California is on the verge of an unprecedented giveaway to Big Labor with the potential to make national political waves. In the final hours of the Legislature’s 2022 session, lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom that would create a first-of-its-kind tax credit for union dues. The starting annual cost to the state would be $400 million.

The credit would make union membership more attractive to employees by shifting part of the cost to taxpayers. Alternatively, unions could collect more from existing members by increasing dues to capture the credit. California law allows unions to spend member dues on electoral politics, so taxpayers would effectively be forced to subsidize union politicking.