Budget Recap and Update: 

The Administration introduced a budget proposal in February of this year that eliminated as many as 101 programs and threatened the furlough of 800 to 900 workers as a result of those program cuts.  At the same time, he proposed an overall increase in spending with most of the additional money going to education.

Senate and House Appropriations Committees held budget hearings in March.

On May 6th, the Senate passed Senate Bill 850 in response to the Governor’s proposal and promptly left town.  SB850, which passed on a strictly party line vote, cut an additional 1.5 billion over what the Governor proposed and sent SB850 to the House to await its fate.  The out cry over the cuts contained in SB850 was both real and contrived.  Real because the proposed cuts touched every facet of the social safety net and contrived because SB850 was merely a different twist to the budget dance that generally occurs between the Executive and Legislative branches of government.

The House Appropriations Committee chaired by Dwight Evans held two days of public hearings where participant mostly focused on SB850 and the cuts therein.  Your union participated in the hearing and presented a more balanced approach which called out the Governor, as well as, SB850.  The Governor, for his part, spent a lot of time on the road trying to create the support for a tax increase.

On June 8th, the House Appropriations Committee on a party line vote rejected SB850.  We held a Lobby Day and rally at the Capitol the very next day.  The Governor has since proposed raising the Personal Income Tax (PIT) from 3.07 to 3.57 which would raise approximately 1.5 billion.  Additionally, he announced a new round of cuts totaling 500 million dollars.

These cuts include a 3.5 million reduction in the Human Services Development Fund which funds county programs, 2.1 and 7.1 million respectively for the State MR Centers and Community MR Programs, 8.5 million for Community Based Mental Health Services and there are other smaller yet no less painful reductions or eliminations as well.

Misery Loves Company:

SEIU Political and Legislative Directors from all over the country met in Washington DC recently to discuss many issues ranging from Federal Legislation such as Employee Free Choice and Health Care to the fiscal challenges confronting us all.

Every public employee local in the Mid-Atlantic region from New York to Florida has problems equal to or in most cases greater than the challenges we face.  There are many similarities in the barriers to budget resolutions such as so called “friends” in the Governor’s mansions and legislatures turning their backs on the members who sent them there in the first place.

Each local reported their response to the crisis but none of them had a comprehensive and long term plan like our Human Services Campaign to fight for our members.  With your help, as leaders, our campaign will be the model that other public employee locals look to for guidance in tough times.

The Art Of The Deal:

Is it possible to get a budget deal done before the fail safe deadline of July 17, 2009?  Depends on who you talk to, but I’ve learned to always expect the unexpected with the Legislature and the Executive branch.  I can tell you that there is very little support for any kind of broad based tax increase from Republicans and Democrats alike.  That leaves some of the other options such as tapping rainy day funds, sin taxes, expanded gambling in the form of table games, taxing Marcellus Shale and holding off the phase out of the capitol stock tax. 

Even all of those things may not be enough to overcome a projected 3.2 billion budget deficit for this fiscal year alone.  We will still have a big problem two years from now when the stimulus money goes away.

By the way, the projected budget deficit for June 30, 2011 could be as high as 9 billion.  Rendell and legislative leaders are scheduled to meet today.

What Next:

We need all hands on deck for the upcoming July activities, but we also need to begin building a permanent response to a crisis that will be with us after the current budget is resolved.

We need to continue making sure that our stories are heard by people seeking elective office as they ask for our support.  The next Governor should know who we are and what we do before he or she assumes office.  They need to know that the members of SEIU 668 are out there on the front lines everyday building safe and healthy communities.

BB/jb