School Districts as PAC collectors

Olympia--Four school districts investigated by the Evergreen Freedom Foundation currently withhold funds from teachers’ paychecks for a political action committee without ever verifying that the deduction was authorized by these teachers. State law* requires employers to have annual written permission from each employee for whom the district withholds ’ written authorization on file before deducting on behalf of political action committees (PACs).

Everett, Kent, Vancouver and Castle Rock are four districts EFF research discovered which withhold political donations without ever verifying if the deductions are actually authorized by the teachers. "They simply take the word of the union receiving the money that the deduction is authorized," said Jami Lund who conducted the investigation, "It is likely that teachers think this is simply part of their union dues and do not notice that the union has siphoned money for candidate contributions."

The Foundation investigated districts with uncommonly high enrollment in the union political action committee, WEA-PAC. "In the regions investigated, over thirty percent of teachers have money withheld," Lund explained. "By comparison, Seattle and Tacoma have fourteen and seven percent of their teachers enrolled in the PAC respectively."

"It looks fishy when the districts which fail to verify teachers’ consent to the deduction have double and even triple the usual number of contributors," said Lund. The Public Disclosure Commission is authorized by state law to investigate and penalize violations of the state’s campaign finance laws

(PDC phone: 360 753-1111 E-mail: pdc@pdc.wa.gov).

* RCW 42.17.680 Limitations on employers or labor organizations.

(3) No employer or other person or entity responsible for the disbursement of funds in payment of wages or salaries may withhold or divert a portion of an employee's wages or salaries for contributions to political committees or for use as political contributions except upon the written request of the employee. The request must be made on a form prescribed by the commission informing the employee of the prohibition against employer and labor organization discrimination described in subsection (2) of this section. The request is valid for no more than twelve months from the date it is made by the employee. (4) Each person or entity who withholds contributions under subsection (3) of this section shall maintain open for public inspection for a period of no less than three years, during normal business hours, documents and books of accounts that shall include a copy of each employee's request, the amounts and dates funds were actually withheld, and the amounts and dates funds were transferred to a political committee. Copies of such information shall be delivered to the commission upon request.

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (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