CEI Criticizes Arizona Supreme Court Ruling Against Taxpayers, For Labor Unions

Taxpayers must still pay for labor union activities as a result of a ruling today by the Arizona Supreme Court. CEI labor policy expert Trey Kovacs criticized the decision:

At a time when taxpayer dollars are stretched thin, it is unconscionable that the Arizona Supreme Court today ruled in a 3-2 decision that taxpayers can continue being forced to pay government employees to perform private union business. 

Arizona’s constitution clearly states that public funds may only be spent on activity that primarily serves a public purpose. The practice of union release time, which allows government employees to stop working for the taxpayer and perform union activity, only benefits government unions. Activity performed on release time should be a cost incurred by the unions that profit from it, not taxpayers.

Now it is up to legislators to end this multi-million dollar wasteful practice in the Grand Canyon state. 

Kovacs has commented on the unconstitutional use of release time in multiple states and conducted open records investigations on its use in Connecticut, Maryland, Missouri, Texas, and Virginia.

Related: ‘Release Time’ Forces Taxpayers to Pay for Union Work.