The House Education Committee voted 9-5 Wednesday in favor of HB475, which would change rules governing how employees can join and leave unions. The bill comes just weeks after the Utah Education Association (UEA) and other unions claimed victory when the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ruling against a state law that prohibited public employers from withholding voluntary political contributions, such as for a union's political action committee, from employees' paychecks.

HB475 doesn't deal with deductions for political purposes, but it would require an employee to submit a written request to an employer to have money deducted from payroll for a union. It also would prohibit a union from obligating employees to make union payments for any longer than one month and it would change the windows during which employees can join and leave unions.

Representatives from the Utah School Employees Association, the UEA and American Federation of Teachers spoke against the bill.

Susan Kuziak, UEA executive director, said the association is a private entity, so the state shouldn't be able to dictate terms of its contracts.

"It would be like telling Verizon or AT&T you can't have a contract for services that extends more than a month," Kuziak said. She said the UEA has year-long memberships for planning and budgeting purposes. She also called the bill "premature" in light of the recent court decision, which could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Though that decision dealt largely with payroll deductions for PACs, it also could have other implications in how states regulate payroll deductions.

Bill sponsor Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, said he sponsored the bill partly to make the process of joining and leaving unions more open. The committee approved the bill only after Hughes agreed to address some of the issues before the bill is heard on the House floor.