William Perry Pendley [President and Chief Operating Officer, Mountain States Legal Foundation]: "Mountain States Legal Foundation welcomes the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in Ysursa v. Pocatello Education Association issued February 24, 2009. MSLF had filed a friend of the court brief in support of the Idaho Secretary of State, Mr. Ysursa, at the Supreme Court arguing that the ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was in error. The Supreme Court agreed by holding, "Idaho is under no obligation to aid the unions in their political activities. And the State's decision not to do so is not an abridgment of the unions' speech; they are free to engage in such speech as they see fit. They are simply barred from enlisting the State in that endeavor."

The Ninth Circuit had concluded that the Idaho statute "does not prohibit Plaintiffs from participating in political activities, but it…mak[es] the collection of funds for that purpose more difficult" and thereby embraced the holding of the district court that the Idaho statute "eliminates the easiest and least expensive way for unions to collect funds for political speech." This the Ninth Circuit held Idaho could not do. The Ninth Circuit fundamentally erred, however, by failing to recognize that "the First Amendment does not guarantee a right to the least expensive means of expression."

MSLF argued that, under the Ninth Circuit's ruling, unions could claim that engaging in political speech would be easier and less expensive if the government had the affirmative duty, not only to deduct monies from the payroll, but also to assist in organizing for, catering to, and cleaning up after union meetings during which its members exercised their First Amendment rights. The notion that the First Amendment requires the government to make speech as easy as possible is preposterous when there are other reasonable, readily available means for engaging in expressive conduct. MSLF is pleased the Supreme Court rejected that notion!"