Legislation to Respond to the Citizens United Decision: Myths & Realities Part 3
Legislation to respond to the Citizens United decision was introduced on
Myth: The Schumer-Van Hollen bill is biased because its restrictions do not apply to labor unions.
Reality: The legislation applies on a fair and even-handed basis to both labor unions and corporations, as well as to trade associations and non-profit advocacy groups.
Opponents of the legislation have argued that unions are exempt from the provisions in the bill that prohibit federal contractors from spending treasury funds to make independent expenditures or electioneering communications.
That claim is not true. The bill extends the longstanding prohibition in existing law on contributions by federal contractors to also cover independent expenditures and electioneering communications by contractors. But the bill does not change the definition in existing law of "federal contractors" that are subject to the prohibition.
Under existing law, a "federal contractor" is defined to include any "person" who enters into a contract with the
Thus, labor organizations are treated the same as corporations for purposes of the "federal contractor" provisions of the legislation.
Similarly, the bill treats labor unions and corporations, as well as trade associations and non-profit advocacy groups, on a fair and even-handed basis for purposes of the disclosure requirements in the bill.
The legislation imposes new disclosure requirements on "covered organizations" that make disbursements for independent expenditures and electioneering communications. The legislation defines "covered organizations" to include corporations, labor organizations, trade associations, non-profit advocacy groups and 527 political organizations. Thus, both corporations and labor organizations are required to disclose the expenditures they make for independent expenditures and electioneering communications, and also to disclose the donors who financed these expenditures, subject to appropriate threshold amounts.
The claim that labor unions are treated favorably by the legislation or that the legislation tilts to labor is simply not true.
