(The Center Square) – Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a measure prohibiting public schools from using taxpayer-funded resources to support teachers’ unions, a move supporters say restores government neutrality while critics argue it limits educators’ ability to organize.
The legislation, House Bill 516, bars school districts from facilitating payroll deductions for union dues and restricts the use of public resources to assist union activities. The law is set to take effect July 1.
Supporters of the measure, including the Freedom Foundation, which prompted the report, argue that allowing payroll deductions amounts to indirect taxpayer support because public employees and systems are used to process payments.
“Government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers in political debates,” Maxford Nelsen, the Freedom Foundation’s director of research and government affairs, told The Center Square in an exclusive interview. “It shouldn’t be aiding and providing special privileges or subsidies to particular advocacy groups.”
“By getting school districts out of this business of using taxpayer funds, collect union dues and prop up teachers’ union activity – that’s just restoring neutrality,” Nelsen added.
Nelsen said the main issue is not that union dues themselves are taxpayer money, but that school districts act as billing agents by using public payroll systems and staff time to collect and process those dues.
“They will definitely recruit more people to join the organization if they are allowed to use payroll deduction,” Nelsen said. “Then if they had to go out like any other private membership organization and get people to actually purchase, take the affirmative step of handing their payment information to them, and purchase that membership.”
He added that while administrative costs may be relatively small, the payroll system creates what he described as an “in-kind value” that benefits unions and is not available to other private advocacy groups.
The Idaho Education Association argues that unions are funded entirely by member contributions.
“We are 100% funded by member dues,” Mike Journee, director of communication at the IEA, told The Center Square. “The bill’s sponsors intentionally misrepresented the option of using payroll deduction to pay dues as a talking point to pass deeper restrictions on our members’ ability to organize at their worksite.”
The IEA is now urging members to switch from payroll deduction to IEA AutoPay before the law takes effect and to stay engaged politically ahead of upcoming elections.
Little signed the bill April 10, with a letter stating the Republican governor “strongly supported teachers’ ability to advocate for their profession.”
“However, while local and state teachers’ associations do important work, they remain private organizations that currently receive taxpayer-funded support not extended to other private entities. House Bill 516a addresses that imbalance,” Little wrote.
