Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Today, Democrats are bringing to the floor a piece of unnecessary and unwanted legislation that seeks to unionize childcare providers and personal care attendants -- many of which are independent small business owners.
It's almost completely unprecedented to attempt to unionize a group of independent small business owners. Unlike a normal union that organizes employees in order to negotiate with an employer, these providers are independent, and would see little tangible benefit from the formation of a union. A recent poll of providers showed that 86% of childcare providers do not favor any attempt form a union.
With so little time remaining in session, it's outrageous that Democrats want to bring this legislation to the floor. It represents a political payback to special interest labor bosses that spent millions of dollars and helped vault Democrats into the majority. In fact, the bill's author admitted as much on WCCO earlier this week, agreeing that the bill was a "thank you" from Democrats and the Governor. Watch the clip by clicking on the video below:
Click to watch
This is a bad bill for Minnesota families and children. Providers who don't wish to join the union or pay union dues will be forced not to accept children of low-income parents who rely on state subsidy money from the Childcare Assistance Program (C-CAP). This means fewer choices for low-income parents for the care of their children, and could result in higher childcare costs, with the cost of union dues being passed on from the providers to the parents.
Democrats should be focused on doing what's best for the state of Minnesota, not what's best for the union special interests that helped get them elected. We still have a budget that remains unacceptably complete. We were sent here to pass a budget, and this represents a huge distraction that reflects the completely misplaced priorities of the Democrat majority.
I plan to vote against this piece of legislation, and urge you to contact Governor Dayton at 651-201-3400 and urge him to veto this legislation if it reaches his desk.
Have a great rest of your weekend,
Rep. Matt Dean