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Bucks County Let Falls Township Supervisors Slide on Tens of Thousands in Unreported Union Donations

(The article first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

 

Bucks County has taken no action against two Falls Township supervisors concerning tens of thousands of campaign contributions they accepted from a labor union but failed to report, files show.

The apparent violations of campaign-finance law – too many to be isolated mistakes – are so sweeping they blemish the leadership of the Bucks County Board of Elections which oversees local campaign-finance enforcement. The board is led by Bob Harvie, a Democratic county commissioner who previously served as a Falls supervisor alongside the two men in question.

Federal records show that, since 2021, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Political Action Committee donated $36,500 to Jeff Dence, one of five elected township supervisors, all Democrats. Dence, however, has not reported any of that money in his required campaign filings.

Similarly, since 2020, the IBEW donated $27,850 to township Supervisor Jeff Boraski. None of that was captured in local filings because Boraski disclosed none of it in a July 2020 report and has not submitted a single campaign filing since, despite his obligation to do so periodically.

The problem may run deeper.

Bucks County’s election office says it keeps campaign finance filings for five years. But because no reports before 2019 were preserved, it is therefore presently impossible to know how much more money Boraski or Dence may have failed to declare.

Federal campaign finance filings show the IBEW has donated a total of $82,850 to Boraski since he registered his committee in 2012. The union has donated $234,000 to the committees Dence has operated since 2009 – a tremendous sum considering his township’s population of only about 34,000.

 

Both Dence and Boraski are members of the IBEW Local 269 based directly across the Delaware River in Trenton, New Jersey, a union targeted in a multi-year probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The FBI has investigated accusations that Falls Township delayed issuing permits at the IBEW’s behest to pressure businesses into hiring union workers. In September 2022, Levittown Now reported that Harvie testified before the grand jury looking into the issue. IBEW PAC has given four- and sometimes five-figure sums to Harvie’s own committee most years going back to 2009, all of which he has reported. Harvie was a Falls supervisor (and sometimes board chairman) from 2008 to 2020 — serving with Dence and Boraski for most of that timespan.

Harvie currently chairs Bucks County’s three-member Board of Elections and has served on it as half of a Democratic majority for five years. During that time, the Board issued no letters to Boraski or Dence flagging unreported IBEW money, according to a Broad + Liberty review of Bucks’ compliance-letter files.

The county did send numerous letters to Boraski and Dence in 2019 and 2022 over failure to file reports on time, but it sent them nothing pertaining to unreported IBEW cash. While Boraski apparently stopped filing reports in 2020, the county has no record of mailing him compliance letters in 2021 or thereafter. (Election-office staff said compliance letters sent in 2020 do not remain on file.)

FEC records show Harvie and Dence once had a joint committee that received $9,000 from IBEW PAC in 2009. Neither Harvie nor his fellow Democratic County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, nor Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo responded to requests for comment.

(The IBEW PAC making the donations is a federal PAC that is national in scope. It gathers contributions from its many local affiliates and makes political contributions at the local, state, or federal level. IBEW Local 269 is a separate but affiliated organization and not solely responsible for the contributions mentioned in this article.)

County spokesman Jim O’Malley, addressing an inquiry sent to county Elections Director Tyler Burns, said the county examines potential problems with campaign-finance reports when it receives complaints about them.

“If and when a complaint is made, our Board of Elections office does look into these kinds of things,” he said.

Broad + Liberty originally reported on numerous compliance issues with both Boraski and Dence first in Sept. 2023, and then again in August 2024.

Dence’s Committees

IBEW PAC wasn’t the only campaign committee to give Boraski’s outfit money that he did not report; several of his former and current colleagues did too. Democratic Supervisor John Palmer’s committee gave $2,000 in October 2021, Friends of Jeffry Dence contributed $2,500 that November, and Friends of [former Democratic Supervisor] Jeff Rocco gave Boraski $1,000 in September as well as $900 in December of that year.

But while Boraski appears to have accepted donations from various funders and simply filed no reports, Dence’s handling of IBEW funds looks much more complicated.

While his current committee is called “Friends of Jeffry Dence,” the union instead reported contributing to “Friends of Jeff Dence,” a separate committee headquartered in the same locale but at a different address — and now closed.

Per a campaign-finance report the Bucks election office received on February 5, 2021, Dence terminated the committee. Available records do not show it was ever reopened.

A key question, then, is whether Dence continued to let IBEW PAC money flow into the same bank account once associated with his defunct committee or whether he received the funds into his current organization without declaring them. Neither Dence nor Rocco, who serves as Dence’s campaign treasurer, responded to an email asking about these matters.

All the while, because Boraski and Dence haven’t reported receiving federal IBEW money, they haven’t reported if or how it has been spent.

Philadelphia-based Republican election lawyer Matt Wolfe told Broad + Liberty that it’s a possibility that an entity like the IBEW could send a local candidate’s committee checks without noticing if the checks are being deposited or cashed, though he views that as “not likely.” Clerical error on IBEW’s part, he said, is also possible, though made “much less likely” when a candidate still has an operational committee as Dence does.

