Florida Sues Biden Admin Over Threats To Withhold Funds over Union Regulations

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that the Biden administration threatened to withhold grant funding over a new state union law, according to an office press release.

The suit claims that the federal government is violating the Spending Clause and the Administrative Procedure Act by threatening to withhold more than $800 million in funding for not complying with federal union laws after the state passed SB 256 earlier this year, according to a press release from Moody’s office. SB 256 places a number of restrictions on public unions, including a prohibition from using government resources to deduct union dues from certain workers’ paychecks, requiring unions to notify members of the cost of membership and requiring unions to undergo annual audits and financial disclosures, according to a press release.

“Florida passed laws to protect workers from being strong-armed by unions,” Moody said in the office press release. “Biden, intent on driving our country into the ground, continues to try to force states to implement his bad policies. As long as I am Florida’s Attorney General, Washington will never decide how we run our state. We’re pushing back against this overreach to protect our state’s autonomy and Florida workers.”

Florida passed laws to protect workers from being strong-armed by unions. @JoeBiden, intent on driving our country into the ground, continues to try to force states to implement his bad policies.

We’re pushing back against this overreach to protect our state’s autonomy and… pic.twitter.com/wNt50r0miA

— AG Ashley Moody (@AGAshleyMoody) October 4, 2023

Local transportation authorities and local governments have requested waivers since the law took effect on July 1, according to Politico. Florida agreed to temporarily grant the waivers, and the Florida Public Transportation Association sent a letter in August raising concern that funding would be pulled after the Department of Labor said the temporary waivers did not meet grant eligibility requirements.

“To be clear, Florida has no intention of abolishing the collective bargaining rights of transportation workers,” the AG office press release reads. “The Biden Administration reads the phrase ‘continuation of collective bargaining rights’ in § 5333(b) to mean that Florida cannot enact reasonable regulations governing the collective bargaining process, such as those the Legislature enacted earlier this year in Senate Bill 256 (SB 256). The Department of Labor’s application of § 5333(b) to the State of Florida is flagrantly unconstitutional.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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