U.S. Supremes Hear Idaho Case One Day Before Amendment 49 Vote

The day before Colorado voters go to the polls (or at least the few that haven’t cast ballots already) to decide Amendment 49 – the Ethical Standards initiative concerning the use of government payroll systems – the U.S. Supreme Court today heard oral arguments (PDF) in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association (H/T Liberty Live).

What’s the connection? The Ysursa case is reviewing a law known as the Idaho Voluntary Contributions Act. As I pointed out many weeks ago, Amendment 49 is a better version of this clean government payroll law.

I previously discussed this issue with Mike Reitz of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation on an iVoices podcast:

It likely will be several months before our nation’s highest court renders a verdict on whether states like Idaho can pass laws restricting local governments from collecting PAC moneys through their payroll systems. But tomorrow we will most likely find out whether Amendment 49 somehow withstands the multi-million dollar deceptive (and in some cases illegal) onslaught of the Big Labor lobbyists’ campaign.