State Lawmakers Take A Swipe At Tennessee Education Association

The Tennessee Senate has voted to put an end to payroll deductions for union dues for teachers, a move that could hurt the finances of one of the major lobbying groups in the state legislature.

State senators voted 21-9 Monday to bar school districts from taking out money for the Tennessee Education Association. Sen. Todd Gardenhire, the Chattanooga Republican who sponsored the measure, says the TEA shouldn’t be able to reach into teachers’ paychecks when competing groups that represent teachers can’t get access to the system.

“Well, there’s several organizations that can’t get on the local school districts’ computer programs to be able to deduct their dues. So this puts everybody on an equal playing field.”

The legislation was slipped onto an unrelated measure,
Senate Bill 151, late last week. That bill dealt with teaching children how to properly wear bicycle helmets.

Several Republican lawmakers objected to the way in which the bill was presented.

Americans for Prosperity is among the groups supporting the proposal. It sent out a tweet lauding the measure shortly after it passed.

TEA lobbyist Jim Wrye says stopping payroll deduction would upend decades of practice. His organization did not learn of the measure until shortly before it was introduced and will try to fight the measure in the state House of Representatives, which has not yet taken it up.

Wrye blamed “out-of-state groups,” including Americans for Prosperity, for pushing the measure through. He said the bill was aimed at hobbling TEA’s opposition to their agenda.

“We are the last people standing up for public schools,” he said.