions in relief money meant for small businesses.” However, to date, there is no indication any federal enforcement action has been taken against unions that inappropriately obtained PPP funds. Finally, noting that unions’ illegal receipt of PPP funds “demands an investigation,” the ranking GOP members of four congressional committees sent a letter to SBA Commissioner Isabel Guzman in early April, demanding the agency provide information about its distribution of PPP loans to unions by April 20. Guzman has yet to reply. However, perhaps more objectionable is that the American Rescue Plan , passed by the new Democratic congressional majority in March, expanded PPP eligibility to unions, unleashing a torrent of additional federal funds into union coffers and effectively codifying the SBA’s role as union booster. To help refocus the SBA on its core mission and ensure it functions with greater efficiency and oversight, House Republicans on the Small Business Committee have introduced H.R.7628 , the IMPROVE the SBA Act. Among other things, it would exclude labor unions from participation in SBA-administered programs. Unions and labor groups already have the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Federal Labor Relations Authority, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, and more. Leave the SBA to small businesses. Maxford Nelsen is director of labor policy at the Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited, accountable government.
LIVING LIBERTY
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A PUBLICAT IO N OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION
LITIGATING FREEDOM
Lawsuit calls Oregon corrections employee union’s absurd bluff
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he Freedom Foundation filed a federal lawsuit on June 22 on behalf of four Oregon corrections officers alleging their union: n impeded their lawful efforts to opt out of membership and dues; and, n wants to charge them for representation services it is still legally required to provide even though they are no longer paid union members. When members of the Association of Oregon Corrections Employees (AOCE) inform the union of their decision to opt out of membership and dues, they’re told the request will only be processed when submitted on a union-provided form. Not surprisingly, however, the form includes language acknowledging AOCE’s right to charge nonmembers for representation services, including contract negotiation, grievances, investigations, disciplinary hearings, overtime disputes and reclassifications. The provision is a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution and Oregon statute. In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that state, county and local government employees cannot be compelled to join or pay dues or fees to a labor union as a condition of employment. But that doesn’t mean employees who opt out can be denied service. In return for being recognizing a particular union as the sole agent for a given employer, under Oregon law the union must provide “fair representation” to every employee — even nonmembers — in that bargaining union “Every public employee has a protected right to choose whether or not to be a union member,” said Freedom Foundation attorney Rebekah Millard. “The union cannot make the exercise
By ASHLEY VARNER, VP for Communications & National Affairs
of this right dependent on giving up the right to fair representation.” AOCE told the plaintiffs the “membership cancelation forms” are required and permitted under the Janus decision — although union leaders were unable to cite any provision of law or the union’s governing documents to support their claims. Adding insult to injury, AOCE told two of the plaintiffs that if they ever sought to rejoin the union, they would be required to pay a $500 sign-up fee on top of dues. “This fee is so high as to be punitive,” Millard said. “Since the union does not charge this fee to new members, it’s intended to punish those who exercise their First Amendment right to disassociate from the union.” These bullying tactics are troubling when one considers that AOCE is the exclusive representative for these employees’ bargaining unit — meaning it controls negotiations over contract details, makes decisions on whether to bring grievances or arbitration actions and handles other matters related to collective bargaining. Employees don’t have the option to negotiate their own working conditions independent of the union. The lawsuit seeks to end AOCE’s discriminatory tactics and permit employees who want to leave their union to exercise rights enshrined in the First Amendment, affirmed by the Supreme Court and codified in Oregon state law.
Chicago, Orange County and Florida targeted in biggest-ever television buy
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ublic employees still languishing deep behind union lines in the city of Chicago will be the first in the country exposed to a television campaign created by the Freedom Foundation to inform them of their constitutional right to extricate themselves from the tentacles of Big Labor. The 30-second spots — featuring Freedom Foundation staffers including Marketing Director Joey McCabe, California Outreach Director Rachel Wiegel and Communications VP Ashley Varner — will begin airing on Chicago broadcast and cable outlets July 20 and continue for 10 days. Afterwards, they will air in Orange County, Calif., and in September, Palm Beach, Fla. “This is by far the biggest ad buy we’ve ever made,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “Since expanding to all 50
NEA, AFT Continued from page 1
The Freedom Foundation has helped thousands of teachers leave their unions since the lockdowns started in March 2020, and that number continues to grow as teachers find out they don’t have to pay dues to a union leadership they don’t support Weingarten continued, “More than 3,000 delegates representing 1.7 million AFT members will converge in Boston this week for the union’s biennial convention, and, by a 2-1 ratio, they give their local union top marks, while three in
By JEFF RHODES, VP for News & Information
states last summer, we’ve identified the most promising targets, and we’re putting our dollars where they’ll do the must good.” Withe said he anticipates huge numbers of government union members will contact the Freedom Foundation thanks to the commercials. “These are markets we’ve never tried to reach before,” he said, “and, unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of workers living there whose union has been able, up to now, to suppress their First Amendment rights.” That’s about the change.
