We all know the old joke that goes, "If I told you, I would have to kill you". Well, that's a little like the last few days in the legislature. Suffice it to say that DSEA is working very hard to reduce the impact of budget cuts on your salary and that furthermore the politics have been harsh.
In terms of grassroots engagement that can be helpful, I would recommend contacting your legislator and letting them know that taxation is preferable to budget cuts and cuts to state employees salaries. Moreover, it is better for the economy. Modest taxation takes less money directly out of the economy than does a salary cut to a working class state employee.
Also, taxation at upper income brackets redistributes wealth. Yes, I said it, "redistributes wealth". It has very much fallen out of fashion to say that about taxation these days. However, progressive taxation does redistribute wealth and that is a good thing. It is better to have 10 people earning $50,000 a year than to have one guy earning $500,000 a year. And the one guy making $500,000 should give back more to the commonweal. We have forgotten that as a state and a nation and now we are paying the price.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today, yes on Sunday, was Bond Committee. There were two items of note. First, most school construction projects will be able to move forward in 2010. Second, this state should take a strong look at the Strategic Fund. This is the fund which supports economic development projects. The problem is that sometimes this amounts to attempting to entice corporations into Delaware with corporate welfare. Sometimes that game has to be played nowadays. However, there should be full transparency about the Strategic Fund. We should also have corporate accountability. If a corporation receives taxpayer money, they should produce the jobs they promise, the jobs should pay a livable wage with health benefits, the employer should have a record of obeying labor laws and environmental laws.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Still Here Still Fighting
My apologies to followers who have not seen a post from me in a couple of days.
First, the President Pro Tempore of the Delaware Senate passed away on Tuesday. This is a great loss to the state; so many years of public service, so many lives touched.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Theoretically, the legislature, by Constitution, must have a budget by June 30th. As discussed in other posts, there are procedural tricks to get you beyond the deadline: A supplemental budget could be passed and then the legislature could roll into Special Session. The legislative day of June 30th could magically last longer than 24 hours.
At Leg Hall, people are thinking of these tricks because a budget seems far away. A major obstacle continues to be the pay cut for state employees. Although the Joint Finance Committee has recommended a 2.5% pay cut, the entire House Republican Caucus along with 9 Democrats are refusing to vote for a budget with pay cuts.
Furthermore, revenue bills are not having an easy time of it. The failure to pass revenue day after day forces the JFC to balance the budget on cuts. The budget mark up will supposedly be completed on Friday. This document will probably be rather frightening because of the deep program cuts it will contain.
The DSEA has lobbied for revenue and gave testimony today in the House Revenue and Finance Committee on several bills. In addition to our testimony, we entered documents into the public record. One set of documents showed the overall "tax burden" of Delaware compared with other states. Tax burden is the logical way for a state to assess the taxation of their citizens. Instead of looking at isolated taxes and comparing rates, all state and local taxes are combined and then a state is ranked against other states. Using this method, with "1" being the highest tax burden on citizens, Delaware is ranked 24th. Our neighbor New Jersey is ranked number one as the most tax burdened, Maryland is fourth in the nation and Pennsylvania is eleventh.
The ranking of tax burden became important because of a story in Leg Hall that income taxes cannot be raised or people will move away. Now, that is a ridiculous idea to begin with. After a percentage increase on income tax, does someone sell their home moving away from job, family, school, and community? No, that does not make sense and there is no evidence to support this ridiculous idea. Did I already say, "ridiculous idea".
Another document entered into the record by DSEA was a letter from Noble Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. Stiglitz wrote Governor Patterson of New York about the prospect of cutting public services and pay for state workers verses raising taxes.
Stiglitz encouraged Patterson to raise taxes verses state cuts: "The reasoning is straightforward: in a recession, you want to raise (or not decrease) the level of total spending - by households, businesses and government- in the economy. That keeps people employed and buying things, and makes it more likely that businesses will want to invest to serve that consumer demand. Budget cuts reduce the level of total spending. Raising taxes on high income households also will reduce spending, but by less than the amount of the tax increase since those with plenty of income typically spend only a fraction of their income- and some of what they spend is spent on luxury goods made abroad.
