Union Member Protection Act
This bill requires labor unions to obtain approval of a majority of union members for specified political expenditures. Further, it requires unions to report proposed political expenditures and to disclose the vote of each union officer with respect to such expenditures during the preceding fiscal year.
Additionally, labor union bylaws must require principal officers to vote on individual political expenditures in excess of $50,000 and such individual votes must be made publicly available on the union's website.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5959 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5959
To amend the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to
require the authorization of members of a labor organization before
such organization may make certain political expenditures, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 25, 2020
Mr. Huizenga introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to
require the authorization of members of a labor organization before
such organization may make certain political expenditures, and for
other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Union Member Protection Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Labor unions make significant political contributions
and expenditures that directly or indirectly influence the
election of candidates and support or oppose political causes.
Decisions to use union dues for political contributions and
expenditures are usually made by union leadership and
management, rather than union membership.
(2) Unions, acting through their management, should be
obligated to conduct business in the best interests of their
membership.
(3) Historically, union members have not had a way to know,
or to influence, the political activities of unions that are
supposed to represent them. Union members and the public have a
right to know how unions are spending members' dues to make
political contributions or expenditures benefitting candidates,
political parties, and political causes.
(4) Unions should be accountable to their membership in
making political contributions or expenditures affecting
Federal governance and public policy. Requiring the express
approval of a union's membership for political contributions or
expenditures will establish necessary accountability.
SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE AND APPROVAL OF CERTAIN POLITICAL EXPENDITURES.
(a) In General.--Title II of the Labor-Management Reporting and
Disclosure Act of 1959 (29 U.S.C. 431 et seq.) is amended by inserting
after section 201 the following:
``SEC. 201A. DISCLOSURE AND APPROVAL OF CERTAIN POLITICAL EXPENDITURES
BY LABOR ORGANIZATIONS.
``(a) Disclosure.--The report required under section 201 shall
contain, in a clear and simple format--
``(1) a description of the specific nature of any
expenditures for political activities proposed to be made by
the labor organization for the forthcoming fiscal year, to the
extent the specific nature is known to the labor organization
and including the total amount of such proposed expenditures;
and
``(2) a disclosure of how each officer of the labor
organization voted to authorize or not to authorize each
expenditure for political activities made by the labor
organization during the preceding fiscal year.
``(b) Restriction on Expenditures.--No labor organization shall
make any expenditure for political activities in any fiscal year
unless--
``(1) such expenditure is of the nature of those proposed
by the labor organization pursuant to subsection (a); and
``(2) the full, free, and written authorization for such
expenditures has been granted by a majority of the members of
the labor organization.
``(c) Mechanism for Obtaining Authorization.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of the Union Member Protection Act, every
labor organization shall adopt a mechanism for obtaining, by secret
ballot, the authorization of its members as required under subsection
(b)(2).
``(d) Liability.--The officers of a labor organization who
authorize an expenditure without first obtaining the authorization of
members required under subsection (b)(2) shall be jointly and severally
liable in any action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction to
any member of the labor organization or class of members for the amount
of dues paid by such member or class of member during the 1-year period
prior to the date that such expenditure was made.
``(e) Definition of Expenditure for Political Activities.--As used
in this section:
``(1) The term `expenditure for political activities'
means--
``(A) an independent expenditure, as such term is
defined in section 301(17) of the Federal Election
Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(17));
``(B) contributions to any political party,
committee, or electioneering communication, as such
term is defined in section 304(f)(3)(A) of the Federal
Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 434(f)(3)(A));
and
``(C) dues or other payments to trade associations
or other tax exempt organizations that are, or could
reasonably be anticipated to be, used for the purposes
described in subparagraph (A).
``(2) Such term shall not include--
``(A) direct lobbying efforts through registered
lobbyists employed or hired by the labor organization;
``(B) communications by a labor organization to its
members and executive or administrative personnel and
their families; or
``(C) the establishment, administration, and
solicitation of contributions to a separate segregated
fund to be utilized for political purposes by a labor
organization.''.
(b) Conforming Amendments.--
(1) Section 201(c) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 431(c)) is
amended by striking ``make available the information required
to be contained in'' and inserting ``provide''.
(2) Section 209(a) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 439(a)) is
amended by inserting ``other than section 201A'' after ``this
title''.
SEC. 4. REQUIREMENT OF VOTE BY PRINCIPAL OFFICERS.
Section 201 of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of
1959 (29 U.S.C. 431) is further amended by adding at the end the
following:
``(f) The bylaws required under this section shall expressly
provide for a vote of the principal officers of the labor organization
on any individual expenditure for political activities (as such term is
defined in section 201A(e)) in excess of $50,000. A labor organization
shall make publicly available the individual votes of principal
officers required by the preceding sentence within 48 hours of the
vote, including in a clear and conspicuous location on the Internet
website of the labor organization.''.
SEC. 5. REPORT.
The Comptroller General of the United States shall annually conduct
a study on the compliance with the requirements of this Act and the
amendments made by this Act by labor organizations and their
management. Not later than April 1 of each year, the Comptroller
General shall submit to Congress a report of such study.
SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on
the later of--
(1) the date of enactment of this Act; and
(2) the date that the bill H.R. 5929, introduced in the
House of Representatives during the 116th Congress, is enacted
into law.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
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