Anti-Idaho Education Association lawmakers couldn’t get their union-busting bill past the finish line during the 2024 legislative session. But they’re not done trying.
Rep. Judy Boyle (R-Midvale) brought House Bill 98 before the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday. All committee members voted to introduce the legislation.
“This is basically a cleaned-up bill from last year,” Boyle said. The goal, she said, is to “ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to support teacher unions.”
Once again, the proposed legislation aims to strip authority from local school districts to work cooperatively or negotiate in good faith with local chapters of IEA or any other education union. If enacted, members would be prohibited from receiving compensation or work leave related to the union. In addition, the bill includes a provision prohibiting educators from paying their union dues through payroll deduction — a union-busting tactic that has been deployed with success against sister state affiliates of the IEA.
“Make no mistake — this legislation is nothing less than an attempt to cripple or even eliminate the IEA altogether,” said IEA President Layne McInelly. “This attack on our members and our union is retribution for this union’s success and continuing work to defend public schools, Idaho students and our fellow educators.”
In response, McInelly called on all IEA members who still use payroll deduction to switch to IEA AutoPay.
“IEA members cannot let the Idaho Legislature come between them and their union,” McInelly said. “Until every IEA member uses IEA AutoPay to pay their dues, IEA is vulnerable to this kind of attack. We must take this weapon away from anti-public education lawmakers who would support legislation like this.”
A public hearing for the bill is expected next week. During the introductory hearing, some committee members questioned the bill’s principles.
“I think there’s some significant national research that shows that students perform better in schools where there’s a tight relationship between the teachers’ union and in the district and the school board,” Rep. Todd Achilles (D-Boise) told Boyle. “I am concerned that this would make it harder for those two groups to collaborate, with the effect that student outcomes will fall. So I think that when this comes back to committee, I’d love to just get into some of that research with you and discuss that.”
During 2024’s legislative session, a similar bill was dramatically defeated on the floor of the House of Representatives thanks to the influence of IEA members and a coalition of pro-public education stakeholders and key labor unions in the state. Fellow union members stood shoulder-to-shoulder with IEA members to defeat that bill.
“Last year, IEA members turned out in force against anti-union legislation,” said IEA Political Director Chris Parri. “This year, we’ll need members’ voices once again to defeat another bad bill.”
