SF 4129

03/13/25  REVISOR  VH/HL  25-04426      as introduced
  SENATE
  STATE OF MINNESOTA
  NINETY-FOURTH SESSION  S.F. No. 4129
  (SENATE AUTHORS: PRATT, Rarick and Coleman)
  DATE       D-PG  OFFICIAL STATUS
  03/04/2026      6483 Introduction and first reading
  Referred to Labor
  03/23/2026      6919 Author stricken Seeberger
1.1A bill for an act
1.2relating to labor; allowing union members who are teachers to allocate union dues
1.3to the local, state, or national organization of their choice; requiring that public
1.4employees who are teachers be notified of their rights under state and federal law;
1.5amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections 10A.12, subdivision 5; 179A.06,
1.6subdivision 6; 181.06, subdivision 2.
1.7    BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
1.8Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 10A.12, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
1.9Subd. 5. Dues or membership fees. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), an
1.10   association may, if not prohibited by other law, deposit in its political fund money derived
1.11   from dues or membership fees. Under section 10A.20, the treasurer of the fund must disclose
1.12   the name of any member whose dues, membership fees, and contributions deposited in the
1.13   political fund together exceed $200 in a year.
1.14(b) A private employee who is a teacher, as defined under section 179A.03, subdivision
1.15   18, who joins a union may elect to allocate all or a portion of their union dues or membership
1.16   fees to the local, state, or national organization of their choice. An exclusive representative
1.17   of the organization must provide union members notice of this option, and any dues deduction
1.18   authorization must clearly provide members who are teachers this choice. In the absence
1.19   of an exclusive representative, a private union member who is a teacher has the right to
1.20   request and be allowed a payroll deduction for the local, state, or national organization of
1.21   their choice.
Section 1.  1
 03/13/25  REVISOR  VH/HL  25-04426  as introduced
2.1    Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 179A.06, subdivision 6, is amended to read:
2.2      Subd. 6. Payroll deduction, authorization, and remittance. (a) A public employee
2.3  may request payroll deduction for the exclusive representative that represents the employee's
2.4  position and its associated political fund under section 10A.12, or, if the employee is a
2.5  teacher, as defined under section 179A.03, subdivision 18, to allocate all or a portion of
2.6  their union dues or membership fees to the local, state, or national organization of their
2.7  choice, as provided in paragraph (h). If no exclusive representative represents an employee's
2.8  position, the public employee may request payroll deduction for the organization of the
2.9  employee's choice. A public employer must provide payroll deduction according to any
2.10 public employee's request under this paragraph.
2.11     (b) A public employer must rely on a certification from an exclusive representative
2.12 requesting remittance of a deduction that the organization has and will maintain an
2.13 authorization signed, either by hand or electronically according to section 325L.02, paragraph
2.14 (h), by the public employee from whose salary or wages the deduction is to be made. An
2.15 exclusive representative making a certification is not required to provide the public employer
2.16 a copy of the authorization unless a dispute arises about the authorization's existence or
2.17 terms.
2.18     (c) A payroll deduction authorization is effective until the exclusive representative
2.19 notifies the employer that a public employee has changed or canceled the employee's
2.20 authorization in writing in accordance with the terms of the original authorization. When
2.21 determining whether deductions have been properly changed or canceled, a public employer
2.22 must rely on information from the exclusive representative receiving remittance of the
2.23 deduction.
2.24     (d) Deduction authorization under this section is:
2.25     (1) independent from the public employee's membership status in the organization to
2.26 which payment is remitted; and
2.27     (2) effective regardless of whether a collective bargaining agreement authorizes the
2.28 deduction.
2.29     (e) An employer must:
2.30     (1) begin deductions within 30 days after an exclusive representative submits a
2.31 certification under paragraph (b); and
2.32     (2) remit the deductions to the exclusive representative, or, for employees who are
2.33 teachers, to the organization of the public employee's choice, within 30 days of the deduction.
 Sec. 2.  2
 03/13/25  REVISOR  VH/HL  25-04426  as introduced
3.1      (f) An exclusive representative must indemnify a public employer:
3.2      (1) for any successful employee claim for unauthorized employer deductions made by
3.3  relying on an exclusive representative's certification under paragraph (b); and
3.4      (2) for any successful employee claim for unauthorized employer deductions made by
3.5  relying on information for changing or canceling deductions under paragraph (c), with
3.6  indemnification including any reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs.
3.7      (g) Any dispute under this subdivision must be resolved through an unfair labor practice
3.8  proceeding under section 179A.13. It is an unfair labor practice if an employer fails to
3.9  comply with paragraph (e), and the employer must reimburse deductions that should have
3.10 been made or remitted based on a valid authorization given by the employee or employees.
3.11     (h) The exclusive representative shall inform public employees who are teachers of the
3.12 option to allocate their union dues or membership fees to the local, state, or national
3.13 organization of their choice. Any dues deduction authorization must clearly provide public
3.14 employees who are teachers this choice.
3.15     (i) The exclusive representative shall inform public employees who are teachers that
3.16 federal law prohibits them from being compelled to join a union or pay dues or fees to a
3.17 union. Any dues deduction authorization must clearly provide public employees who are
3.18 teachers with this notice.
3.19   Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 181.06, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
3.20     Subd. 2. Payroll deductions. A written contract may be entered into between an employer
3.21 and an employee wherein the employee authorizes the employer to make payroll deductions
3.22 for the purpose of paying union dues, premiums of any life insurance, hospitalization and
3.23 surgical insurance, group accident and health insurance, group term life insurance, group
3.24 annuities or contributions to credit unions or a community chest fund, a local arts council,
3.25 a local science council or a local arts and science council, or Minnesota benefit association,
3.26 a federally or state registered political action committee, membership dues of a relief
3.27 association governed by sections 424A.091 to 424A.096 or Laws 2013, chapter 111, article
3.28 5, sections 31 to 42, contributions to a nonprofit organization that is tax exempt under section
3.29 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, or participation in any employee stock purchase plan
3.30 or savings plan for periods longer than 60 days, including gopher state bonds established
3.31 under section 16A.645. A private sector employer must make payroll deductions to a nonlabor
3.32 organization under this subdivision when requested by five or more employees, or, if the
3.33 employee is a teacher, as defined under section 179A.03, subdivision 18, to the labor
 Sec. 3.  3
03/13/25  REVISOR  VH/HL  25-04426  as introduced
4.1 organization of the private employee's choosing, as provided in section 10A.12, subdivision
4.2 5.
Sec. 3.  4