Endorsement Transparency Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Endorsement Transparency Act adds a presidential endorsement rule to title I of the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959. A labor organization may not endorse a candidate for President of the United States unless it first polls the members of the labor organization about the endorsement and then discloses the poll result to those members. The amendment takes effect 12 months after enactment, giving labor organizations time to create polling and disclosure procedures before future presidential endorsements are covered.
Who Benefits and How
Union members benefit because they receive a formal poll before their labor organization endorses a presidential candidate. Union members also benefit from disclosure of the poll result before or with the endorsement process. Rank-and-file dissenters benefit from a record of whether leadership endorsements reflect member views. Members evaluating union leadership benefit from greater transparency around presidential political activity.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Labor organizations must design and conduct member polling before presidential endorsements. Union officers must disclose poll results to members and document compliance before endorsing a presidential candidate. Labor organizations face a 12-month implementation period to build endorsement polling procedures. Presidential campaigns seeking union endorsements may face delays or uncertainty while unions poll members.
Key Provisions
- Requires labor organizations to poll members before endorsing a presidential candidate.
- Requires disclosure of the endorsement poll result to union members.
- Bars presidential endorsements unless both polling and disclosure occur.
- Delays the new requirement until 12 months after enactment.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to bar a labor organization from endorsing a presidential candidate unless it first polls its members on the endorsement and discloses the poll result to members, with the requirement taking effect 12 months after enactment.
Key Policy Areas
Labor Unions, Election Endorsements, Member Transparency
Primary Purpose
Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act to bar a labor organization from endorsing a presidential candidate unless it first polls its members on the endorsement and discloses the poll result to members, with the requirement taking effect 12 months after enactment.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Union members voting in endorsement polls
- Rank-and-file union dissenters
- Members evaluating union leadership
- Union democracy advocates
Identified Costs
- Labor organizations making presidential endorsements
- Union officers administering polls
- Union political departments
- Presidential campaigns seeking union endorsements
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Onder (for himself and Mr. Harris of North Carolina) …
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Presidential campaigns seeking union endorsements, Rank-and-file union dissenters, Union members voting in endorsement polls
Positive-direction: Rank-and-file union dissenters, Union members voting in endorsement polls
Negative-direction: Presidential campaigns seeking union endorsements
Labor organizations making presidential endorsements, Union officers administering polls
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology