State records show AFSCME Council 31 funnels membership dues into its political action committee, which just gave a record-breaking $767,800 donation to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan.

One school district in New Jersey has stopped deducting union dues and fees until it has new authorizations from employees to do so – a step in line with what the U.S. Supreme Court demanded of state and local government employers and government unions in Janus v. AFSCME. Illinois governments should follow suit.

At least 730 Cook County and 646 Chicago employees have been freed from paying forced union fees following the Janus v. AFSCME decision.

The 2017 permanent income tax hike took $732 from the median Illinois household, roughly the same as the $737 that will be returned to state workers who were previously forced to pay “fair share” fees to government unions.

The union’s own reporting shows only 20 percent of its overall spending is on “representational activities,” which should cause members to question what they are paying for.

State workers previously paying “fair share” fees no longer have money deducted from their paychecks on behalf of a union.

A bill freeing government unions from representing nonmember workers has been filed multiple times in recent years. But rather than rally around it, government unions stand in the way.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME means state workers previously paying “fair share” fees will no longer see any money deducted from their paychecks on behalf of a union.

What Harris has in common with Janus is immense courage. Both show the power of a single individual, an Illinoisan, to change the course of the state and the nation.

The state will stop deducting agency fees from workers who have opted out of the union, effective immediately.