While public-sector unions file lawsuits to block President Donald Trump’s reforms to the bureaucracy, federal government workers are getting paid by the taxpayer for time they spend doing work for those very same unions.
The little-known practice of “official time” allows bureaucrats to bill the taxpayer for hours they spend doing work for the union. Members of Congress have filed bills to ban the practice, but a budget expert suggests that taxing the practice instead might pose a smaller hurdle for getting it through Congress.
While most bills face a 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster and get through the Senate, senators could pass such a tax through a process known as budget reconciliation—a process by which bills only require a majority of senators’ votes to pass.
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., a member of the House Budget Committee, told The Daily Signal he supports the idea of taxing official time.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t be footing the bill for federal employees to conduct union business instead of fulfilling their official duties,” Cline said in an emailed statement Wednesday. “Taxing or ending ‘official time’ altogether are commonsense options to ensure taxpayer dollars are used responsibly while increasing accountability in the federal workforce.” […]
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