Please read all the way to the end to find out what you can do to stop layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts. Union members, and only union members, will lead the charge to stop the cuts!
BACKGROUND
As most of you know, the recession's brutal drop in state revenues has continued from 2008 into fiscal year 2009 (just ended) and fiscal year 2010 (just started on July 1). The state has to make up at least $750 million for these two years, and that's if relatively optimistic projections hold. Early indications are that our total revenue/spending gap for FY '09 and FY '10 will actually increase over the next few months.
So far, about $300 million has been pulled from reserves to close out FY '09, so there will be no additional impact to our membership from FY '09, except for the fact that we now have even lower reserves.
Governor Richardson and the legislature have agreed to hold a special session, almost certainly sometime in October, to fix the deficits. Unlike the federal government, the state is not allowed to run a deficit, so its budget must be balanced at the end of each year. The special session will deal with the FY '10 gap of at least $433 million, although the real number is probably higher.
PROPOSALS
So far there is only one concrete, full proposal for closing the gap, and that was issued by the administration last week. It calls for 3% agency and university cuts, and Governor Richardson has indicated that he believes the cuts can be made with no layoffs, furloughs, or additional pay cuts. We have inquiries into the administration and are also trying to get direct commitments from our two universities (WNMU and NMSU) that 3% cuts will not directly hit our members.
The administration proposal relies heavily on reductions in capital outlay, moving project money into the general fund to keep the state going without major cuts.
K-12 education funding remains at the same levels, but replaces $91 million of general fund money with one-time federal stimulus money. That means in a year or so when the stimulus money runs out, there will be an additional $91 million deficit.
State Senators like Stuart Ingle (R-Portales) and Tim Jennings (D-Roswell) have indicated that they believe that agency and university cuts of about 5% will be needed. That would almost definitely mean furloughs and possibly layoffs. Some Representatives have mentioned 4% as a possibility, but even that amount would mean either pay cuts or furloughs.
FIGHTING BACK
Obviously the big problem is that revenues have dropped dramatically during the recession, but all anyone in Santa Fe wants to talk about are cuts. The governor's proposal to not cut our members is far preferable to the legislative proposals, and we need to work to move legislators towards something like the governor's budget.
The real solution, though, is not to have any cuts at all, but instead to raise revenues. AFSCME has been lobbying against big tax cuts and lobbying for closing corporate loopholes for years, often with only one or two allies.
This year is different, though. We now have a coalition called Better Choices New Mexico, which has all four major unions representing state, university and public education employees (AFSCME, CWA, AFT, and NEA) as well as religious organizations, advocates for children, grassroots groups, and several other types of entities who want to stop the cuts and get back to responsible revenue levels.
It is important to note that neither AFSCME nor the coalition is proposing any revenue ideas that would slow down any economic recovery. In other words, we don't believe in raising any taxes on middle- or lower-income New Mexicans. We propose stopping tax dodging schemes by big international companies, rolling back some of the billions in tax breaks given to millionaires (who got a big chunk of the surplus when we had one), and closing loopholes.
Cutting the pay of state and university employees slows down the economic recovery. Our members spend most of the money they receive in their paychecks right here in New Mexico. Millionaires spend money too, but when they pay their fair share of taxes, they rarely cut their spending. Their kids may inherit $10 million instead of $10 million and a few thousand dollars, or they may spend less money in Europe, but they aren't going to spend less money here in New Mexico. It's important that legislators realize that cutting public employees hurts the economy and our state more than raising revenue in a fair, smart, targeted way.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Please email me with names and personal email addresses of other AFSCME members who you think want to be included in our updates about what is going on. We will be asking each and every one of you to take action to save our jobs. Sometimes it may be an email, sometimes a phone call, sometimes a letter to the editor, and at least once we're going to want to hold a huge rally to show that public employees aren't just here as a piggy bank to balance the state budget with.
FIRST TASK
In addition to adding to our members' email list, we have one important task for you: email me and Josh ideas for saving money in your agency, or even in someone else's agency. It can be as broad as asking the legislature to end double dipping, which tears millions of dollars out of the general fund and hundreds of millions out of PERA and ERA. It can be as specific as pointing out that corrections uniforms are not being purchased as efficiently as they could be (thanks Lee Ortega!).
You know your agency better than anyone else, including top people in the administration and legislators. No amount of savings is too small for us to propose, but we'll only succeed if you speak up now.
SECOND TASK
Our coalition, Better Choices New Mexico, is putting together a series of press releases called "20 Ways in 20 Days", where every weekday for four weeks we are going to show the public and legislators the kinds of harms to our citizens and our state that will happen if our agencies are cut deeply.
Give us your story. What will cuts do to enforcement of child abuse cases? What will happen in our correctional facilities? Our universities? Our roads? Our social services? What will happen to citizens and people who use those services? The more specific you can be, with examples that say "for every $xxx cut, xxx people won't get xxx service", the better. But anything you can submit will be helpful in getting our message to the public and legislators: stop cutting the budget.
As with ideas to save money, please email any examples of how cuts would hurt the state to me and Josh.
This is the time for us to stick together and to fight cuts with unity, power, hard work, and good, common-sense ideas. If we stick together and fight back, we're going to get through this and be even stronger when the economy finally recovers.
In solidarity, Carter
Carter Bundy
Political Action Representative
AFSCME International
1202 Pennsylvania St. NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
