Budget/furloughs/layoffs
About an hour ago the House finished their FY '10 budget, with good news and bad news. The good news is that, despite having to come up with an additional $300 million in the last week, for a total of a $600 million deficit that had to be filled, there are no layoffs or furloughs currently planned in the House budget.
Some of you in particular have been incredibly energetic and pro-active on the phones and emails, and that's made a huge difference. The other part that really carried us is our political relationship with everyone from the Governor to Lt. Governor to the Speaker to Chairman Saavedra and Deputy Chair Varela. As a union, we should be very proud that our political activism and our grassroots lobbying efforts have ensured that not one single member is facing a layoff or furlough.
The bad news is that the House is proposing that for two years, employees pick up an extra 1.5% of our PERA costs. This will bring in approximately $42.6 million for the state. As you've seen from our previous updates, there are additional revenue sources that can more than make up that amount, and the federal stimulus may also be able to cover some of that money. We will continue to fight to make sure that state employees don't end up losing money in their paychecks, a battle that will continue into the April/May special budget legislative session.
Call and email the House Appropriations members with two messages: first, thank them for avoiding layoffs and furloughs, but second, ask them to look for revenue alternatives instead of having state employees pick up additional PERA costs. Especially for those of you emailing representatives, feel free to use points from the attached budget memo (same as from last update). Here is the list:
House Appropriations Democrats
Chair Kiki Saavedra (D-South Valley) 986-4316 [no email]
Deputy Chair Lucky Varela (D-Santa Fe) 986-4318 [no email]
Rhonda King (D-Stanley) 986-4438 [no email]
Nick Salazar (D-Ohkay Owingeh) 986-4433 [no email]
House Appropriations Republicans
Child care organizing
This morning was a tremendous victory for our home-based child care providers--HB 245 (Miguel Garcia) passed the House Health and Government Affairs Committee on a 4-1 vote, with all four Dems in attendance (Chairwoman Stewart, Rep. Varela, Rep. Eleanor Chavez, and Rep. Steinborn) and the one Republican (Rep. Kintigh) voting against.
HB 245 now goes to the House floor, most likely in the middle of next week. Here are eleven key legislators to call to ask for support for HB 245:
Jose Campos (D- Santa Rosa, DeBaca, Curry, Guadalupe and Roosevelt counties): 986-4341
Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces, Dona Ana county): 986-4249
Mary Helen Garcia (D- Las Cruces, Dona Ana county): 986-4435
Thomas Garcia (D-Ocate, Colfax, Guad, Mora, San Miguel and Taos counties): 986-4242
John Heaton (D-Carlsbad, Eddy county); 986-4432
Sandra Jeff (D-Crownpoint, McKinley and San Juan counties): 986-4243
Rudy Martinez- (D- Bayard, Hidalgo and Grant counties): 986-4233
Bill Rehm (R- Albuquerque, Bernalillo county): 986-4450
Benjamin Rodefer (D-Corrales, Bernalillo and Sandoval counties)- 986-4211
Debbie Rodella (D-Espanola, Rio Arriba, Sandoval and Taos counties): 986-4329
Jeanette Wallace (D-Los Alamos, Los Alamos, Sandoval, and Santa Fe counties): 986-4452
Thank you for all of your activism. This is the single most difficult legislative session in over 20 years, but your grassroots lobbying efforts are making a big difference in protecting your sisters and brothers, and even in expanding the opportunity to have a union to thousands of others. Gracias! --Carter
Carter Bundy
Political Action Representative
AFSCME International
1202 Pennsylvania St. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
(505) 266-2177 ext. 13 (work)
(505) 266-3155 (fax)