four say their national union is an important vehicle to fight for their rights.” The problem with this calculation is that while the rest of the survey polled all AFT members, the only ones asked their opinion of the union were those attending the AFT convention. The news isn’t that two-thirds of those handpicked to receive a free vacation could find something nice to say about the union paying for it all. It’s that even those inducements couldn’t prevent the rest from expressing their true feelings. And if that many of those who were actually invited to the AFT party are disillusioned, imagine the level of anger among those who weren’t.
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What They What she said: “It’s important to me that (workers) know that their government is working for them.” What she meant: “It’s important to me that the Biden administration continue to function as a JENNIFER ABRUZZO wholly owned General Counsel subsidiary of National Labor government Relations Board (NLRB) employee unJuly 7, 2022 ions. In fact, it’s not the job of the National Labor Relations Board to advocate for workers. Its job is to apply and impartially interpret the nation’s labor laws and advance the interests of the public as a whole, not Biden’s union conies. But as long as he and other liberals are raking in millions from unions, you can bet your life we work for Big Labor first, last and always.” n n n What he said: “Reproductive rights are essential for economic justice. Women cannot be truly equal without control of their own bodies. Restricting access to reproductive care threatens the autonomy, health, safety and economic stability of working people, particularly women who earn low wages and DEAN STAFFIERI, struggle to president, make ends Maine Service meet.” Employees Association, What he SEIU Local 1989 meant: “I couldn’t care less about union members or their concerns about pay, benefits and working conditions. The union is simply a vehicle to collect dues from members and use the money to support a radical leftist political agenda. Lame attempts like this to link abortion to workers just show how irreconcilable the two are.” n n n What he said: “As mass shootings target union members employed in schools ... some unions are fighting back and starting to change the conversation around gun control in the U.S.” What he meant: “No mass shooter MIKE ELK has ever ‘targeted’ Labor reporter, union members. If Editor, founder I really cared about PayDay Report protecting teachMay 31, 2022 ers, maybe I’d find a way to arm them, too, rather than leaving them and their students defenseless.”
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FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM
Capital gains tax challenge bypassed to Supreme Court
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he Washington State Supreme Court on July 13 expedited the ultimate resolution of the Freedom Foundation’s lawsuit challenging the capital gains income tax bill passed by the Legislature in 2021 by announcing it will accept direct review of the case, effectively allowing the matter to bypass the court of appeals. Washington has long benefited from its status as one of the few states without an income tax, though attempts by the political Left to impose one have continued unabated for about 90 years. Voters have rejected income tax proposals at least 11 times, and courts have consistently struck down legislatively enacted income taxes as a violation of the state constitution. The most recent effort came when majority Democrats in the Washington State Legislature last year passed SB 5096 over bipartisan opposition, creating a 7 percent tax on income from certain capital gains. The Freedom Foundation, in partnership with tax attorneys from Lane Powell PC in Seattle, immediately filed litigation on behalf of 10 Washington taxpayers challenging the new tax in Douglas County Superior Court. Following a series of hearings, Judge Brian Huber struck down the law in March 2022, agreeing that it violated the state constitution. Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office, which is defending the tax in court, respond
By RAVI PRASAD, Legal Clerk
ed by appealing Huber’s ruling directly to the Washington State Supreme Court. While the Freedom Foundation argued it would have been more appropriate for the case to proceed along a typical path through the Division III Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court agreed to accept direct review and skip over the appeals court. In an unusual but not unprecedented move, the Supreme Court accepted the case after the state and intervening defendants, including the Washington Education Association, had submitted their full briefing but before the plaintiffs were permitted to do so. Procedural matters aside, the plaintiffs continue to have the weight of the legal arguments on their side. Article VII of the Washington State Constitution requires that taxes on “property” be “uniform” and not exceed 1 percent, unless three-fifths of voters approve a higher rate. Since the Washington State Supreme Court’s 1933 Culliton decision, state courts have considered “income” to be a type of “property,” meaning taxes on income must conform with the constitution’s uniformity and 1 percent cap requirements.
