U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) has recently expressed support for a bill sponsored by Democrats, which seeks to prohibit tax deductions for anti-union efforts.
On May 13, Schatz announced on Twitter that he was proud to endorse U.S. Sen. Bob Casey's (D-PA) No Tax Breaks for Union Busting Act, which seeks to outlaw the practice.
"Companies shouldn’t be able to save money on their taxes by busting unions," Schatz tweeted.
The legislation proposed by Casey would make it unlawful to claim tax deductions for any anti-union activity, regardless of legality.
Examples of illegal activity include violations of the National Labor Relations, whereas anti-union advertising campaigns are examples of legal activities, according to a Bloomberg Law.
“Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent every year busting unions, and they spend all of those hundreds of millions, and then they get a tax break from our tax code,” Casey said, according to Bloomberg Law.
In addition, businesses would be required to document their involvement in protected labor activities to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Supporters of the measure include U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).
“The fact is, anti-union speech is political speech, and any political speech is not tax-deductible,” Wyden told Bloomberg Law. “We are very much in line with precedent and history.”
Currently, no Republican senators are cosponsoring the legislation.