A few weeks ago, I wrote about the problems with the teacher’s union. Thankfully, its influence was not enough to stop school choice from becoming law in Idaho, but it continues to flex its muscles to maintain the flow of tax dollars into its coffers. House Bill 98, which would prohibit any tax dollars from going to the teachers’ union in the form of paid time off for union activities, subsidizing union dues, or even automatic deduction of dues from employee paychecks, passed the House 40-29 but has stalled in the Senate State Affairs Committee.
That committee, under the leadership of its chair, Sen. Jim Guthrie, has been a roadblock to good legislation for a long time. Guthrie, who was the only Republican to vote against House Bill 32, which prohibited mask mandates, often finds himself at odds with the vast majority of Republican legislators. However, as a committee chair, he holds nearly unlimited power over whether a bill is placed on the agenda.
Is Sen. Guthrie holding H98 in his drawer at the behest of the teachers’ union? He is clearly a union man, having taken the maximum $2,000 contribution from the Teamsters in 2024, out of more than $44,000 donated by corporations, associations, and trade unions. It’s not as if he needed the help that year; he was unopposed in the Republican primary and defeated his Democratic opponent with 78.5% of the vote last November. Nevertheless, securing an alliance with the powerful chairman of Senate State Affairs is a small price to pay for a campaign donation.
The Political Action Committee for Education (PACE), the teachers’ union PAC, gave Guthrie $500 in 2022 — a bargain for keeping H98 in his drawer this year.
Over at the Idaho Freedom Foundation, Fred Birnbaum explained the structural issue with public sector unions:
You see, the private-sector unions that I negotiated with understood two key things: that I was the representative of the company and shareholders, and the union represented the workforce. But the unions also understood that if they demanded too much in wages and benefits, the entire business could be put in jeopardy, and they would be out of their jobs. And I understood that an engaged workforce needed to believe that they were compensated and treated fairly or quality and productivity would not meet the demands of the marketplace.
Conversely, in public-sector union negotiations, the union is often negotiating with elected officials who the union can support or oppose at the ballot box. The taxpayer is not at the bargaining table and may only feel the costs of a contract after the elected officials have moved on.
Unlike private-sector union negotiations, in which management represents the interests of the owners, public-sector unions negotiate with elected boards, with your tax dollars as the prize. As Birnbaum noted, those elected officials can be replaced, and public unions such as those representing teachers and firefighters spend a lot of money to that end. PACE spent more than $70,000 in 2024, mostly against supporters of school choice, while the Professional Firefighters of Idaho PAC (PFFI PAC) contributed nearly $80,000.
Recall that the PFFI PAC accidentally leaked a private memo last session detailing its lobbying efforts, almost none of which had anything to do with fighting fires or public safety. The organization’s main concern is maintaining its own power and that of fellow unions. Consider its opposition to Senate Bill 1259 last year:
One of their biggest priorities seems to be S1259, a bill to require union certification by secret ballot rather than public cards. This bill is sponsored by Sen. Brian Lenney (the document misspells his name as “Lenny”) and was written to give members of public sector unions the opportunity to oppose union membership without fear of retribution. The document claims that the PFFI has been able to convince Sen. Kevin Cook, chairman of the Senate Commerce & Human Resources Committee, to hold the bill in his drawer.
S1259 never received a hearing.
House Bill 340, itself awaiting a hearing in House Commerce & Human Resources, would restrict unions’ bargaining ability solely to wages rather than allowing them to negotiate over virtually everything, as is currently the case. When Rep. Rob Beiswenger introduced this bill in House State Affairs late last month, several members of the firefighters’ union sat in the audience, watching with disapproval.
One reason public-sector unions, such as those representing teachers and firefighters, hold so much sway in our society is that the people they represent are rightly held in high regard by most Idahoans. We love our teachers and firefighters, don’t we? Teachers spend their days educating the next generation, while firefighters put their lives on the line to save us during the worst disasters. Yet does it necessarily follow that their unions should wield so much control?
If you want to see some of that power reined in and balance restored for Idaho taxpayers, then contact Sen. Sen. Guthrie and House Commerce & HR chair Rep. James Holtzclaw and respectfully ask them to hear H98 and H340, respectively.
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About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
