» Union-weakening law stalls in meeting; future unclear,

A showdown between conservative groups and the unions that represent Texas teachers and other public employees is now resting at the feet of state Rep. Byron Cook.

Cook chairs the House State Affairs Committee, which Thursday morning heard two hours of often-passionate testimony on Senate Bill 1968, a proposal that would weaken many public employees unions. Cook then left the bill pending and called it “severely flawed.”

The Corsicana Republican said the bill is poorly written and would not come to the House floor in its current form.

The question is whether it will emerge from the committee in some other form.

The proposal from state Sen. Joan Huffman would ban automatic paycheck deductions for many public employees. Teachers, for example, could no longer have the school district collect their dues. The bill’s supporters say it will keep unions from using government for political ends.

Labor advocates say the bill attempts to address a problem that does not exist. They say Texas isn’t Wisconsin — where Gov. Scott Walker’s union-busting efforts sparked massive protests and national news coverage.

Unions have far less power in Texas — no one can be forced to join a union here — but business groups are impatient to see changes, along with conservative activists such as Michael Quinn Sullivan, president of Empower Texans.

Labor advocates said the bill would cripple membership by removing the easiest way for members to pay their dues. Cathe Wilson, a corrections officer and president of the Gatesville Local 3920, said that an overworked corrections force has one less thing to worry about with automatic deductions.

She told the committee she works 12-hour days while raising a grandson.

“We’re little people, we need to be going forward, not backward to the (horse-and-) buggy days,” she said.

The debate has carried a strong partisan edge, with campaign donations a central issue. Building contractors, business groups and the state Republican Party say the dues sustain organizations that overwhelmingly support Democrats.

KeepTexasWorking.org calculated that Texas Democrats received more than 98 percent of the $3.8 million donat- ed in the last three state election cycles from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union.

Critics of Huffman’s bill say political contributions are a red herring because dues cannot be donated directly to candidates. Therefore, no donations are collected by the government. Union members must make a separate donations to the political arm of a union.

The otherwise straightforward political calculus has been thrown off by the state’s public safety unions. Many police and firefighter unions, though exempted from the bill, oppose it, saying it could set a precedent that could eventually apply to them.

Lance Lowry, president of the 4,000-member Texas Correctional Employees association, said the bill would affect his members and their political preferences should not be overlooked.

“Most of my membership is Republican. Most corrections officers are Republican,” Lowry said. “The situation (here) is totally different in Wisconsin. (Bill supporters) brought a northern issue to the state of Texas.”