(LITTLE ROCK, Ark.) – On Thursday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed into law the Freedom Foundation’s “Teacher Paycheck Protection” bill, releasing Arkansas public school employees from automatic union dues deduction from their paychecks.
Gov. Sanders marked enactment of the Freedom Foundation’s first successful legislation with a private signing ceremony at the Arkansas State Capitol.
“Congratulations to the bill sponsors, Sen. Joshua Bryant (R-Rogers) and Rep. Grant Hodges (R-Centerton), and to Gov. Sanders for taking up this important issue to expand the rights of public-school employees, even in the face of a fierce and deceptive opposition campaign from teachers’ union leaders across the state and at the national level,” said Rusty Brown, Freedom Foundation Southern Director.
“This new law will immediately help teachers keep even more of their hard-earned money by stopping automatic union dues payments out of their paychecks,” continued Brown. “Absolutely nothing prevents those same teachers from signing up for dues payments with the union directly, like they probably already do with Netflix or their cell phone provider.”
“The Freedom Foundation is proud of the work that went into bringing this bill to Gov. Sanders’ desk today,” said Aaron Withe, Freedom Foundation CEO. “So many people were led to believe this new law would be an attack on Arkansas teachers, but the lawmakers and the governor knew that couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“The teachers’ unions don’t like this bill because they know it’s easier to keep taking people’s money out of their paychecks before they even see it, rather than having people reach for their checkbook or credit card,” continued Withe.
“What the teachers’ unions’ opposition really reveals is that they know a lot of people wouldn’t pay for membership if they had the opportunity to sit down and think about it,” concluded Brown.
