Union gift basket

It’s less than a week into the 2017 Legislature, but already a contender has emerged for the session’s worst bill.

Freshman lawmaker Steve Yeager, a Las Vegas Democrat, offers up Assembly Bill 121, a swift kick in the groin to the state taxpayer. The measure is an overstuffed gift basket for government unions that promises to transfer millions from the pockets of hard-working Nevadans into the coffers of public-sector labor organizations, which will return the affection by showering campaign contributions on legislative Democrats.

Not surprisingly, Assemblyman Yeager, a public defender, moonlights as a government employee and is only too happy to perpetuate that noxious cycle.

AB 121 essentially seeks to repeal Senate Bill 241, which lawmakers passed in 2015. It implemented a handful of revisions with regard to government unions and collective bargaining. Mr. Yeager’s move to undo those measures would have major ramifications for those paying the bills.

His proposal would reimpose so-called “evergreen clauses” on public-sector labor deals. Such provisions call for the automatic extension of a bargaining agreement during contract negotiations, allowing government workers to continue to receive raises and other benefits even after deals have expired. Evergreen clauses are a drain on taxpayers because they minimize any incentive for the union to compromise during a process already heavily skewed in favor of labor.

Mr. Yeager’s proposal also drops prohibitions in SB241 against public employees tending to union business while on the clock. Translation: Mr. Yeager is eager to force taxpayers to cover the costs of a government worker’s organized labor activities.

SB 241 had overwhelming support in 2015, passing the upper chamber 15-4 and the lower house with no opposition, 41-0. Where is the appetite to reverse those taxpayerfriendly reforms?

AB 121 deserves a swift and unceremonious burial.