Assuming the current Supreme Court respects 90 years of precedent, the latest income tax gambit will also be struck down. In a statement, Eric Stahlfeld, the Freedom Foundation’s chief litigation counsel, explained that: “Despite a century of court rulings recognizing that our state constitution requires taxes on income to be equally applied and can’t exceed one percent without voter approval, Attorney General Ferguson and the state legislative majority are brazenly attempting to impose a selective capital gains income tax on Washington entrepreneurs. The state enacted this illegal tax in 2021 knowing every step of the way that it was an intentional attempt to circumvent the state constitution. But the constitution hasn’t been amended, the law is still the law, and the Freedom Foundation is confident the Supreme Court will again strike down this latest punitive tax scheme by greedy politicians in Olympia.” Regardless, the Supreme Court’s early acceptance of the matter will bring the litigation to a speedier conclusion and provide clarity for those who could be affected by the tax. As written, the new tax took effect on Jan. 1, though taxes on covered capital gains income received in 2022 will not be owed until 2023. If Judge Huber’s decision is upheld, no taxes will be owed. If, however, the Supreme Court upholds the new tax, taxpayers will presumably owe taxes on covered capital gains earned this year.
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oting the impending anniversary of Janus v. AFSCME — the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27, 2018, ruling that banned mandatory union membership, dues and fees for government employees — Washington Post columnist Charles Lane recently dismissed the decision a nothing burger. On June 30, Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in as the newest member of the U.S. Supreme Court and, in the years to come, will inevitably be asked to rule on issues affecting the First Amendment rights of public employees. When this happens, it will be instructive to see how she deals with her long-standing bias in favor of government employee unions. In all, Justice Jackson served as a federal judge for nearly a decade before taking her seat on the Supreme Court. In 2012, Jackson was nominated by former President Barack Obama to serve as a U.S. district judge in Washington, D.C. In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Jackson to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Jackson was confirmed by the Senate and served as a federal appellate judge until her recent elevation to the Supreme Court. As the first African-American female justice, she will be a welcome addition in the eyes of liberals to the current composition of the court. However, a review of her tenure as a federal judge suggests Justice Jackson has a definite soft spot for public-sector unions. Many of Jackson’s opinions involved Big Labor, but two cases stand out as examples of when she took strong positions in favor of government unions.
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FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM
Supreme Court’s newest justice arrives with union baggage to be unpacked By LUCAS DUNN, Legal Clerk
The first is American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO) v. Trump. In the summer of 2018, then-district judge Jackson ruled that several Trump administration executive orders violated a congressional statute. In her ruling, Jackson invalidated portions of three different executive orders the Trump administration claimed were designed to help executive agencies develop efficient, effective, and cost-reducing collective bargaining agreements. Jackson determined the orders undermined federal employees’ rights to bargain collectively. However, Jackson’s opinion was later reversed by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The D.C. Circuit concluded that Jackson did not have the authority to address the merits of the executive orders. The D.C. Circuit said the Federal Labor Relations Board was the proper body to settle the dispute and that Jackson should have dismissed the case. The second case is American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO) v. Federal Labor Relations Authority. In 2020, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) adopted a new standard for when collective bargaining was required, and public-sector unions challenged this new standard. The FLRA argued that collective bargaining should only be required if a workplace change had a substantial impact on a condition of employment, but the labor unions argued collective bargaining was required for any workplace changes having more than a trivial effect on working conditions. As an appellate judge on the D.C. Circuit, Jackson sided with the labor unions and ruled that the FLRA’s attempt to allow employers to make minor workplace changes without involving collective bargaining was “not sufficiently reasoned” and was therefore “arbitrary and capricious.” Based on her record, it can be safely assumed that Justice Jackson will have a similar warm, fuzzy feeling for unions in future cases, possibly to the detriment of public employees. This issue reveals a potential weakness in the confirmation process for Supreme Court nominees. Issues involving the First Amendment rights of public employees and public-sector unions don’t typically demand much attention during judicial confirmation hearings, which usually focus on intense culture war issues such as abortion and gun control, for example. But these aren’t the only important issues that new Supreme Court Justices will be asked to rule on. More hearing time should be spent on issues that are certain to appear before a justice, even if they don’t get much attention in the media.
Independence without individual freedom isn’t worth celebrating
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he holiday observed by Americans to commemorate the nation’s founding is arguably the most inappropriately named observance on the calendar. Its most popular moniker, the Fourth of July, denotes nothing more or less than the date on which it is celebrated, while the alternative, Independence Day, emphasizes the wrong achievement. As fitting as it may be to memorialize ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, it’s worth noting the act was merely the symbolic beginning of a long struggle to break with Great Britain that wasn’t culminated until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. And the loose confederation of colonies didn’t truly become a nation until the first U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787. The point being, independence is a wonderful thing, but it’s what you do with it that matters, The world is littered with autonomous
By JEFF RHODES, VP for News & Information
countries — Iran, China, Venezuela, etc. — whose existence is a blessing only to the dictators empowered to prey on their own people. Moreover, independence comes in two flavors — national and individual — and it’s a cruel irony that many of the very nations where sovereignty is most loudly proclaimed by the tyrant in charge extend little or none of it to the citizens whose labors make their exploitation possible. We, as Americans, are justifiably proud of our forebearers and the unspeakable hardships they endured to secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity. But we’re even more awestruck that the most inspiring collection of founders ever assembled resisted the temptation to simply replace the British monarchy with one of their own.
