The Nevada State Education Association members spent about $637,000 in dues money on employee pension contributions, $468,000 on lobbying, and $250,000 on settling a defamation suit filed by former Republican state senator Sandra Tiffany.

The latter expense stems from a 2006 campaign flier about Tiffany, who was facing ethics charges at the time. The union alleged that Tiffany was facing jail time, which wasn’t true. Ethics violations are civil complaints, not criminal ones. After losing the election, Tiffany plead guilty to two charges of violating the ethics law and paid a $10,000 fine.

So NSEA not only ended up reimbursing the ethics fine of one of the union’s most hated rivals, but contributed about $10 from each active member in the settlement, plus whatever additional attorneys’ fees were necessary for more than three years of proceedings.