By contrast, every dollar of state and local government spending enters the local economy right away, generating a greater economic impact. The impact is especially large when the money goes for salaries of teachers, policemen and firemen, doctors and nurses and others that provide vital services to our community."
One hundred and twenty New York economists signed onto this letter. The argument laid out by this brilliant economist is what DSEA has been trying to tell the Governor and legislature for months.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Longhurst has sponsored HB157 a bill which guarantees that teachers on FMLA leave will return to their exact same teaching position. In order to gain votes needed to move the legislation, Longhurst changed the bill to only apply to Colonial School District. (This is the District that has purposefully denied FMLA teachers their previous positions.) Today, with the change, it passed the House and is now on track for Senate consideration.
First, the President Pro Tempore of the Delaware Senate passed away on Tuesday. This is a great loss to the state; so many years of public service, so many lives touched.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Theoretically, the legislature, by Constitution, must have a budget by June 30th. As discussed in other posts, there are procedural tricks to get you beyond the deadline: A supplemental budget could be passed and then the legislature could roll into Special Session. The legislative day of June 30th could magically last longer than 24 hours.
At Leg Hall, people are thinking of these tricks because a budget seems far away. A major obstacle continues to be the pay cut for state employees. Although the Joint Finance Committee has recommended a 2.5% pay cut, the entire House Republican Caucus along with 9 Democrats are refusing to vote for a budget with pay cuts.
Furthermore, revenue bills are not having an easy time of it. The failure to pass revenue day after day forces the JFC to balance the budget on cuts. The budget mark up will supposedly be completed on Friday. This document will probably be rather frightening because of the deep program cuts it will contain.
The DSEA has lobbied for revenue and gave testimony today in the House Revenue and Finance Committee on several bills. In addition to our testimony, we entered documents into the public record. One set of documents showed the overall "tax burden" of Delaware compared with other states. Tax burden is the logical way for a state to assess the taxation of their citizens. Instead of looking at isolated taxes and comparing rates, all state and local taxes are combined and then a state is ranked against other states. Using this method, with "1" being the highest tax burden on citizens, Delaware is ranked 24th. Our neighbor New Jersey is ranked number one as the most tax burdened, Maryland is fourth in the nation and Pennsylvania is eleventh.
The ranking of tax burden became important because of a story in Leg Hall that income taxes cannot be raised or people will move away. Now, that is a ridiculous idea to begin with. After a percentage increase on income tax, does someone sell their home moving away from job, family, school, and community? No, that does not make sense and there is no evidence to support this ridiculous idea. Did I already say, "ridiculous idea".
Another document entered into the record by DSEA was a letter from Noble Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. Stiglitz wrote Governor Patterson of New York about the prospect of cutting public services and pay for state workers verses raising taxes.
Stiglitz encouraged Patterson to raise taxes verses state cuts: "The reasoning is straightforward: in a recession, you want to raise (or not decrease) the level of total spending - by households, businesses and government- in the economy. That keeps people employed and buying things, and makes it more likely that businesses will want to invest to serve that consumer demand. Budget cuts reduce the level of total spending. Raising taxes on high income households also will reduce spending, but by less than the amount of the tax increase since those with plenty of income typically spend only a fraction of their income- and some of what they spend is spent on luxury goods made abroad.
By contrast, every dollar of state and local government spending enters the local economy right away, generating a greater economic impact. The impact is especially large when the money goes for salaries of teachers, policemen and firemen, doctors and nurses and others that provide vital services to our community."
