Forced Unionism Linked to Public-Payroll Bloat
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Taxpayers Suffer Dearly, But Most Public Servants Benefit Little.
state and local tax burdens are on average significantly more onerous in states where compulsory union dues are permitted than in states where they are prohibited. In fact, data published in a report issued this April by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, taken in conjunction with U.S. Census Bureau data, show that in 2011 state and local taxes combined consumed 10.7% of all personal income in the 28 states that then lacked Right to Work laws. That same year, state and local taxes accounted for just 8.6% of personal income in the 22 states that protected employees Right to Work at the time. (Indiana’s and Michigan’s Right to Work laws took effect in 2012 and 2013, respectively.) The 11 states with the heaviest state and local tax burdens in 2011 (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, Rhode Island, Vermont, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts) are all forced-unionism. Meanwhile, 10 of the 12 states with the least burdensome state and local taxes are Right to Work. On average, state and local taxes consumed a 25% higher share of personal income in forced-unionism states than in Right to Work states in 2011.
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