Florida is a quirky state, where at least some of the urban political machines are Republican rather than Democratic. And that is part of why, as Steven Greenhouse reports, some Florida Republicans are defending the interests of public sector unions:
When State Senator John Thrasher introduced a bill to weaken the political clout of Florida’s public employee unions, he expected that it would pass fairly easily, not least because Republicans held 28 of the Senate’s 40 seats.
But now it looks as if the bill could falter before the legislative session ends next week. Unions representing teachers, firefighters, the police and other public employees say they have persuaded nearly half of the Senate’s Republicans to oppose the bill by reminding them that in Florida, far more than in most states, organized labor has supported Republicans.
And what exactly does this bill do?
By some counts, 12 of the 28 Republican senators are against the latest version of Mr. Thrasher’s bill, which would require public employee unions to get each member’s permission each year before they could use that person’s dues for political purposes. Senate Democrats are unified in opposition to the bill. Republican and business leaders — noting that Florida’s state employees contribute nothing toward their pensions — have praised Mr. Thrasher’s bill because it would reduce unions’ leverage over health coverage and pensions.
That’s right: all it does is protect the interests of union members by requiring the union to make an affirmative request to use union dues for political purposes — to create an opt-in system rather than an opt-out system.
My guess is that some of the 12 Republican senators are in competitive districts. But are all of them? Might some of them be erstwhile Crist allies susceptible to a primary challenge? It’s a question worth asking.