One hundred and twenty New York economists signed onto this letter. The argument laid out by this brilliant economist is what DSEA has been trying to tell the Governor and legislature for months.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Representative Longhurst has sponsored HB157 a bill which guarantees that teachers on FMLA leave will return to their exact same teaching position. In order to gain votes needed to move the legislation, Longhurst changed the bill to only apply to Colonial School District. (This is the District that has purposefully denied FMLA teachers their previous positions.) Today, with the change, it passed the House and is now on track for Senate consideration.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Delaware Watch
If you have not discovered Delaware Watch, you should. This guy has a great take on contemporary issues in Delaware and the nation:
This will cause hand-wringing, weeping, wailing, and angry and sophistical comments:On average, charter schools are not performing as well as their traditional public-school peers, according to a new study that is being called the first national assessment of these school-choice options. The study, conducted by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, compared the reading and math state achievement test scores of students in charter schools in 15 states and the District of Columbia—amounting to 70 percent of U.S. charter school students—to those of their virtual "twins" in regular schools who shared with them certain characteristics.I interrupted the flow of the findings so I could interject this comment: these results should surprise no one. There really isn't a rational reason to think that quasi-private schools should perform better than public schools. It's only a bunch of mystical market mumbo jumbo that makes people think so. So, read this and weep all you who tacitly root for the failure of the public school system:The research found that 37 percent of charter schools posted math gains that were significantly below what students would have seen if they had enrolled in local traditional public schools. And 46 percent of charter schools posted math gains that were statistically indistinguishable from the average growth among their traditional public-school companions. That means that only 17 percent of charter schools have growth in math scores that exceeds that of their traditional public-school equivalents by a significant amount.In reading, charter students on average realized a growth that was less than their public-school counterparts but was not as statistically significant as differences in math achievement, researchers said.Here's the assessment of a weeper:"We are worried by these results," Margaret Raymond, director of CREDO and lead author of the report, Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States, said at a news conference. "This study shows that we've got a 2-to-1 margin of bad charters to good charters."Haters of public schools and teachers' unions, editorialists and radio talk show hosts who naively think that charter schools walk on water—I confess, I am laughing at you. Vindication feels so good. ______________The study can be found here.Delaware Watch, Delaware Watch, Jun 2009
You should read the whole article.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Budget Solutions Far Away
Good evening from Dover. The House just put up three revenue bills: A wine and beer tax, an alcohol licensing fee, and a cigarette tax. ("sin taxes")
All three bills went down to defeat in a Party line vote. In order to get the 3/5 for a revenue bill, the Democrats must hold their caucus and peel away one Republican. They were not able to do that tonight...three times, 16 Republicans voted no, and one voted present.
Before the vote, Minority Leader, Dick Cathcart spoke on the floor about why his caucus would not support the bills. He spoke about the need to see a holistic budget package to have a complete picture for his caucus to consider. He said they needed a package without pay cuts to state employees. Cathcart said he was not comfortable with passing revenue in a piecemeal fashion.
This situation is close to what we had the first part of the session when the Governor decided he wanted a particular gaming bill, his way, on his timetable, weather or not a deal was made with stake holders. The Governor eventually got a bill, but in some ways we are still paying for it.
The Governor will have to deal with the Republicans to get a budget. Fortunately, for state workers and education employees the Republicans seem to be saying "no pay cuts" as loudly as DSEA and our coalition partners.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
In an earlier blog it was reported that there are $531 million in unpaid corporate taxes. This is true, but it is deceptive. This amount is taxes owed by corporations that no longer exist. If a company goes out of business Delaware keeps them on the books for their last year of taxes. If they ever come back into business and seek another incorporation, then Delaware collects from them. Last year, Delaware collected $14 million in this fashion. However, it is almost impossible to project annual revenue from this pool of owed taxes.
All three bills went down to defeat in a Party line vote. In order to get the 3/5 for a revenue bill, the Democrats must hold their caucus and peel away one Republican. They were not able to do that tonight...three times, 16 Republicans voted no, and one voted present.
Before the vote, Minority Leader, Dick Cathcart spoke on the floor about why his caucus would not support the bills. He spoke about the need to see a holistic budget package to have a complete picture for his caucus to consider. He said they needed a package without pay cuts to state employees. Cathcart said he was not comfortable with passing revenue in a piecemeal fashion.
