By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that cities can pay public employees to work on union business.
In a decision with statewide implications, the justices, in a 3-2 ruling, rejected claims by the Goldwater Institute that such deals between governments and unions amounts to an unconstitutional gift of public funds. Justice Scott Bales, writing for the majority, said the deal between the city of Phoenix and the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association benefits both the city and the taxpayers who are footing the bill.
Statement by Goldwater Institute
Edited
Goldwater Institute
I want you to be among the first to know the Goldwater Institute received a disappointing court decision today in our campaign to protect taxpayers from paying government employees while they work for a labor union.
The Arizona Supreme Court just ruled the state constitution does not forbid cities and counties from subsidizing government unions through the practice of union release time. We respect the court’s decision, but it missed an opportunity to vindicate a principle of the Arizona Constitution that taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the activities of private groups such as labor unions. Lower courts in Arizona previously upheld this principle, but today’s state supreme court opinion overturns those decisions.
It’s unfortunate to lose a case, of course. But keep in mind that not only are we always fighting an uphill battle, against a judiciary that has long presumed strongly against our principles of freedom, but that these are cutting-edge cases that we do. The best surgeons lose the most patients—because they’re the ones who do the hardest cases that demand the most skill.
This is the kind of loss that—if you have to lose—we can still feel good about in this sense: we have taken a creative approach to challenge an entrenched problem that costs American taxpayers more than $1 billion a year.
Even if we didn’t succeed in Arizona, we still have very good opportunities in other states. In August 2016, the Goldwater Institute filed a new lawsuit with the Texas Public Policy Foundation to challenge the use of release time by the City of Austin. Other groups have filed successful lawsuits modeled on our work in Idaho and Michigan, while a third case is pending in Pennsylvania.
Additionally this decision, and the release time practices it upheld, raises other concerns under the First Amendment and Arizona’s Right to Work laws that may serve as the basis for future litigation.
Meanwhile, we will continue to advocate for state policymakers to affirmatively protect taxpayers with new laws that stop the practice of union release time. Legislation to do so already has been introduced in Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and Washington State.
To read more about the Arizona case in Cheatham v. DiCiccio, please visit http://goldwaterinstitute.org/en/work/topics/unions/release-time/case/cheatham-v-diciccio/.
Sincerely,
Jon Riches
Director of National Litigation & General Counsel
Goldwater Institute | www.GoldwaterInstitute.org
