Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Decision On Labor Unions Could Jeopardize Funding Pipeline To Progressive Initiatives
The New York Times: Supreme Court Defeat For Unions Upends A Liberal Money Base
The Supreme Court decision striking down mandatory union fees for government workers was not only a blow to unions. It will also hit hard at a vast network of groups dedicated to advancing liberal policies and candidates. Some of these groups work for immigrants and civil rights; others produce economic research; still others turn out voters or run ads in Democratic campaigns. Together, they have benefited from tens of millions of dollars a year from public-sector unions — funding now in jeopardy because of the prospective decline in union revenue. (Scheiber, 7/1)
Chicago Tribune: Case Over Home Health Care Workers' Union Fees Must Be Reconsidered, Supreme Court Says
As many as 80,000 Illinois home health care workers will get a second shot at recovering $32 million in union fees, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision earlier this week in a case over payments to unions. The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision last year in a case involving whether the home health care workers, paid with Medicaid dollars, should be able to recoup money the state took out of their paychecks for “fair share” union fees between 2008 and 2014. Those “fair share” fees covered the costs of collective bargaining even though those workers were not union members. (Schencker, 6/29)
Meanwhile —
The New York Times: How Conservatives Weaponized The First Amendment
On the final day of the Supreme Court term last week, Justice Elena Kagan sounded an alarm. The court’s five conservative members, citing the First Amendment, had just dealt public unions a devastating blow. The day before, the same majority had used the First Amendment to reject a California law requiring religiously oriented “crisis pregnancy centers” to provide women with information about abortion. Conservatives, said Justice Kagan, who is part of the court’s four-member liberal wing, were “weaponizing the First Amendment.” (Liptak, 6/30)