“Generally, even with clerical errors, it shows up in reports,” he said.

And while a clerical error will occasionally happen, Boraski and Dence’s omissions are so numerous as to cast doubt on that possibility.

Wolfe also explained that a local committee might hypothetically receive funds from a national outfit and specify that those checks be paid to a different political committee that is reporting the contributions, though that’s “not really the way you’re supposed to do it.”

Ultimately, he said, situations like Dence’s and Boraski’s tend to warrant investigation by legal authorities, usually the state attorney general’s office, though concerned parties could reasonably notify the Pennsylvania Department of State or the county Election Board as well.

“The whole system is predicated on transparency,” Wolfe said. “And it sounds like the IBEW is doing its job but clearly these players in [Falls Township,] Bucks County are thumbing their noses at the requirements of the law.”

Unexplained expenditures

To a lesser extent, other Falls supervisors’ campaign filings were also opaque. Numerous expenditures on reports submitted by Dence, Palmer, and their colleague Erin Mullen (D), another significant recipient of (properly reported) IBEW funds, fail to include a required description. The line provided for that purpose often read “Misc. Expense Reimbursement,” “campaign expense,” or just “expense.” In one case, Dence’s committee paid $224.28 to Rocco last March and left the description space blank.

Broad + Liberty filed voucher request forms to obtain copies of the receipts for all of the expenditures in question. While Dence, Palmer, and Mullen provided either receipts or check copies in every case, that often didn’t clarify the expenses’ purpose. Dence provided only check copies with phrases like “campaign expenses” and “expense reimbursement” written in the memo line. Dence’s check to Rocco said only “Campaign Reimbursement” in that space.

Dence also made campaign payments to himself, most of only about $300 or less, described vaguely as reimbursements. Mullen’s voucher-request responses provided more clarity, and none of her expenses appeared out of the ordinary — items like palm card printing, sign manufacture, design, and office equipment.

Still, Wolfe said, campaigns need to make sure they properly describe all payments on their campaign finance reports so any member of the public can easily discern their purposes.

“You need to be more descriptive than that,” he said.

Boraski, of course, has not described any expenditures — because he hasn’t reported any expenditures (or anything else) in over four years. Depending on whether he decides to run for re-election this year, the already substantial number of reports he apparently needs to file could grow even larger.

The supervisor has just entered the last year of his second six-year term. If he seeks reelection, he will need to submit nomination paperwork by mid-March.

Jeff Boraski, his wife and treasurer Dawn Boraski, and his former board colleague and campaign chairman Rocco all failed to respond to requests for comment. IBEW PAC also did not return an inquiry.

(Note: The $36,500 figure described as received and unreported by Dence does not include a $5,000 contribution IBEW PAC made in October 2021. While Dence reported that amount that autumn and did not correct it later, FEC records strangely indicate that payment was voided or returned.)

Philly Public Defender Wins Settlement Against UAW After Alleged Threats

When Brunilda Vargas, a Philadelphia public defender, told her United Auto Workers (UAW)-affiliated union she didn’t want to sign the automatic deduction authorization form for her union dues, she said she was threatened. She responded by filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Now the union has agreed to a settlement.

The news came on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Janus decision, which freed public sector employees from mandatory unionization as a condition of employment. And a new report found membership in the largest unions has fallen about 1o percent since the June 27, 2018 ruling.

Vargas said threats were made against her and her colleagues at the Defender Association of Philadelphia. Those threats came from a UAW union official and were made against public defenders who chose not to sign automatic dues deduction forms. Vargas made the filing with free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NRW). It called the result a “full victory” over the union.

“Vargas didn’t want to be forced to pay or sign a dues checkoff authorizing union dues to be taken out of her paycheck,” said William L. Messenger, vice president and legal director at NRW. “Under federal law, everyone, every private sector employee, has the right to choose whether or not to authorize these direct-payroll deductions union dues. In this case, the union president told Miss Vargas that she needed to sign the card; otherwise, she could lose benefits or perhaps even her job.”

According to NRW, the UAW entered into a settlement with NLRB saying it will now email and post notices to inform workers that UAW will not be working with employers to cut wages of non-union members that do not sign automatic reduction forms. UAW also will not be suggesting that not signing a dues deduction could lead to job loss.

As for a reaction to the settlement of the case, the UAW gave DVJournal a “no comment.”

“While we are happy that we were able to assist Vargas and her coworkers fight UAW misconduct, this instance is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to UAW malfeasance,” commented Mark Mix, President of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. “The recent federal probe into UAW officials stealing and misusing workers’ money has sent multiple top UAW bosses to jail and uncovered a shocking culture of contempt for workers’ rights.”

Because the Janus decision doesn’t cover her local municipal job, Vargas is still required to pay the dues, with or without an automatic deposit. That is why, Messenger said, Pennsylvania needs a Right To Work law.