This situation is close to what we had the first part of the session when the Governor decided he wanted a particular gaming bill, his way, on his timetable, weather or not a deal was made with stake holders. The Governor eventually got a bill, but in some ways we are still paying for it.
The Governor will have to deal with the Republicans to get a budget. Fortunately, for state workers and education employees the Republicans seem to be saying "no pay cuts" as loudly as DSEA and our coalition partners.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update:
In an earlier blog it was reported that there are $531 million in unpaid corporate taxes. This is true, but it is deceptive. This amount is taxes owed by corporations that no longer exist. If a company goes out of business Delaware keeps them on the books for their last year of taxes. If they ever come back into business and seek another incorporation, then Delaware collects from them. Last year, Delaware collected $14 million in this fashion. However, it is almost impossible to project annual revenue from this pool of owed taxes.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Daily Grind
The DSEA position on salary cuts remains unchanged. We are opposed to any concessions that involve a salary cut, even if that cut is only 2.5%. First, we need to remember that we have many low wage members: paraprofessionals, food service, and bus drivers for example. These hard working people have very little disposable income and yes, 2.5% is a big deal for them. Second, a salary cut establishes pay reduction as a legitimate budget balancing tool for years to come. Every economic downturn could bring another trimming of pay. Third, the decision to cut salaries was made without a sincere exploration of raising substantive and sustainable revenue. Fourth, education employees and state workers are already contributing to the solution. Our health care premiums have increased 50%, step increases are frozen, and many facilities are working under staffed. Employees with family coverage under the PPO are losing about $800 a year in premium increase. Finally, we are a union and we believe in an equal exchange of labor for pay. We do not want our people working as hard or harder for less, even if it is a small percentage less.
Many legislators understand our position. In fact, as things stand to date, in spite of the JFC vote, the Governor does not have the votes to pass a budget with the salary cuts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DSEA entered testimony in committee on two bills today. In the House Education Committee we testified in favor of HB30 by Representative Earl Jaques. This bill increases the school assessment fee paid by developers in the Appoquinimik School District. The assessment for the rest of Delaware has been a .5 multiplier. However, for Appo this is not sufficient to keep up with the rapid growth. The rate of 1.2 is the proposed multiplier. This should ease the financial burden somewhat.
In the House Administration Committee DSEA testified on HB220 by Representative Melanie Marshall. HB220 is a bill that proposes adding the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court to the State Employee Benefits Committee. DSEA testified that the bill should be amended to include representatives of the thousands of state employees insured in the plan. We want to see the SEBC expanded to include a representative of DSEA, AFSCME, the Troopers, and a retired at large. Currently, the governance of state employee benefits is in the hands of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Insurance Commissioner, the State Treasurer, the Controler General, the Secretary of Finance, and the Secretary of Health and Social Services.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow, Representative Longhurst will put her bill (HB157) protecting the right of teachers on FMLA leave to return to their exact same teaching position on the floor of the House. DSEA will be present to lend support.
Many legislators understand our position. In fact, as things stand to date, in spite of the JFC vote, the Governor does not have the votes to pass a budget with the salary cuts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DSEA entered testimony in committee on two bills today. In the House Education Committee we testified in favor of HB30 by Representative Earl Jaques. This bill increases the school assessment fee paid by developers in the Appoquinimik School District. The assessment for the rest of Delaware has been a .5 multiplier. However, for Appo this is not sufficient to keep up with the rapid growth. The rate of 1.2 is the proposed multiplier. This should ease the financial burden somewhat.
In the House Administration Committee DSEA testified on HB220 by Representative Melanie Marshall. HB220 is a bill that proposes adding the Chief Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court to the State Employee Benefits Committee. DSEA testified that the bill should be amended to include representatives of the thousands of state employees insured in the plan. We want to see the SEBC expanded to include a representative of DSEA, AFSCME, the Troopers, and a retired at large. Currently, the governance of state employee benefits is in the hands of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Insurance Commissioner, the State Treasurer, the Controler General, the Secretary of Finance, and the Secretary of Health and Social Services.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tomorrow, Representative Longhurst will put her bill (HB157) protecting the right of teachers on FMLA leave to return to their exact same teaching position on the floor of the House. DSEA will be present to lend support.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Tomorrow is Another Day
Greetings All.
