Prop 32: Labor Unions Seek To Fund Measure's Defeat
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Prop 32's opponents have out-raised supporters by a 4-to-1 margin to defeat the measure. (Dawn Megli/Neon Tommy)
If passed on Nov. 6, Prop 32 would prevent unions and employers from taking money out of employees' paychecks for political contributions. While supporters of the measure insist that it would help weaken the power that corporate and union special interests have in elections, opponents have expressed their skepticism with huge sums of donations to combat the measure.
Overall, Prop 32's opponents have out-raised its supporters by almost a 4-to-1 margin, having accumulated about $38 million. The California Teachers Association has accounted for roughly 44 percent of money donated to defeat the ballot measure, turning in $16.45 million.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), California Professional Firefighters and the California Faculty Association are among the other notable Prop 32 opponents.
Yes on 32 support, which has tallied around $9 million as of late September, has come from mainly wealthy individual donors such as Westco Financial Corp. CEO Charles Munger Jr. and Siebel Systems founder Thomas Siebel. But the largest source of finance has come from the American Future Fund, a conservative nonprofit organization with ties to the billionaire Koch brothers that funneled $4 million to support the prop.
Unions contend that the passage of Prop 32 would muffle their influence in Sacramento as they would have less money to fund their political lobbying and organizing.
From KPCC:
"Under Prop 32, a corporation CEO, its board members, its executives, all could still make contributions to candidates," said Grant Davis-Denny, board member of California Common Cause. "Prop 32 exempts a number of forms of businesses that you would traditionally think of as corporations. The notion that this would somehow reduce the influence in corporations in Sacramento, I think, is a sham."
California voters are still significantly on the fence with this proposition. A University of Southern California Dornsife survey found that 36 percent of likely voters supported Prop 32, while 44 percent opposed it. Twenty percent are still undecided.
Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage on the 2012 election here.
Reach Senior Staff Reporter Danny Lee here; follow him on Twitter here.
Comments
Please consider an imagignary proposition which would be the direct opposite of prop 32: non-profit corporations such as unions and environmental groups, many of which bump noses with corporate interests from time to time, advance a "Dividend Protection Initiative." The idea is that ALL corporations, both non-profit and for profit, are prohibited from making political contributions from monies that could otherwise be paid as dividends. The exception is that, if a dividend is paid, an individual shareholder may authorize all or part of his or her dividend to be used by the corporation for political purposes. Such authorization would required to be in writing, and would have effect for no more than a year.
Never mind that non-profits do not have profits or pay dividends; never mind that none of this would apply to independent expenditure committees, or SuperPacs.
Imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Unions have destroy General Motors schools, and have caused more jobs to go over sea's then everything put together. Please put unions in there place.