In the 248 years since the first Independence Day, the United States has evolved into the strongest, most prosperous country in history … precisely because its citizens are also the freest. As always, that freedom is under a constant state of siege. As a nation, we’re threatened by others envious of our success and fearful the blessings of individual liberty will spread to their shores and, thus, weaken their grip on power. But we must be ever mindful of the very real threat to our freedom at home posed by internal enemies. Whether through willful ignorance or undisguised malice, the call to take what another has earned and hand it to someone else can only impoverish all but those lucky enough to man the levers of the redistribution machine. The Freedom Foundation wishes you and your family a safe, enjoyable holiday while redoubling its own efforts to ensure liberty at every level is never taken for granted.
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FREEDOM STATE BY STATE Oregon: SEIU sues member who dared to expose how it forged her signature to keep deducting dues TOOL of the MONTH California Governor
Gavin Newsom Who could be more deserving than California Gov. Gavin Newsom of recognition with the Freedom Foundation’s first-ever Tool of the Month award for going above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to putting the greed of Big Labor above the needs of his constituents? Newsom’s resume is littered with union sellouts — any one of which could arguably have earned his this dubious distinction — but the most recent was his approval on June 27 of a state budget that has the potential to force taxpayers to subsidize union dues, handing California’s organized labor an unprecedented handout to shore up its Janus-depleted finances. The so-called “Workers’ Fairness Tax Credit” would convert union dues from a tax deduction to a tax credit. The budget earmarks $200 million to “begin” a policy of paying union members for paying union dues. “The credit level will be set in the budget each year,” the Assembly Floor Report states, “but will not exceed 33 percent of dues paid.” “In California, it’s government of the unions, by the unions and for the unions,” said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvisd Taxpayers’ Association. The union tax credit in the new budget boosts a tax break most workers can’t realize in the first place because only 15.9 percent of the state’s workers are unionized, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The enactment of the nation’s first state tax credit for union dues comes just a few months after Democrats in Congress attempted to enact an above-the-line federal tax deduction for union dues payments that would be available even to taxpayers who do not itemize. The proposal, one of countless giveaways in President Biden’s Build Back Better program, is currently stalled. Mercifully, he doesn’t have as much juice in Washington as Gavin Newsom does in the Golden State.
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ot only does the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) believe it’s OK to forge an employee’s signature on a membership form so it can continue collecting dues despite her stated desire to leave, but now it’s insisting the victim be punished for complaining about it. Staci Trees, an employee of Oregon Department of Transportation, resigned her union membership in December 2020, only to learn that SEIU intended to keep deducting regular dues from paychecks, claiming she had signed a membership agreement authorizing it to do so. When she asked to see the document, however, it was so obviously a forgery that even SEIU couldn’t defend its authenticity. Furious, Trees brought suit in Federal Court against SEIU and the state of Oregon for what amounts to state-facilitated forgery. In addition to First and 14th Amendment claims, the lawsuit included claims for violation state and federal Racketeering Influence and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statutes. Trees is the fifth public-sector employee in Oregon alone the Freedom Foundation has represented in a forgery case against SEIU for unauthorized dues deductions. Unfazed, SEIU responded to this lawsuit by suing Trees at the Oregon Employment Relations Board (ERB), alleging she committed an unfair labor practice (ULP) for filing a lawsuit in which she alleged the invalidity of a membership card. At a July 8 hearing, SEIU attorneys asked the ERB to rule that any claim of invalidity regarding an authorization for deduction of union dues must be filed at the ERB, to the exclusion of any other court, and that Trees’ filing a federal lawsuit is itself a ULP.
By GRACE HELLAND, Policy Associate
“SEIU is blatantly attempting to intimidate employees who seek to enforce their rights in federal court,” noted Rebekah Millard, an attorney with the Freedom Foundation, which is representing Trees. “The claims are a last-ditch effort to avoid having SEIU’s criminal behavior adjudicated in federal court, where there are vigorous discovery mechanisms and the right to trial by jury.” The unprecedented question of whether Oregon can force public employees to air all disputes over the validity of dues authorizations before one state agency, to the exclusion of federal courts, will now be decided by the ERB — all of whose members have been appointed by Democrat Gov. Kate Brown. Although recused from Trees’ case, the newest member of the ERB was formerly the in-house counsel for SEIU and, in fact, filed the ULP against Trees. “This case is a textbook example of why we need federal courts,” Millard said. “It’s far too easy for any government to rubber stamp its own conduct to the violation of individuals’ civil rights.” She continued, “The Supreme Court has firmly rejected the idea that the state can restrict an individual’s access to federal court in the context of civil rights claims, but the ERB appears poised to perpetuate that injustice for public employees in Oregon. “Freedom Foundation,” Millard said, “is prepared to represent Ms. Trees in every court, or board, or tribunal necessary to preserve her rights and validate her claim.”
