House Status:
Senate Status:
Senate Status:
Minutes for SB361 - Committee on Commerce
Short Title
Affording public employees and professional employees certain rights with respect to withholding of public employee organization and professional employee organization dues.
Minutes Content for Wed, Feb 12, 2020
Chairperson Lynn opened the hearing on SB 361 and requested Assistant Revisor Charles Reimer to provide an overview of the bill.
Chairperson Lynn recognized Dave Trabert, Kansas Policy Institute, who presented testimony in support of the bill. The bill brings Kansas statutes into conformity with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Janus v AFSCME. The court found in Janus that it is unconstitutional to compel a public employee to join or remain a member of a union or professional employee association as a condition of employment. Janus also requires the employer to have an affirmative 'opt-in' document for each person who chooses to join. As a result of Janus, K.S.A. 75-4324 currently has an unconstitutional minimum 6-month dues withholding requirement with no provision for the employee to resign and stop paying dues whenever they wish. (Attachment 1)
Voters believe public employees should have the freedom to choose. Across Kansas 67 percent of voters say public employees should be allowed to end their union membership and stop paying dues whenever they wish; only 19 percent disagree. SB 361 is about respecting each public employee's constitutional right. Constitutional rights exist absolutely and are not subject to limitation by collective bargaining agreements or any other organizational practice.
Adopting the provisions of SB 361 brings state law into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Janus, but not doing so may eventually bring legal action against the state for violation of public employees' constitutional rights.
Chairperson Lynn recognized Ms. Rebecca Friedrichs, who presented testimony in support of the bill. She said she personally understood the vital reasons public employees must receive practical, easy to access, fully transparent information on their constitutional rights to obtain freedom from union dues. (Attachment 2)
Chairperson Lynn recognized Mark Janus who presented testimony in support of the bill. Mr. Janus is the plaintiff from the Supreme Court case Janus v AFSCME. He said providing workers their rights as contained in this proposed legislation is the best way to maintain a worker's freedom of speech and association. (Attachment 3)
Chairperson Lynn recognized Vinnie Vernuccio, Workers for Opportunity, who presented testimony in support of the bill. The bill ensures that public employees are informed about their First Amendment right to pay or or not to pay union dues or fees and further allows them to exercise this right at any time. The bill also brings Kansas into compliance with the recent Supreme Court decision in Janus v AFSCME by guaranteeing public employers have the requisite timely evidence of affirmative consent after informing public employees of their rights. (Attachment 4)
Chairperson Lynn recognized Elizabeth Patton, Americans for Prosperity - Kansas, who provided testimony in support of the bill. She said the bill would ensure Kansas public employees are regularly notified about their right to refrain from joining a public sector association and are able to exercise their right to end optional paycheck deductions to these associations at any time. (Attachment 5)
Senator Doll said he did not think this issue was a problem in Kansas because he had been a teacher in public schools for a number of years and had seen people get in and out of unions at will. He said he did not belong to the union and asked Mr. Janus whether there had been a case in Kansas about this issue. Mr. Janus said he did not know.
Senator Suellentrop asked if someone is having their dues deducted from their paycheck automatically whether that person can stop the deduction at any time and pay the dues personally. Mr. Reimer said there is a provision in current law which is being stricken that appears to limit the ability to remove the authorization. Other than that provision, the ability to remove the automatic deduction would appear to be a matter between the employee and the organization.
With regard to Senator Doll's question, Mr. Trabert said employees are only able to leave when the employer allows them to leave. With respect to a public school teacher, this would be in August. In the case of another employee, it would be only after at least six months. The bill would allow the employee to leave whenever they want.
Senator Sykes asked Mr. Friedrichs how she had found out about the hearings. She responded she had been contacted by the Kansas Policy Institute. Senator Sykes said she was surprised no testimony was submitted by Kansas teachers. Ms. Friedrichs responded many teachers are reluctant to testify in fear of the potential negative reaction from their union. Senator Sykes said she did not think that was an issue in Kansas.
Senator Olson said he supported the bill.
There was no verbal testimony in opposition to the bill.
Written only testimony in opposition to the bill was submitted by:
- Terry Forsyth, Kansas National Education Association (Attachment 6)
- Mik Shanks, President, Kansas State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police (Attachment 7)
- Mike Kane, Board of Commissioners, District 5, Unified Government, Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas (Attachment 8)
- David Galvan, Organizer, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 304 (Attachment 9)
- John Nave, Executive Vice President, Kansas AFL-CIO (Attachment 10)
- Sarah LaFrenz, President, Kansas Organization of State Employees (KOSE) (Attachment 11)
- Leonard Fishburn, KOSE Member (Attachment 12)
- Lynette Lewis, KOSE Member (Attachment 13)
- Genea Norris, KOSE Member (Attachment 14)
- Diane Walker, KOSE Member (Attachment 15)
- Neil Diediker, KOSE Member (Attachment 16)
- Jake Miller, Working Kansas Alliance (Attachment 17)
- Mike Scribner, President and Business Agent, Teamsters Local 696 (Attachment 18)
There was no testimony submitted neutral to the bill.
Chairperson Lynn closed the hearing on SB 361.
The meeting adjourned at 9:26 a.m. The next meeting is scheduled for February 13, 2020.