This is just a quick post to let all our supporters out there know that Friday's news from the Joint Finance Committee of a 2.5% pay cut recommendation is not the end of the story. The Governor still has to get the votes to pass the budget in the General Assembly.
Starting again tomorrow we will be promoting revenue ideas. The salary cut of 2.5% is worth about $29 million. That is not much in the scheme of Delaware revenue opportunities. In fact, $29 million is such a manageable number that we are about to find out who is truly the friend of public employees, and who is not. The Governor got his vote for a pay cut. However, as William Blake said, "The fox condemns the trap, not himself". Or, as the cowboys would say, "You saddled this bronc, let's see if you can ride it".
This is just a quick post to let all our supporters out there know that Friday's news from the Joint Finance Committee of a 2.5% pay cut recommendation is not the end of the story. The Governor still has to get the votes to pass the budget in the General Assembly.
Starting again tomorrow we will be promoting revenue ideas. The salary cut of 2.5% is worth about $29 million. That is not much in the scheme of Delaware revenue opportunities. In fact, $29 million is such a manageable number that we are about to find out who is truly the friend of public employees, and who is not. The Governor got his vote for a pay cut. However, as William Blake said, "The fox condemns the trap, not himself". Or, as the cowboys would say, "You saddled this bronc, let's see if you can ride it".
Friday, June 12, 2009
Joint Finance Votes Pay Cut
This afternoon around 2:00PM the Joint Finance Committee voted to cut the pay of state workers and education employees by 2.5%. The proposal is slightly different for education employees. They would take 1.5% in straight pay cut and two furlough days (during scheduled professional development days)equivalent in total to the same 2.5%.
This is not acceptable to the Delaware State Education Association and our coalition partners in State Workers United for a Better Delaware. Immediately after the vote coalition Representatives gave statements to the press expressing our dissatisfaction. Also, we had a chance to speak with several members of JFC giving the consistent message that the only vote which will get us off your case is for NO salary reduction.
This fight is a long way from over. Regardless of the fact that the Governor was finally able to pressure a seventh vote for salary cut in the JFC; as of this date, the Governor does not have the votes to pass the final budget with this salary cut.
The salary cut amounts to less than $29 million. In the context of revenue possibilities this is small change. A mere 30 cents a barrel tax on oil lightered up the Delaware would cover this amount. Collecting less than 6% of the $531 million in unpaid corporate taxes would also cover it. State Workers United will be showing lawmakers many ways to get $29 million without cutting the pay of the public servants.
However, we need to be honest with ourselves. This is not about the Governor and some of his supporters being clueless about revenue. DSEA and the coalition have been floating viable revenue ideas for weeks. Forcing the pay cut issue is about face saving, not dollar saving.
This is not acceptable to the Delaware State Education Association and our coalition partners in State Workers United for a Better Delaware. Immediately after the vote coalition Representatives gave statements to the press expressing our dissatisfaction. Also, we had a chance to speak with several members of JFC giving the consistent message that the only vote which will get us off your case is for NO salary reduction.
This fight is a long way from over. Regardless of the fact that the Governor was finally able to pressure a seventh vote for salary cut in the JFC; as of this date, the Governor does not have the votes to pass the final budget with this salary cut.
The salary cut amounts to less than $29 million. In the context of revenue possibilities this is small change. A mere 30 cents a barrel tax on oil lightered up the Delaware would cover this amount. Collecting less than 6% of the $531 million in unpaid corporate taxes would also cover it. State Workers United will be showing lawmakers many ways to get $29 million without cutting the pay of the public servants.
However, we need to be honest with ourselves. This is not about the Governor and some of his supporters being clueless about revenue. DSEA and the coalition have been floating viable revenue ideas for weeks. Forcing the pay cut issue is about face saving, not dollar saving.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
