TITLE 33

EDUCATION

CHAPTER 12

TEACHERS

33-1277.  TAXPAYER FUNDING OF TEACHERS UNIONS PROHIBITED. (1) No school district, including a specially chartered district, or its agents or representatives, may use or authorize the use of taxpayer funds to support teachers unions by:

(a)  Deducting dues, fees, assessments, fines, or contributions from the pay of a professional employee on behalf of a teachers union or its affiliate;

(b)  Increasing a professional employee’s compensation with the intent that the additional compensation, or a part of it, be used to pay teachers union or affiliate dues, fees, assessments, fines, or contributions;

(c)  Providing more personal or contact information of a professional employee to a teachers union or its affiliate than the school district is required to disclose pursuant to chapter 1, title 74, Idaho Code, unless the school district receives written authorization from the professional employee to disclose additional information;

(d)  Requiring or coercing a professional employee to meet, communicate, listen to, or otherwise interact with a teachers union or its affiliate;

(e)  Distributing communications or membership solicitations on behalf of a teachers union or its affiliate;

(f)  Contributing funds to, or expending funds on behalf of, a teachers union or its affiliate; or

(g)  Except as provided by sections 33-1216 and 33-1279, Idaho Code, and except as otherwise provided by this section, providing any form of compensation or paid leave to a public employee, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of engaging in teachers union activities.

(2)  If provided by a negotiated agreement between a school district, including a specially chartered district, and a teachers union:

(a)  A professional employee may be granted time off without pay or benefits to engage in teachers union activities, and a teachers union may compensate a professional employee for engaging in teachers union activities.

(b)  A professional employee may use compensated personal leave, whether the professional employee’s own leave or leave voluntarily donated by other professional employees, to engage in teachers union activities if:

(i)   The leave is accrued at the same rate by similarly situated professional employees of the school district without regard to membership or participation in a teachers union; and

(ii)  The professional employee may freely choose how to use the leave.

(c)  A professional employee may engage in representational activities while in a duty status without loss of pay or benefits if:

(i)   The teachers union reports to the school district no less than twice per year the amount of time, in increments rounded to the nearest quarter of an hour, spent on representational activities each day by each professional employee engaged in representational activities;

(ii)  The school district calculates the pro rata value of compensation, including wages and benefits, paid or accruing to a professional employee for time spent engaged in representational activities and provides an invoice to the teachers union no less than twice per year for the amounts so calculated; and

(iii) Upon receipt of the invoice from the school district, the teachers union remits full payment to the school district within thirty (30) days.

(3)(a)  A person who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250).

(b)  A person who knowingly violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500).

(c)  A person who knowingly violates the provisions of this section and who has previously admitted to committing or has been previously determined to have committed a violation pursuant to this subsection shall be subject to a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).

(4)  The attorney general or appropriate county prosecutor may investigate complaints regarding violations of this section and shall ensure the effective enforcement of this section.

History:

[33-1277, added 2026, ch. 342, sec. 4, p. 1329.]