Ohio: Thwarting union’s theft of members’ vacation time was no small accomplishment
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ow is it that government and government unions seem to get to do whatever they want? And union bosses get to manipulate, deceive and skirt the rules? Who can blame them? They have deep pockets, and they’re trying to keep it that way — at the expense of taxpayers and middle-class public workers. Recently, the city of Cincinnati and AFSCME 8 believed they could perpetually live above the rules to grow their big, fat piggy banks. Thankfully, a brave employee from the city’s Health Department came to the Freedom Foundation in Ohio with a frighteningly illegal story to tell. The city had contractually agreed to allow AFSCME 8 to seize four hours of vacation time annually from her and all the other city employees AFSCME 8 represents. The hours would be banked for use by union employees doing AFSCME 8 business on the taxpayers’ time. For years no one noticed. No one was reading the fine print, and four hours a year isn’t all that much. Here’s why it matters. 1. AFSCME 8, which confiscated more than $20 million dues-paying members in 2021, according to federal LM-2 filings, was absolved from paying more full-time staff to represent the Cincinnati employees. Several city employees could conduct union business using the time forcibly donated by their co-workers. 2. AFSCME 8 collected 7,296 hours annually to be used by three Cincinnati city employees to do the union’s political bidding, on a full-time basis, at the taxpayers’ expense. 3. In addition to forking over dues payments, AFSCME 8-represented employees in Cincin
By LAUREN BOWEN, Ohio Director
nati will also sacrifice thousands of dollars to AFSCME 8 over a 25-year career by having vacation time being withheld for use by the union. Given that vacation time can be cashed out and used for personal expenses upon retirement or leaving city service, this can represent a significant lost asset. 4. Most importantly, this scheme blatantly violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus vs AFSCME, which states that mandatory union membership and dues payments in the public workplace are a violation of the workers’ First Amendment rights. This vacation time was being siphoned without permission from nonmembers for use by AFSCME 8. What at first seemed to be insignificant ended up being very consequential indeed. The architects of this scheme knew the courts would have no sympathy. They had been caught and exposed for cheating nonmembers out of vacation time and violating their First Amendment Rights. So the unions chose instead to settle and restore the vacation time of this city Health Department worker and end this unlawful practice. This legal victory means that several union contracts in Ohio will have to be revised. And countless public employees across the state will have their vacation time returned to them. Because of dedicated patriots, who support the Freedom Foundation, justice has been served. And the piggy banks of union bosses won’t grow any fatter from stolen vacation time.
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FREEDOM STATE BY STATE Minnesota: Teachers voting with their feet By ASHLEY N. VARNER Reprinted from the Duluth News Tribune July 4, 2022
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oting this year’s fourth anniversary of Janus v. AFSCME — the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 27, 2018, ruling that banned mandatory union membership, dues, and fees for government employees — Washington Post columnist Charles Lane dismissed the decision as a nothing burger. He wrote, “In the four years since Janus v. AFSCME, a landmark 2018 decision affecting the financing of public-sector unions, the ruling’s actual impact — to the extent it’s detectable at all — has validated neither the hopes of those who welcomed it nor the fears of those who did not. To the contrary, new research suggests the pre-Janus status quo remains remarkably unchanged.” It’s a line public-sector unions have been peddling for years. On the ruling’s second anniversary in 2020, in fact, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten boasted, “What was intended by the people who brought this case was to defund us. Not simply erode the fee-payers but to try and erode membership. But that hasn’t happened.” Don’t look now, but things are changing. An analysis of the 2020-’21 school year, for example, showed a sharp decrease in membership for teachers’ unions across the country, including in Minnesota. According to the study, Education Minnesota suffered a decrease of 1.7 percent of its members, and, nationally, both the National Education Association and Weingarten’s AFT saw 2 percent drops in their memberships — the equivalent of losing the entire working membership of union affiliates in Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and Philadelphia combined in a single year. What could possibly make teachers across the country want to leave their unions in droves? Could it be because during the 2020-’21 school year Education Minnesota brought in $32 million in union dues and agency fees but only spent $10.4 million in representational activities? How else did Education Minnesota spend its members’ hard-earned dollars? Well, according to its filings with the U.S. Department of Labor, it spent $3.3 million on political activities and lobbying, plus another $2.8 million in contributions,
