Confiscated Money Buys Unions 24 Signatures For Bogus Freedom Foundation Complaint

Following the example of their legislative counterparts in Washington, 24 Oregon legislators, elected leaders and candidates this spring signed a letter of complaint to the Oregon Attorney General questioning the mission of the Freedom Foundation.

The tone of the document was one of studious detachment, as though the signees were nothing more than casual observers with no dog in the fight. But no one’s buying it.

Even a cursory look at the records of each reveals several common threads: Each is a Democrat, each is an uber-liberal even by Oregon standards, and one thing more: Each is firmly in the pocket of organized labor.

Of the 24 legislators who submitted the complaint, all but three are holding party seats. The remaining three are holding nonpartisan seats. One, Jules Bailey, when he held a legislative seat, held it as a Democrat.

Dick Schouten of Washington County is running for re-election and is uncontested. Portland City Council member Steve Novick is not endorsed by any conservative-leaning group both in endorsements and campaign contributions.

In total, the 24 signees account for approximately $1.25 million in campaign donations to their committees. That’s money that, in many cases, represents forced union dues being skimmed from a worker’s paycheck without them having the choice to object.

It is $1.25 million reasons why Freedom Foundation established its Labor Reform Project.

The top recipient of labor or labor influenced dollars is Rep. Val Hoyle, current candidate for Oregon Secretary of State, former member of Oregon’s House of Representatives from the 14th District and House Majority Leader.

She attended the AFL-CIO convention in Seaside last fall, championing all the great policies labor unions would want.

The AFL-CIO is also a member of the “coalition” that comprises the Freedom Foundation’s opponents, requested Hoyle’s signature on the complaint to Oregon’s Attorney General and received it. Of course Hoyle would sign that complaint; she wouldn’t risk losing union support.

Interestingly, one of her opponents in her current race, Sen. Richard Devlin, also signed the complaint form. While his campaign finance committee doesn’t show AFL-CIO contributions, UFCW55, Oregon Nurses Political Action Committee, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters are contributors. All of them are listed as members of the coalition as well. Of course Devlin would sign the complaint for the same reasons Hoyle would.

House Rep. Shemia Fagan (HD51) has recently declared she won’t seek re-election. However, since 2012, she has held the competitive seat. Her House district is a great example of the influence of labor money in politics. District 51 is a competitive district in Clackamas County.

In 2012 and 2014, as highlighted in our “Buying Our Politicians” brochure, 81 percent of Fagan’s campaign was labor money and she outspent her competitor by roughly 50 percent. That means Fagan could double the radio, TV, direct mail and voter contact her competitor could with a simple phone call — in this case, to many labor organizations and their friends.

Interestingly, Basic Rights Oregon, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and UFCW55 all were big contributors to her campaign. All of them are listed as members of the coalition as well.

Of course Fagan would sign the complaint.

The other top recipient of labor dollars to their campaign finance committee is Rep. Rob Nosse, who won his first race for his seat House District 42 in Southeast Portland in 2014. It was easy for him to receive the lion’s share of his campaign money from the Oregon Nurses Political Action Committee; he’s a former union organizer for them. He simply needed to make a phone call and the money flowed – to the tune of $27,000 from the Oregon Nurses PAC alone, in a race he would safely win in deep-blue district.

Other contributors to Nosse include Basic Rights Oregon and UFCW55 — all members of the coalition that spurred the complaint against Freedom Foundation. Of course Nosse would sign the complaint. He is signing in support of his employer, who got him elected.

It’s no surprise these legislative members would follow orders and sign a complaint. Given their manifest dependence on scraps thrown from the union table, it’d be a much bigger story if they didn’t. And for that matter, given the vast amounts of someone else’s money the unions throw around in Oregon, the real shocker is that only 24 did as they were told and signed a completely frivolous, baseless complaint.