The House narrowly approved a budget bill and revenue measures that raise adequate, fair revenue and don't cut state employees, university employees, or child care workers.  This is a massive victory, and we should enjoy it for a day or two.  Speaker Ben Lujan, Majority Leader Ken Martinez, Majority Whip Sheryl Williams-Stapleton, and about 30 other Democrats deserve our strong thanks and support for their unwavering commitment to ending cuts and looking for alternatives.  At the end of the session, we'll be sending out emails asking you to call to thank our allies for their great work.

Unfortunately, the reality remains that cuts and layoff proposals are likely in the Senate budget--that's why the calls you make to Senate Finance are so important. 

After the Senate passes their budget, they and the House will meet in a "conference committee", where the two houses will try to reach a compromise.  We're going to push very hard for no cuts in the Senate, but because some districts have elected so many conservative Democrats to go with the Republicans, the reality is that some additional cuts are going to be proposed and probably pass the Senate.  But the lower the Senate cuts, the better position we'll be in when they meet with the House for a compromise.

You all have made dozens of calls and sent dozens of emails over the last few weeks, and the next two weeks will be even more intense.  So for the next two days, take some time off, enjoy the Super Bowl (gotta root for underdog New Orleans--Geaux Saints!), and rest up so you're ready to make lots of calls and send even more emails next week.

If you can't resist doing something over the next few days, please try to get other AFSCME members to sign up for this email list.  Strength in numbers!  Just have them send me their email, preferably a personal one like yahoo, gmail, hotmail, msn, comcast, aol, etc.  Have a great weekend everyone!  --Carter