gifts and grants. It paid its President Denise Specht $211,639, its Vice President Bernadette Burnham $216,796, and its Treasurer Rodney Rowe $216,722. And the union also spent $158,330 on office computer equipment and furniture. If that isn’t bad enough, Education Minnesota sends money to the parent National Education Association, which, for the same year, paid its President Becky Pringle more than $426,000 in salary and allowances, as filings show. Teachers union leaders are very generous to themselves with the dollars they take from teachers’ paychecks apparently. As more and more teachers learn they have a right not to fund labor leaders’ lavish lifestyles and a political agenda they may not agree with — especially when gas and groceries have become increasingly expensive — they begin doing the math on how stopping union dues deductions can alleviate some of their financial burdens. The problem is that most teachers are not even aware of their rights under Janus, and
that’s because the teachers union officials do not want them to be educated about their options. Government employee unions responded to Janus by adopting a variety of still-being-litigated defensive strategies, including only processing opt-out requests during a two-week annual window; challenging each request in court, which forced individual workers to battle a union’s well-financed legal team; subjecting union defectors to workplace harassment; and, when all else failed, simply forging workers’ signatures on membership documents. Even worse, notwithstanding their own sanctimonious anti-bullying campaigns, teachers’ unions seem to have no qualms about intimidating their own members when they refuse to toe the line. This is why the Freedom Foundation, just days following the landmark ruling in Janus, launched a national outreach campaign to educate educators about their alternatives to union membership. It’s a message that’s gaining traction and rendering union leaders alternately displeased, defensive, and delusional. Ashley N. Varner is vice president of communications and federal affairs in Washington, D.C., for the Freedom Foundation
Washington: Bus driver has ugly collision with union
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wstarted as a substitute bus driver for the Tumwater School District in 2015, and I joined the union — Public School Employees (PSE) Local 1948 — a year later because when I became a regular driver. I was happy with my job, and three years later applied for a dispatcher position. At around the same time, I decided to get involved with union leadership. The union president at that time had been in his position for seven years and wasn’t very good at it; members were very frustrated and wanted change. I decided to run for vice president, hoping I could bring accountability to the process. I didn’t want to be president. I just wanted to get involved. On the night the vote was to be held, we had a great turnout, with a majority of the members present. I announced my intention run for vice president and, following my speech, and I was elected. The president and the board, however, were furious. After the meeting, I told the president I was here to help and that I was not trying to take over the chapter. The next time that we met, during our
By RICK KELLY, Outreach Analyst
monthly electronic board meeting, the president announced his resignation. After giving us sob story, he took the chapter’s debit card from his pocket, cut in half and said, “Congratulations, you’re now the president.” I immediately called a meeting to appoint a new vice president, as specified by our union bylaws. For 20 days, I solicited nominations but received one only one. What I didn’t know at the time was that some the board members had conspired to re-elect the former president as the new vice president. The day our contract negotiations with district were scheduled to start, he had convinced some of the board members to refuse to participate. As a result, we sat there and did nothing for the entire session. I contacted the PSE state office for help, and it sent the zone director to look into the situation. Ultimately, our chapter was audited, and the former president was found to
have used chapter money to paint his deck and other improper expenditures. You’d think that would be enough to remove him from his position of vice president, but it wasn’t. The drivers, fed up at this point, wanted to sever ties with the other job classifications within PSE and become their own bargaining unit, so I contacted the Washington State Public Employee Review Commission (PERC) to get all the information we needed in order to decertify PSE. I also contacted Freedom Foundation Outreach Director Matthew Hayward to share what was happening. All the while, I continued to fight on behalf of the drivers, and I was able to get a petition signed by all saying they wanted to have open bargaining. But again, because the ex-president had so much influence with the other classifications that nothing happened. I was, however, able to convince many of my colleagues to opt out of the union individually.
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FREEDOM in ACTION
From FACEBOOK: Lori Ann Myhowich Prince “We both dropped out of union several years ago when we realized how evil they were and what they used our dues for!” Thomas Wong “NEA and all public employee’s unions are just money laundering operations for the Democrat Party. All public employee unions should be banned from making political contributions as a matter of conflict of interest.” John J. Radford “The Dept. Of Education is there for the political party politicians to indoctrinate your children into their political ideology and agenda. If you don’t understand that, well, that’s what they’re counting on.” Maureen Jennings Sullivan “This is why I dropped out of my union years before I retired.” Dale B. Johnston “The sooner we start privatizing all non-essential, public state jobs with non-union companies, the better off we all will be.” Toni Kilgore “That’s why teachers like unions. They need to control ... and collect donations.” Sandra F. Mitchell “I hate unions and Democrats. I used to be pro-union and a Dem, but now I know what they’re really about. Come to think of it, you can add the media to my list, too.” All comments posted on the Freedom Foundation’s Facebook page.
