Texas PACS: A Roundup of the Special Interests Driving Texas' Political Action Committees

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Labor PACs

Ninety-three labor PACs spent a total of $2.6 million, accounting for 5 percent of all PAC money—hardly the display of power that one would expect from “Big Labor Bosses.”

Significantly, 42 public safety PACs formed the biggest labor subcategory, accounting for 38 percent of all labor money. Police officers and firefighters are hardly the typical union-boss poster children. The San Antonio Police Officers Association led the public safety PACs with $231,865, while San Antonio Firefighters spent $108,288. Harris County Deputies spent $155,745.

White Collar
After public safety PACs are taken out of the mix, 17 public-sector, white-collar PACs ($742,795) out spent 30 blue collar PACs ($665,091), accounting for 29 percent of all labor PAC spending. Reflecting this shift in the U.S. labor force, public-sector, white-collar employees in the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) now account for 10 percent of AFL-CIO members. Without expanding this base, organized labor will not be very relevant to the 21st Century. A massive challenge to this organizing agenda comes in the drive to privatize government services, a trend that drives down wages and depletes AFSCME’s potential membership base.²⁸

A related battle involves controversial proposals to use tax dollars to finance private-school vouchers. Should this practice become widespread, a political consequence would be replacing unionized public school teachers with non-unionized private school teachers. In California, a creationism voucher group called the Education Alliance spearheaded a state initiative to cripple union political spending (by requiring each member to approve the political use of their dues each year). The Alliance launched this effort after teacher union money helped defeat a conservative school board candidate.²⁹

In recent years in Texas, teachers accounted for 79 percent of all white-collar labor PAC expenditures. The Texas State Teachers Association (TSTA) led white collar PACs with $342,368. ACT for Texas Classroom Teachers Association, which broke away from the TSTA when it became an affiliate of the National Education Association, spent $101,384. Finally, the Texas Federation of Teachers (TFT), combined with six of its local affiliates, spent a total of $75,833. All three of these teacher groups belong to the Coalition for Public Schools, which opposes school vouchers.³⁰ Non-teacher unions accounted for just five public-sector, white-collar labor PACs. The Texas Court Reporters Association spent $74,150 and the County Treasurer Association spent $36,138.31 The Texas Public Employees Association spent $23,389, while the Public Employee Pension Defense Fund spent $21,700.

Blue Collar
Thirty blue-collar unions accounted for 26 percent of all labor PAC spending. Ten transportation unions supplied the most horse power, accounting for 55 percent of all blue-collar PAC spending. The United Transportation Union led blue-collar PACs with $122,950. The Teamsters (which recently won gains in a United Parcel Service strike and lost former union president Ron Carey in a campaign fundraising scandal) spent $94,281. The Houston Dock and Marine Council, which is funded by Longshoremen and Pipefitters unions, spent $61,822. The next most important transportation union PACs were the Longshoremen ($28,850), the Transport Workers Union ($28,766) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ($26,623).

After the transportation industry, plumber and pipefitter unions came next in blue-collar PAC spending. Three plumber/pipefitter unions spent $117,338. The next biggest spenders were the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ($82,814), the Ironworkers ($39,177) and the United Auto Workers ($33,950).

AFL-CIO
Finally, the AFL-CIO’s Committee on Political Education and its local chapters, spent a total of $186,910. This AFL-CIO money is less than half of what was spent by single PACs affiliated with the following seven corporations: Houston Industries, American Airlines, Compass Bancshares, Enron, Associates First Capital, Burlington Northern Railroad and Farmers Insurance.

Several substantial unions in Texas do not appear here. The state chapters of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Communications Workers of America (with combined Texas memberships of 50,000) apparently move political funds through their national offices. A loophole in state election law exempts many out-of-state PACs from having to file reports with the Texas Ethics Commission. The Texas State Employees Union channels its political funds through the PAC of the Texas AFL-CIO, funds which do appear here.

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