More than two decades ago, when President Jimmy Carter proposed to “reform” the nation’s civil service laws, it led to a bruising, exhausting battle with NTEU. When the dust finally settled in the fall of 1978, NTEU had been able to defeat the worst of the Carter proposals, and to have included in the final bill some additional employee protections.

That battle not only helped emphasize NTEU’s strength on Capitol Hill. It helped crystallize the view that NTEU needed a union wide financial vehicle for legislative and political activity.
That, in turn, led to the creation of TEPAC—the Treasury Employees Political Action Committee.

As NTEU then-President Vincent Connery outlined it in a front page article of the NTEU Bulletin for Sept 30 1978 the "sole purpose" of TEPAC "will be to solicit funds which will be expended on political activities that will benefit our entire membership."  TEPAC has been performing that function well ever since.

The National Executive Board understood, as have great numbers of NTEU members and leaders since then that political action is in large part a competition 

with other groups vying for the attention of Congress and other elected and appointed officials.

The idea of having members voluntarily contribute funds to support candidates for federal office who either have or will support the position of federal employees, and in particular, the interests of NTEU members, is central to TEPAC’s operation.

TEPAC follows the campaign finance laws that require union political activity to be funded by voluntary contributions. Union political action committees are prohibited by law from using union dues for political purposes; likewise, corporations may not use cor porate funds for their political activities.

To date, that Sept. 30 1978 article said " we have succeeded where other unions have failed because of our hard work and expertise. We have earned reputation in Congress that is the envy of other unions in the federal government . . .; With a strong and adequately funded PAC we will be able to further strengthen our entire legislative program and become an even greater force on Capitol Hill.”

This is the same message that NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley consistently offers to NTEU members~ “We simply must have men and women in office who understand and support our needs and interests,” she said. “NTEU support, through TEPAC, makes a real difference in who sits in Congress.”

The 2000 election provides strong evidence of the importance of TEPAC and NTEU support. NTEU endorsed Senate candidates won in 80 percent of their races, and 85 percent of the House candidates that NTEU endorsed won their races. 

"The combination of TEPAC funds and campaign support by union members is a potent partnership,” Kelley said, “TEPAC has proven itself over the years, and NTEU members should support this powerful force that can make such a difference in the lives of federal employees.”