Metro East Sun

Republican candidate Dwight Kay said the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Janus case was decades in the making and a clear-cut indicator of how much more needs to be done.

“This is a good day because I think it’s taken about 30-years to get to this point,” Kay told the Metro East Sun. “The real issues in Illinois are the reforms that are still needed. I’m not persuaded that this alone is enough to turn the state around or change the completion of things. The mass exodus from this state hasn’t revolved around the Janus case. There’s still a lot more work needed to bring people back and attract more businesses.”

The high court recently ruled 5-4, in favor of Mark Janus, a child support specialist from Illinois who argued that American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) violated his First Amendment rights by engaging in political speech with which he does not agree.

“Janus made a good argument when he said he didn’t want money he paid into a public union funding candidates he didn’t support,” said Kay, running against incumbent state Rep. Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville) in Illinois’ 112th District. “It’s not like he said he would necessarily walk away from the union, he argued that he should have a right to have some say in how his own money is spent.” 

The Illinois Policy Institute estimates that five major government unions in Illinois doled out a combined $46 million in political contributions to both Republicans and Democrats over a 12-year period ending in 2014.

Janus was represented in the proceedings by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation and the Liberty Justice Center.

The Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME overturns the 1977 ruling from the Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case.