2 big PACs take a hit

A GOP-backed law that stopped paycheck deductions for government workers' political action committees has severely cut into the political funds of two major state legislative players: The Utah Education Association and the Utah Public Employees Association.

The UPEA, once a power player in legislative politics, has actually zeroed out its political action committee after donating its PAC's final $95,000 to 2004 races.

The 16,000-member UEA has seen its PAC funds cut in half in three years — to less than $300,000 from $636,000, a Deseret Morning News review of PAC reports shows.

The Voluntary Contributions Act "has had a dramatic effect," said Susan Kuziak, UEA executive director. While passed in 2001, because of court stays and other issues, the government worker PACs weren't really financially harmed by the act until 2003. The UEA PAC fund-raising was down 75 percent in 2004, reports show.

"There is no question that (GOP legislators who pushed the measure) intended to put up as many barriers as they could against a unified (education-advocate) voice," Kuziak said. The law "has had its desired impact." Harming worker association PACs "is what they wanted."

The UPEA PAC — Citizen Action by Public Employees — dropped from $431,000 at the start of 2002 to $0 the end of 2004 as union leaders suspended political fund-raising.

UPEA executive director Audry Wood said state workers aren't quitting their political activities. "We're looking for new ways" to collect PAC dues from the 8,000 or so UPEA members who work for state government. New fund raising will start soon, she said.

While CAPE has a zero balance now, "we will do electronic-transfer fund raising. We will be politically active" in 2006. "But it is very difficult. We hope to build the PAC up to $100,000 or more, where we were before" legislators gutted their ability to have payroll PAC deductions, Wood said.

But harming government worker political activity was not the goal, says Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, which lobbied lawmakers in favor of what supporters call the "paycheck protection law."

"Taxpayer resources (the paycheck deductions) should not be used to collect dues for political purposes," said Jerman. "Our issue was not who was targeted" by the unions for election victory or defeat, "but any use of taxpayer funds to further a political agenda."

Government employee unions can still collect PAC donations. "They just have to do it the old fashioned way — solicit their members," said Jerman.