“Because Pennsylvania isn’t a Right to Work state, Vargas can be required to pay some fees to the union,” says Messenger. “It’s called a Beck fee, and it’s not full union dues, but rather a reduced amount, and so unfortunately, she will have to pay some money to the union to keep her job, which we consider to be an injustice. Unfortunately, it is the state law in Pennsylvania right now. But at least she doesn’t have to sign up for payroll deduction, be a union member, and pay for union dues.”

Approximately 26 states and Guam have Right to Work laws. Pennsylvania legislators have debated the idea of becoming a Right to Work state but never went so far as to pass a bill in the House and Senate and get it signed into law by the governor.

Unions continue to argue that Right to Work does more harm than good, resulting in lower wages, fewer benefits, and unsafe working conditions. But they appeared to be losing that argument with federal employees.

According to the Freedom Foundation, “Federal reports show that, in the years since Janusmembership in the four largest labor unions representing public employees has declined by a whopping 733,745.”

“The declines have brought membership in some unions to the lowest levels on record and show no signs of abating,” the union watchdog organization said.

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MOONEY: Free Speech Suit against Teacher’s Union Could Boost Labor Reform

A Pennsylvania court may strike down a labor law that is clearly unconstitutional, but elected officials shouldn’t wait on the legal system to rectify state law with Supreme Court precedent, the lead sponsor of pending legislation said in an interview.

Since the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas is now expected to rule on the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s “fair share fee” law, state Rep. Kate Klunk, a York County Republican, sees an opportunity for her colleagues in both parties to “end the confusion” without delay. In 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that under the First Amendment government workers who are not union members cannot be forced to pay union fees.

The decision affected about 5 million workers in 22 states including Pennsylvania. But Klunk is concerned that too many public employees remain largely unaware of their rights despite the Supreme Court ruling. That’s why she’s sponsoring HB 2042, which would require public employers to notify nonunion members and new employees that they do not need to make financial contributions to a union as a condition of their employment.

“In my conversations with teachers and municipal employees, they are primarily concerned about doing their job whether it’s in the classroom or in another setting and they are not well versed with employment law,” Klunk observed. “Sometimes they don’t understand what they are signing, and they don’t have someone sitting there with them to go through the process.”

The first notification of employee rights would be sent out 30 days after Klunk’s bill becomes effective. From that point forward, notifications would be sent out annually every January. Klunk’s bill would also repeal the “fair share fee” law that is no longer enforceable after the Janus decision.

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court directed the Lancaster Court of Common Pleas to evaluate constitutional claims made against Pennsylvania labor laws that now conflict with federal law. A Lancaster judge had previously ruled that a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania State Education Association was moot after the union agreed to stop collecting fees from nonmembers.

“The courts want this issue of fair share fees settled,” Klunk said. “But we can do this much quicker legislatively, and we can do it in a matter of two to three weeks. I’d say we have all the more reason to do it now that this case has been kicked back to the Lancaster court. These cases are going to continue to play out until there’s some kind of finality. My bill strikes fair share fees from the books so they cannot be included in future contracts. We can end the confusion.”

The PSEA, the largest public employee union in the state, and its affiliates have inserted fee provisions into at least 20 collective bargaining agreements signed since the Janus decision, according to the Fairness Center, a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Harrisburg.

“The Supreme Court made clear in 2018 that public employee unions cannot force nonmembers to pay a union,” Nathan McGrath, president of the Fairness Center, said in a press statement. “But Pennsylvania law still says unions can do just that. And almost four years after Janus, PSEA and its affiliates have continued to write illegal fair share fee provisions into teachers’ collective bargaining agreements. Our clients want to force PSEA to respect the Supreme Court ruling.”

The Fairness Center represents retired Chester County teacher Jane Ladley and Lancaster County teacher Chris Meier in litigation they filed against the PSEA more than seven years ago. Both teachers raised religious objections toward paying the union. They also both had a right to send their fees to a charity rather than a union. But the PSEA rejected their charities of choice. After the Janus ruling, the union agreed to return the money to the teachers. But Ladley and Meier continue to seek definitive court action that would strike down the fair share fee law. The Lancaster court could potentially deliver that ruling.

On Tuesday, Klunk’s bill was among four of the labor reform bills the committee approved, which means they are all eligible for a full vote in the House. One of the other bills (HB 844) would protect the privacy of public employees so their personal information like their Social Security numbers, addresses, and phone numbers cannot be shared in the collective bargaining process. Another bill (HB 845) calls for greater transparency in the collective bargaining process while another (HB 2048), known as paycheck protection, prevents public employers from deducting political action committee (PAC) contributions from public employees’ wages using public payroll systems.

Nathan Benefield, senior vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation, offered the following comments:

“Pennsylvania should not have unconstitutional laws on its books. Nor should we use taxpayer-funded payroll systems to collect campaign cash. Correcting these problems will empower public employees and help ensure fairness in government. It’s encouraging to see House lawmakers moving to protect employees’ private data and shine the light of transparency on deals that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.”

 

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