By BRANDON LARRABEE,THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA: In the latest round in a bitter feud between organized labor and the Legislature's Republican majority, the House Appropriations Committee sent to the House floor a proposal to ban the state from collecting union dues and potentially limit the use of those dues for political purposes.

On a 14-10 vote on Monday -- with two Republicans joining Democrats in opposing the measure -- the committee approved the bill (HB 1021), which would prevent the state from deducting dues from a public employee's paycheck. It would also require unions to get written authorization from union members in order to use those dues for political purposes.

Supporters say the proposal simply gets the state out of the business of aiding the political activities of unions, but opponents complain that it is little more than an attempt by Republicans to gut political opponents who have opposed sweeping changes this year to teacher contracts and unemployment compensation.

"The bill allows union membership more control over how their dollars are spent," said Rep. Chris Dorworth, R-Lake Mary, a prospective speaker of the House and sponsor of the measure.

Dorworth and other backers said it empowers union members by making sure they approved of any political activity paid for with their money.

"This is saying to the hundreds of thousands of employees in this state ... 'We respect you enough to have your individual voices heard,'" said House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez-Cantera, R-Miami.

Democrats and union leaders railed against the measure, saying it would make it more difficult for unions to collect the dues that fund their operations.

"If this bill passes, if this bill is signed into law, it's going to stifle the voice of the working men and women of our state," said Rep. Marty Kiar, D-Davie.

That, opponents said, is the real aim of the bill.

"It has nothing to do with government getting out of the business of collecting union dues," said Dwight Mattingly, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1577. "It has to do with union-busting."

Some opponents argued that the measure was also contrary to Republicans' small-government rhetoric.

"That's what you're deciding on today -- about whether or not you want to inject yourself into the individual, private decisions that employees make about their money," said Kevin Watson, a lobbyist for the Florida Education Association.

An amendment by Rep. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater, that would have exempted law enforcement and fire department employees from the deduction plan was withdrawn after running into resistance from both supporters of the bill, who feared it could subject the measure to equal-protection challenges, and opponents who said it amounted to special treatment.

A similar bill (SB 830) is making its way through the Senate. After narrow approval in one committee there, that bill is awaiting a hearing in the Senate Budget Committee.