Proposed right-to-work legislation drafted by national pay-to-play alliance of corporate lobbyists
State Sen. Jeb Bradley tells John DiStaso that the proposed right-to-work legislation sponsored by 13 of the 14 Republican state senators is “very much part of our ‘Live Free or Die’ tradition.” He doesn’t mention that it was drafted two decades ago by a national pay-to-play alliance of corporate lobbyists.
Tuesday, the Senate will hold public hearings on Senate Bill 11, so-called right-to-work legislation introduced by Sen. John Reagan (R-Deerfield) that would prohibit collective bargaining agreements that require employees to join or contribute to a labor union.
The bill’s language is lifted, almost verbatim, from the Right to Work Act, model legislation prepared and promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the free-market advocacy organization funded largely by corporations and right-wing foundations including the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.
ALEC connects corporate lobbyists with business-friendly state lawmakers to draft model legislation that advances their legislative agenda. Governing has estimated that roughly 1,000 bills based on model legislation from ALEC are introduced around the country each year, with 200 or so becoming law.
The group fills a void created by underpaid and understaffed part-time state legislators. The Washington Post quoted an ALEC director who once proudly stated, “To a legislator sitting out there in Boise with little more than a desk and a phone, we’re all there is.”
Founded in 1993, the group operated in near-secrecy for years – in 2010 for example, Fortune described ALEC as the “big political player you’ve never heard of” – and the group’s model legislation was generally not available to the public.
Then in 2013, after a two-year campaign led by the Center for Media and Democracy that shined a light on the group and published a trove of over 800 model bills and resolutions, ALEC relented and made hundreds of the bills available online.
The New Hampshire Senate will hold a public hearing to hear testimony on SB 11 on Tuesday, January 10, at 1:00 p.m. in Representatives Hall at the State House in Concord.
Here’s a sampling of proposed language from SB 11, followed by the related section from ALEC’s Right to Work Act:
273-D:2 Declaration of Public Policy. It is hereby declared to be the public policy of this state in order to maximize individual freedom of choice in the pursuit of employment and to encourage an employment climate conducive to economic growth, that all persons shall have, and shall be protected in the exercise of, the right freely, and without fear of penalty or reprise, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from any such activity.
Section 2. {Declaration of public policy.} It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the State of (state), in order to maximize individual freedom of choice in the pursuit of employment and to encourage an employment climate conducive to economic growth, that the right to work shall not be subject to undue restraint or coercion. The right to work shall not be infringed or restricted in any way based on membership in, affiliation with, or financial support of a labor organization.
273-D:4 Freedom of Choice Guaranteed; Discrimination Prohibited. No person shall be required, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment:
I. To resign or refrain from voluntary membership in, voluntary affiliation with, or voluntary financial support of a labor organization;
II. To become or remain a member of a labor organization;
III. To pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind or amount to a labor organization;
IV. To pay any charity or other third party, in lieu of such payments, any amount equivalent to or a pro-rata portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of a labor organization; or
V. To be recommended, approved, referred, or cleared by or through a labor organization.
Section 4. {Freedom of choice guaranteed, discrimination prohibited.} No person shall be required, as a condition of employment or continuation of employment:
(A) to resign or refrain from voluntary membership in, voluntary affiliation with, or voluntary financial support of a labor organization;
(B) to become or remain a member of a labor organization;
(C ) to pay any dues, fees, assessments, or other charges of any kind or amount to a labor organization;
(D) to pay to any charity or other third party, in lieu of such payments, any amount equivalent to or a pro-rata portion of dues, fees, assessments, or other charges regularly required of members of a labor organization; or
(E) to be recommended, approved, referred, or cleared by or through a labor organization.