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Washington was the first state in the nation to enact a law requiring unions
to obtain annual written permission from workers before using their payroll
deductions for politics. This law-adopted as an initiative in 1992 with 72
percent support-is based upon the constitutional prohibition on compelled political
speech.
Prior to the passage of this law, WEA-PAC was funded by a $1.08 per month
assessment from each member (unless the member took steps to opt out). After
the law took effect in 1994, more than 85 percent of teachers chose not to
support the Washington Education Association's politics. See membership table
below.
WEA-PAC cash receipts should be roughly equivalent to its member voluntary
contributions, but the comparison chart below shows that WEA subsidizes WEA-PAC
with cash and "in-kind" contributions, despite the fact that most
WEA members choose not to make political contributions.
"In-kind" contributions are usually in the form of employee services,
consulting services, legal fees, meeting expenses, overhead, and supplies.
Often the value of employee services alone exceeds $10,000. The WEA-PAC files
a "C4" form with the Washington Public Disclosure Commission each
month detailing these received in-kind contributions on schedule B.
This chart provides a comparison of voluntary teacher contributions to WEA-PAC
versus WEA-PAC cash receipts.
| 2000 |
$121,464 |
$360,074 |
| 2001 |
$171,375 |
$514,482 |
| 2002 |
$100,332 |
$384,366 |
| 2003 |
$130,653 |
$520,221 |
*Figures estimated based on number of contributing teachers
and average contribution. See chart below.
**Source: Public Disclosure Commission, WEA-PAC C4 forms.
| 93-94 |
60,000 |
6 |
|
48,000 |
6 |
|
80.0% |
$13 |
$624,000 |
| 94-95 |
62,000 |
1 |
|
6,921 |
7 |
|
11.2% |
$12 |
$83,052 |
| 95-96 |
63,000 |
1 |
|
9,411 |
7 |
|
14.9% |
$12 |
$112,932 |
| 96-97 |
64,000 |
1 |
|
11,671 |
7 |
|
18.2% |
$12 |
$140,052 |
| 97-98 |
65,740 |
2 |
2,768 |
10,032 |
8 |
39 |
15.3% |
$12 |
$120,852 |
| 98-99 |
67,213 |
3 |
3,015 |
11,520 |
9 |
195 |
17.1% |
$12 |
$140,580 |
| 99-00 |
68,253 |
4 |
3,203 |
11,121 |
10 |
289 |
16.3% |
$12 |
$136,920 |
| 00-01 |
69,199 |
5 |
3,336 |
9,826 |
10 |
296 |
14.2% |
$12 |
$121,464 |
| 01-02 |
71,449 |
5 |
2,788 |
6,437 |
10 |
418 |
9.0% |
$25 |
$171,375 |
| 02-03 |
71,449 |
5 |
2,788 |
3,371 |
11 |
345 |
4.7% |
$27 |
$100,332 |
| 03-04 |
74,089 |
11 |
2,788 |
4,537 |
11 |
302 |
6.1% |
$27
|
$130,653 |
| 1 |
Estimated |
| 2 |
Taken from the WEA 1998-1999 Representative
Assembly Membership Report, Membership Overview |
| 3 |
Taken from the WEA 1999-2000 Representative
Assembly Membership Report, Membership Overview |
| 4 |
Taken from the WEA 2000-2001 Representative
Assembly Membership Report, Membership Overview |
| 5 |
Taken from the WEA 2001-02 Representative Assembly
Membership Report, Membership Overview |
| 6 |
Answer, Affirmative Defenses and counterclaims
of Education Association Defendants, State v. WEA, 1997 |
| 7 |
WEA-PAC membership numbers come from State
of Washington v. Washington Education Association, et al., Second Set of
Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents to Defendants. |
| 8 |
1997-98 enrollment comes from the June 1998
edition of WEA's newsletter, Action. |
| 9 |
WEA-PAC booklet for General Membership Meeting,
1999. |
| 10 |
WEA-PAC booklet for General Membership Meeting,
April 20, 2002. |
| 11 |
WEA-PAC booklet for General Membership Meeting,
March 27, 2004. |
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