Paul Kersey
Director of Labor Policy

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE UNION PAC DATABASE
The database shows which Illinois politicians have received donations between 2002 to 2012 from PACs associated with:
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO);
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME);
Illinois Education Association (IEA);
Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT); and
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

In a November 2012 Chicago Tribune op-ed, businessman and likely gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner called attention to the destructive role that government employee unions have played in Illinois. This is something that we have sounded the alarm about ourselves: Government employee unions have been put in a position where they have unparalleled leverage over politicians. This leverage comes through collective bargaining and large sums of money – in the form of mandatory union dues – that is guaranteed by contract and funded by taxpayers, with little accountability for how it is spent.

At the end of his article Rauner called for Illinois voters to pay close attention to which politicians are receiving the bulk of government union support. This is sound advice, and to help Illinoisans identify candidates who are most dependent on union support, we present the following union Political Action Committee, or PAC, database, compiled by ilreference.com from information found at followthemoney.org. The database shows which Illinois politicians have received donations from PACs associated with: the AFL-CIO; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME; Illinois Education Association; Illinois Federation of Teachers; and Service Employees International Union from 2002 to 2012.

Union support is strongly tilted toward the Democratic Party, with GOP elected officials receiving only $0.25 for every dollar going to Democratic elected officials. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has been the largest beneficiary of union PACs, receiving more than $3 million during the last 10 years. Former Illinois Comptroller Daniel Hynes, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich – all Democrats – were also big union PAC recipients, taking in $800,000, $1.3 million and $1.8 million respectively. But Republicans have not been ignored: House Republican Leader Tom Cross has taken more than $417,000 in union PAC donations.

Readers should bear in mind that PAC contributions are only one modest part of the union political machine. Many of the largest union groups have their own lobbying, get-out-the-vote and issue advocacy arms as well. PAC spending has been estimated to be as little as one-fourth of the full amount that unions devote to politics. Nonetheless, PAC contributions to elected officials are a useful guide to which politicians are most dependent upon union support and are most likely to give in to union demands.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE UNION PAC DATABASE