Two Anti-Worker Ballot Measures Dead in Nevada

by Mike Hall, Mar 27, 2008

Two proposed Nevada ballot measures—thinly veiled attacks on workers and unions backed by secret out-of-state donors—bit the dust this week when the front group for the initiatives announced the measures would be withdrawn.

Nevadans for Nevada, a coalition of unions and community, civil rights and other groups filed suit challenging the two measures last week.

Danny Thompson, Nevada State AFL-CIO executive secretary-treasurer, says one of the constitutional amendments was a “backdoor” move to enact paycheck deception rules.

Paycheck deception initiatives take away the freedom of union members to use payroll deductions for political purposes, which is one of the best ways for union members to pool resources—bit by bit, through our unions. The funds are used to counter the big-money contributors who relentlessly write fat checks for corporate-backed candidates. In the 2004 election cycle, corporations outspent unions by a ratio of 23­­­–to–1.

Also, buried deep in the other ballot measure was a provision that would have restricted the political rights of public employees. Thompson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Clearly the people promoting this thing are trying to deceive people. The reality of what this does is it stops firefighters, police officers, teachers and public employees from participating in Nevada’s political system….It prevents unions from having any political voice. It takes one segment of society and says, “You can’t participate in politics.” But it allows corporations to do political activity without any restrictions.

Kris Munn, head of the group pushing for the two ballot measures told the Review-Journal the group was getting funding from “some heavy donors” from out of state. But the longtime Republican activist and twice-failed state Assembly candidate refused to identify the donors who are financing the deceptively named Nevadans for Clean and Open Government.

However, Review-Journal columnist Erin Neff has a pretty good idea who some of the deep-pocketed out-of-staters may be, including Howard Rich and Grover Norquist. Both are longtime notorious ultra-conservative activists who meddle in state politics around the country. Norquist has been behind several paycheck deception measures, including the original 1996 California fight, while Rich, among other things, has footed the bill for various so-called Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) measures. TABOR ballot measures severely restrict state spending for vital public services.

Neff says Rich, a wealthy New York developer, has been a:

…regular player in recent election cycles….He’s dumped his money into several Nevada initiatives, including the popular eminent domain measure and the controversial Tax and Spending Control for Nevada [a failed TABOR measure in 2006].

She notes that Norquist’s group, Americans for Tax Reform, has backed paycheck deception measures in several states and is a ”likely sponsor” of the so-called “Clean Government” group behind the latest attempt in Nevada.

With the November elections on the horizon, extremist groups will be out in force pushing ballot measures like paycheck deception in Oregon, “right to work” for less in Colorado and other anti-worker measures. We’ll keep you posted.

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