From left: U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton; state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton

After not initially signing on and setting off a flurry of speculation on the left and right, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, has decided to be a cosponsor of the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act. He cosponsored the legislation in the last Congress.

The legislation would allow unions to bypass secret-ballot elections and organize by collecting authorization cards from a majority of employees. Supporters say the measure allows labor to counter intimidation by employers. Foes say it will allow labor organizers to coerce and pressure workers to support unionization.

In Florida, state House Majority Leader — and potential Klein challenger — Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is leading the drive for a state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of Floridians to cast secret ballots in all elections, including votes on whether to unionize.

As Congress gears up for a debate over the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act, unions are touting a a new Gallup poll that finds 53 percent of Americans favor a law “that would make it easier for labor unions to organize workers.”

Beyond that fuzzy concept, however, it appears voters in Florida are uncomfortable with a key aspect of the proposed legislation.

The bill would make it easier for unions to form by allowing them to bypass current requirements that employee votes on whether to unionize be conducted by secret ballot. Instead, a union could form if a majority of workers sign authorization forms.

A new Florida poll commissioned by foes of the congressional bill finds that 86 percent of the state’s voters favor a proposed state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to cast a secret ballot in all elections, including employee votes on whether to unionize.

To read the polling memo, click here.

House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is heading efforts to get the constitutional question on the Florida ballot in 2010. If Congress passes the Employee Free Choice Act and Florida voters approve the secret-ballot amendment, courts would likely decide which measure would take precedence in Florida.

It depends on what the meaning of “received” is.

Find out how the recent one-vote Palm Beach mayor’s race could end up setting statewide precedent. Plus: Is the vaunted Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce losing its mojo? What’s U.S. Rep. Ron Klein’s explanation for not cosponsoring Big Labor’s top congressional priority? Will Art Argenio and Joe Negron — the Frazier and Ali of Treasure Coast Republican politics — beat each other up again?

Read about it here.

On today’s Palm Beach Post letters page, state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, rips the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act while local AFL-CIO President Pat Emmert rips Hasner.

Hasner (left) and Klein

In what some Republicans would like to be a preview of a 2010 congressional race, state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Boca Raton, is calling out U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, over the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act.

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Liberal bloggers and the Republican Party of Florida are noting that the labor-backed Employee Free Choice Act introduced in Congress today no longer has U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, as a cosponsor.

Klein will “review this year’s bill carefully before it reaches the House floor,” a spokeswoman said.

Klein is highlighted on the liberal “Down With Tyranny” blog as one of 29 House Dems who cosponsored the legislation last year but aren’t cosponsors this year. The state GOP, which calls the bill as an assault on ballot privacy, is pressing Klein to “come clean” on whether he supports or opposes the bill.

Read more, including a statement from Klein’s office, after the jump….

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