The Hoboken Tax Reform Coalition
N.J. appeals court to rule whether unions are subject to same donation ban as corporations
By The Associated Press
May 06, 2010, 1:24PM
New Jersey Governor Chris ChristieTRENTON — A state appeals court is set to rule on whether Gov. Chris Christie can subject unions to the same political donation restrictions as corporations.
The ruling is due out Friday morning.
New Jersey prohibits state agencies from awarding contracts worth more than $17,500 to companies that have donated more than $300 any state or county campaign within 18 months.
But unions — which donate heavily to Democrats — had been exempt.
On his first day in office, the Republican governor signed an order that says unions are also subject to the state's pay-to-play ban.
The unions challenged the order, arguing that it is a free-speech violation. They say it's wrong to equate a collective bargaining agreement with a corporate contract.
Views: 1
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by David on -
I don't see why the courts would rule against the Governor, unless they rule that corporations are restricted as well. It has always seemed foolish to expect politicians to recieve thousands from the unions they are suppose to bargain with and expect them to get a decent deal from the groups that finance their election.
-
Permalink Reply by David on
-
Christie 'pay-to-play' was rejected. The court said “Given the statutes already on the books, an executive
order cannot unilaterally mandate the de facto decertification of a labor union as the designated representative of public employees.” According Bloomberg that means 'the issue is covered by labor laws
that require legislative action for amendment.'
Putting all public contractors under pay-to-play law still makes sense. Excluding unions seems to be a double standard.
-
Permalink Reply by Donna Antonucci on -
Thanks Dave. What can we do to support change?
Do we need to write our senators? Maybe Hoboken Revolt can send a letter. Hoboken Revolt has been quite successful with its letter writing.
I have contacts with other organizations who are concerned with the tax rate in NJ. I could reach out to them as well.
-
Permalink Reply by Dave Kaplan on
-
The Court's ruling, as I understand it was not against the law's concept. The Court ruled that the Legislature must pass such a law, and that it cannot simply be applied via Executive Order.
Therefore, people can pressure the legislature in order to implement this change. I would think that may be tough to do given the current makeup of the Assembly and Senate though.
-
Permalink Reply by Jack Dawkins on
-
Maybe I'm missing something here; unions represent individual workers accross various industries. Donna, you're anti-union stance may not be shared by the entire "membership" on this board. And what is this about your (HR) letter writing success. I'm not aware of ANY polling done in connection with he "group's" preferences, yet Revolt is constantly referring to the total number of "members." Surely if you are using your "membership numbers" as clout, you'd want to find out the majority stance on a particular issue and report and report it to the "membership."
© 2012 Created by Administrator.
Powered by 
.
