BOISE - House Republicans pushed through two bills aimed at undermining union influence in Idaho, sending the measures to Gov. Butch Otter for signing into law.

The first prohibits "project labor agreements" requiring contractors to forge pacts with unions as a condition of winning government construction jobs. The second forbids unions from using their membership dues to subsidize wages to help contractors with union workers win projects.

After the November 2010 election solidified Idaho's GOP majority, conservatives in both the state Senate and House have gone after unions with gusto this legislative session. Idaho is already a right-to-work state, where workers haven't been required to join unions as a condition of getting a job since 1985.

But lawmakers say these two measures help solidify that philosophical approach to the workplace.

"We've heard about all kinds of goblins and ghosts, that it would be suicidal to do this bill," said Rep. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, of the second measure. "The bottom line is this: If you believe in the free market and fair labor practices, you vote for this bill. If you believe in labor practices that are subsidized by a particular organization to redistribute wealth, then you vote against this bill."

In the lead-up to Tuesday's vote, much of the committee debate in both the House and Senate focused on how the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters has hired people to picket job sites across Idaho, even though neither of the measures has provisions that would stop picketing.

Republican Rep. Frank Henderson of Post Falls, the sponsor of both measures, said they help level the playing field for non-union contractors and prevent unions from muscling into jobs.

Henderson also accused unions of infiltrating non-union shops - "They become a spy," he said - prompting objections from Democratic lawmakers as well as a light reprimand from House Speaker Lawerence Denney, R-Midvale, to stay on task.

Democratic lawmakers, joined by only a smattering of Republican dissenters, insisted the bills would drive down wages, take cash from workers' pockets during a tough economy - and expose the state to lawsuits by unions whose private right to contract with their members was being undermined.

According to the second bill, any contractor, subcontractor or labor organization that used wages to subsidize contractors' bids - known as "job targeting" - would risk prosecution for a misdemeanor criminal offense and face fines of between $10,000 and $100,000.

"What we say in this criminal statute is unions cannot use their money as they see fit," said Rep. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise, in arguing against the bill. "That's not consistent with American notions of liberty."

There was one Republican dissenter on the first bill, Rep. Tom Trail of Moscow. Trail was joined by Rep. Lynn Luker of Boise opposing the second measure.

Luker, a Boise lawyer and free-market advocate, said the measure encroached too deeply in the freedoms of private groups.

"What we're really talking about is, yeah, it's a subsidy of sorts," he said. "But it's a subsidy that comes from the voluntary contribution of the workers, to help maintain a job market for themselves."