OPINION EDITORIAL

November 18, 2004

Columbian (Re-posted with permission)

Labor council hides political spending

Bob Williams | Evergreen Freedom Foundation
In his opinion column, “Right-wingers go after workers’ group” in the Nov. 10 Columbian, Washington State Labor Council president Rick Bender asserted that the WSLC "is open and honest about its funding and its agenda." If only it could be transparent about its political spending as well.

The Evergreen Freedom Foundation, or EFF, filed a complaint against the WSLC, the state affiliate of the AFL-CIO, for failing to disclose its political expenditures to the public. The investigation by the Public Disclosure Commission revealed that in 2002, the WSLC spent over $500,000 on state elections, not including its expenditures for voter registration, training or list maintenance.

The WSLC also allocated additional resources for federal campaigns, transfers to its political action committee, direct contributions and lobbying.

If the WSLC actually reported its political spending, it would rank as one of the top three largest political action committees in the state. In August, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told union leaders in Tacoma that the "biggest and most important thing right now" was the presidential election.

The WSLC spent a full 32 percent of its expenditures from nonpublic sources on political activity and only a fraction of this was reported to the state.

Nearly half of the WSLC’s income comes from public grants. How much money can this organization covertly spend on politics before the public gets to know about it?

Union dues coerced
The real tragedy is that the WSLC’s political agenda is funded from coerced union membership dues. Working men and women are, and should be, free to spend their money on politics, but it should be a voluntary choice—not one union officials make for them. Perhaps the WSLC should leave its sizable political fund in the hands of the workers it represents.

In his guest column, Bender also blasts EFF for being a "secretive organization," ignoring the fact that (unlike his own organization) EFF is completely funded by voluntary donors. Ironically, the WSLC reports to the Internal Revenue Service that it spends "zero" dollars on politics. Who’s really keeping secrets?

Bender’s indignation over EFF’s complaint is especially disingenuous in light of his organization filing 11 PDC complaints against business organizations last year. The PDC dismissed every one of those complaints earlier this year.

Unfortunately, the Public Disclosure Commission decided to not recommend the WSLC for prosecution, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars it spends every election.

However, this does not change the fact that the public’s interest in transparent elections requires openness and aggressive enforcement.

When the law calls for full disclosure in state politics, no organization is entitled to a free pass.

Bob Williams is president of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based policy research organization.

Contact: Michael Reitz | Legal Research Analyst | 360-956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org