Assistant Utah Attorney General Thomas Roberts said the Legislature acted with complete authority when it passed the law and still understands that it has authority over state government entities.

The state has 30 days to decide if it will appeal Campbell's decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Roberts said the office will have to confer with leaders of the Legislature before deciding whether or not to appeal.

Now, with the ruling, the 18,000-member teachers' union plans to work through the implications of the judge's ruling with school districts and superintendents and hopes to have PAC payroll deductions up and running in the next few weeks, McCoy said — just in time for the 2006 election.

"If the Legislature wants to get into true campaign reform, deal with the (corporations) and big contributors," McCoy said. "But this (law) was clearly an attempt by conservatives in the Legislature to stifle unified political action of the school teachers."

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