SEIU affiliate too arrogant to lie about its nakedly political aims
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t’s getting so bad these days that union leaders don’t even think they have to lie anymore. On its own website, just to cite a particularly egregious example, SEIU Healthcare II — which purports to represent healthcare, childcare, home care and nursing home workers in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Kansas — has posted a one-sentence mission statement that proudly proclaims: “We organize together to build power to demand and win social and economic justice for our communities.” Notice anything missing? How about some reference to the wellbeing or concerns of the thousands of workers from whose paychecks millions of dollars in regular dues are confiscated to advance SEIU Healthcare’s treacly, deliberately ambiguous agenda. Most unions at least try to maintain the illusion by including language about fighting for better wages, benefits and working conditions. It’s a boldfaced lie, but empty words cost them nothing. Private-sector unions, which represent only 6 percent of the total workforce, can’t afford the luxury of such hubris. But for those paid by taxpayer dollars rather than unpredictable profits, the margin for error still permits a certain amount of sloppiness. Until the practice was ended in 2014 with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Harris v. Quinn, millions of low-income homecare providers in 23 states including Illinois had no choice but to join a union like SEIU if they wanted to be compensated by Medicaid for looking after an elderly or disabled loved one. Simply put, Medicaid allocates billions of dollars every year so low-income Americans can be cared for in the comfort of their own home rather than in an institution. But rather than allowing every dime of that money to find its way to the patients and caregivers, unions conspire with leftist governors to take a healthy cut off the top at the state level. Let’s cut through generalities like “social and economic justice” and get down to actual cases. During the run-up to last month’s primary election, SEIU Healthcare posted dozens of candidate endorsements to its Facebook page. Take, for example, its support for Democrat Laura Faver Diaz for the 62nd District seat in the Illinois State House of Representatives. Her notable qualifications for the job — those mentioned in the endorsement, that is — include her “support for reproductive freedom,
By JEFF RHODES, VP for News & Information
keeping our families safe from gun violence and getting seniors and families what they need regardless of what they look like or where they live.” Abortion, gun-grabbing and identity politics. The Holy Trinity of leftist politics. But what, specifically, do they have to do with the working conditions of the state’s healthcare, childcare, home care and nursing home workers? For District 12, SEIU Healthcare II encouraged its members to vote for Democratic (of course) Senate candidate Celena Villanueva, who the union described as a “daughter of Mexican immigrant parents (who) worked to pass the Keep Illinois Families Together Act, prohibiting law enforcement from working with ICE.” More identity politics, this time coupled with a passion to degrade immigration regulations. Flimsy though they may be, at least the union offered up some reasons why its members should vote for Diaz and Villaneuva. In the case of La’Mont Williams, running for the State Senate from Illinois’ 16th District, SEIU Healthcare could only come up with, “If you’re on the Southwest Side or Suburbs, he’s the candidate for you.” Because we told you so, that’s why. It went on this way, but you get the idea. The union offered its endorsement — and, by inference, the votes of every member it can deceive or bully into doing its bidding — to a laundry list of loony leftists distinguished only by their party affiliation and apparent ignorance of, or indifference to, anything remotely connected with the real workplace concerns of the care providers it represents. Is this what SEIU Healthcare members — perhaps half of whom don’t even share the union’s leftist views — expect in return for the hundreds of dollars seized from their paychecks every year? To be sure, SEIU Healthcare isn’t unique in its motives. Big Labor in general and government employee unions in particular long ago lost interest in the everyday concerns of the rank and file. Public-sector unions trade shamelessly on a legacy built more than a century ago but today exist solely as the funding arm of the radical Left. Some just hide it better than others.
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FREEDOM in the NEWS IN PRINT
July 12, 2022
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IN PRINT
June 25, 2022
Newsom hailed by labor for nation’s first union dues tax credit, but it’s not a done deal yet “Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Janus v. AFSCME struck down as unconstitutional state laws requiring public employees to pay union dues or fees, unions and allied state lawmakers have sought to compensate for the resulting, and ongoing, loss of revenue and political influence,” said Maxford Nelsen, director of labor policy at the Freedom Foundation.”
ON AIR
June 30, 2022
States should protect caregivers’ Medicaid funds from union skims “While providers did not need to pay, unions could still trap them into paying. By 2017, the Freedom Foundation estimated that unions were skimming an estimated $150 million each year, affecting 358,000 caregivers’ Medicaid funds.” ON AIR
June 6, 2022
Freedom Foundation’s Max Nelsen appears Janus turns 4: So how’s that working out for you? “This week is the fourth anniversary of the 2018 Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME that ruled government employees could not be forced to support a union as a condition of employment. Max Nelsen, director of Labor Policy at the Freedom Foundation, joins us to discuss how the ruling is altering America’s political landscape.”
