Think tank to local governments: Obey Supreme Court ruling, stop collecting agency fees

ALBANY, N.Y. — The Empire Center, a free-market think tank in Albany, has sent 1,700 letters to county, city, town, and village governments Tuesday telling them they need to comply with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and stop collecting union “agency fees” from some 200,000 government workers in New York who do not belong to unions.

The organization also sent a letter to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli telling him to comply with last week’s Supreme Court ruling in the case of Janus vs. AFSCME.

Mark Janus, an Illinois state government employee, whose position is represented by AFSCME Council 31, challenged Illinois’ agency fee law that require him to make payments to the union, even though he wasn’t a member. The court ruled 5-4 that forcing Janus to pay violated the Constitution because it infringed on his First Amendment rights.

Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center, noted in the letter that the Supreme Court decided the case of Janus vs. AFSCME clearly. “The language of the decision is not ambiguous,” Hoefer said. “Agency fees must end.”

Hoefer noted that state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has said he will comply with the ruling by ending withholding of agency fees from state employee paychecks.

The Empire Center estimates that state and local governments across New York collect roughly $112 million in agency fees a year from about 200,000 government workers who do not belong to unions.
 “As we celebrate another Independence Day, complying with the Janus ruling is a way for public employers to protect the newly clarified First Amendment rights of government employees,” Hoefer said. “Prompt compliance also will protect taxpayers from having to absorb the costs of any employee litigation that might otherwise needlessly result from the continued collection of agency fees.”

The Supreme Court decision was denounced by several New York elected officials, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney General Barbara Underwood.

The Business Council of New York, in a post on Twitter, backed the Empire Center. “Important that state and local governments comply immediately. No reason not to and risk significant legal fees,” the council tweeted.

The Empire Center, once part of the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research, researches public policy issues and advocates for policies. It says its mission is to “make New York a better place to live and work by promoting public policy reforms grounded in free-market principles, personal responsibility, and the ideals of effective and accountable government.”

Contact McChesney at cmcchesney@cnybj.com