In 1968, Governor Ronald Reagan signed the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act endowing police and other local personnel with the power to bargain collectively with the governments that employ them, setting cities and counties on a path to fiscal disaster and turning local and county public employees into political powerhouses. The next decade, Governor Jerry Brown signed the Rodda and Dills Acts extending the same powers to school and state employees, producing the same disastrous outcomes. No three bills have done more damage to California’s governance.
Earlier this year a bill was introduced to endow legislative staff with collective bargaining powers. Needless to say, it would be disastrous to grant legislative staff the political power to influence elected representatives to whom they are supposed to provide uninterested advice. So far, GFC has been able to stop the bill from advancing, but you can be sure public employee union organizers will keep trying.
Had something like GFC launched in (say) 1961 instead of 2011, California wouldn’t be controlled by public employee unions and other special interests today. If you want good state governance you have to put your shoulder to the political wheel and keep it there. If you haven’t already, support us here.
