First, in order to protect the rights of taxpayers and local government employees, the practice of granting government employee unions an agency-fee clause should end. Agency-fee clauses have the effect of turning millions of dollars over to the unions with little oversight of how that money is spent. Because the union contracts directly with the government for these dues and fees, rather than allowing individuals to settle on an appropriate fee, it is not unrealistic to view union dues as coming from taxpayers rather than employees. It is widely known that a large portion of government employee union budgets is directed toward partisan politics and lobbying, an unacceptable use of what are essentially public funds. The funding of a government employee lobby is a matter for government employees themselves. The inclusion of an open government employment provision, prohibiting agency fees and allowing individual workers to decide whether to support a union, is an absolute necessity.