“The Freedom Foundation is, according to its website, a “battle tank that’s battering the entrenched power of left-wing government union bosses who represent a permanent lobby for bigger government, higher taxes, and radical social agendas. Through its “Opt Out Today” program , the Freedom Foundation has “liberated” 116,918 public employees from political exploitation” through “education, litigation, legislation and community activation.”
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ACTION TIMELINE SPOTLIGHTING SOME OF THE FREEDOM FOUNDATION’S NOTEWORTHY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE PAST MONTH June 22 The Freedom Foundation files a federal lawsuit on June 22 on behalf of four Oregon corrections officers alleging their union, the Association of Oregon Corrections Officers (AOCE): impeded their lawful efforts to opt out of membership and dues; and, wants to charge them for representation services it is still legally required to provide even though they are no longer paid union members. June 24 A guest opinion authored by Freedom Foundation Labor Policy Director Maxford Nelsen is published in the Washington Examiner. The piece, headlined, “SBA should be fighting for entrepreneurs, not unions,” examines how the federal Small Business Administration has been politicized under the Biden administration and, as part of the recent CARES Act, steered significant Covid-relief loan money to unions rather than the small businesses they were intended to benefit.
dom Foundation Ohio Director Lauren Bowen appears on the Real Clear Politics website. The article, headlined “In Ohio, Janus is more relevant than ever,” celebrates the Freedom Foundation’s success in persuading government employees in the Buckeye State to leave their union in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME, which celebrated its fourth anniversary on June 28. July 4 A guest opinion authored by Ashley Varner, the Freedom Foundation’s vice president for Communications and Federal Affairs, is published by the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune chronicling the Freedom Foundation’s success in persuading public-sector union members to opt out in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling in Janus v. AFSCME banning mandatory membership and dues for government employees. The Minnesota piece is one of several published nationally in connection with the Janus decision’s four-year anniversary on June 28. July 5
July 1 A guest opinion authored by Free
A celebration of life ceremony is held in Tacoma for Freedom Foundation
co-founder Bob Williams, who died on March 15. July 8 Staci Trees, an employee of the Oregon Department of Transportation who sued her union, SEIU, when she discovered it had forced her name on membership documents so it could ignore her request to opt out and continue collecting her dues is, in turn, accused of an unfair labor practice by SEIU. At a July 8 hearing, SEIU attorneys asked the Employee Relations Board (ERB) to rule that any claim of invalidity regarding an authorization for deduction of union dues must be filed at the ERB, to the exclusion of any other court, and that Trees’ filing a federal lawsuit is itself an unfair labor practice. She is being represented by Freedom Foundation attorneys.
fending the tax, opted to bypass the Appeals Court level and ask the state Supreme Court to immediately hear the case. While Freedom Foundation attorneys would have preferred the case take the normal route through the court system, they remain confident the constitution and 100 years of precedent will prevail. July 13 Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe appears on the syndicated John Fredericks Show podcast discussing how teachers nationwide are pushing back against the woke political agenda of their unions.
July 13 The Washington State Supreme Court announces it will grant a request by the state Attorney General’s Office to expedite its appeal of a lawsuit challenging Washington’s recently enacted capital gains tax. The Freedom Foundation, working with the Seattle law firm Lane Powell PC, filed suit immediately after the measure was passed, arguing it violates the Washington State Constitution’s ban on income taxes. Douglas County Superior Court Judge Brian Huber subsequently sided with the Freedom Foundation and overturned the tax. The AG’s Office, which is de-
July 20 A series of 30-second spots — featuring Freedom Foundation staffers including Marketing Director Joey McCabe, California Outreach Director Rachel Wiegel and Communications VP Ashley Varner — begins airing on Chicago broadcast and cable outlets for 10 days. Afterwards, they will air in Orange County, Calif., and in September, Palm Beach, Fla. The blitz represents the largest TV campaign in the Freedom Foundation’s history.
Two Nights. Two Legends. Mark your calendar now. The Freedom Foundation has booked a pair of A-list speakers for its annual banquets in both Washington and Oregon.
On Sept. 10, former British politician and current broadcaster Nigel Farage will appear at the Freedom Foundation’s Oregon banquet in Hillsboro. Two weeks later, on Sept. 24, former Arkansas governor, two-time presidential candidate and current host of his own TV show Mike Huckabee will be the featured guest for the Washington event in Bellevue. Both nights will be unforgettable. For ticket information:
Call (360) 956-3482 or visit online:
www.FreedomFoundation.com
