The message from Governor Scott Walker (R) to Wisconsin state employees begins like this:
Thank you for your service to your state and your fellow citizens. I know that you have worked hard during this economic downturn to ensure that our citizens continue to receive great service, despite our state having fewer and fewer resources. I, like all Wisconsinites, am grateful for your professionalism and commitment to public service.
The message goes on to describe his proposal to decimate our take-home pay and eviscerate our unions.
Here in Wisconsin, we've seen this showdown coming for some time. Union contracts for state workers were taking an unconscionably long time to negotiate and pass; by the end of 2010, the contracts for the 2009/11 biennium were still under negotiation. After November, once the Republicans swept the elections, winning the governorship and both houses of the legislature (all of which had been in Democratic hands this last cycle), the unions tried to get things done with the lame-duck administration.
And it didn't get done. A couple of the Democrats in the state senate did a turncoat maneuver and refused to approve the contracts. (One of them, Jeff Plale, subsequently got a cushy $90,000 job as administrator of the Division of State Facilities with the new administration.)
But Governor Walker's proposal goes far beyond spiking contract negotiations. Here's what it has to say about collective bargaining:
...the bill also makes various changes to limit collective bargaining to the base pay rate. Total increases cannot exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) unless approved by a referendum. Contracts will be limited to one year and wages will be frozen until the new contract is settled. Collective bargaining units will have to take annual votes to maintain certification as a union. Employers will be prohibited from collecting union dues and members of collective bargaining units will not be required to pay dues.
Did you catch that? The proposal removes all benefits entirely from the purview of collective bargaining. The only thing open for bargaining would be base pay rate -- and increases would be limited by law to inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, unless voters approved larger increases by referendum.
Taking benefits off the table is important for the scheme because the proposal forces state employees to contribute 5.8% of their salary to the pension fund, a sum that to date has been covered by the state. We'll also have to kick in 12% of the cost of healthcare premiums, instead of the 6% that we're currently on the hook for.
But the union groups that actually endorsed Walker don't have to worry:
Local police and fire employees and State Patrol Troopers and Inspectors are exempted from these changes.
On a personal level -- Mr. AnnieJo and I are both state employees (he's full-time, I'm half-time). Neither of us are union, so we're going to get the brunt of the cuts whether or not the union-bashing elements of the plan go through. Though with the legislature thoroughly in Republican control, I don't see what's to stop it. Legislation is being passed at a blistering rate since the new administration took office, with little-to-no time for public mobilization or comment.
Anyway. When I say "decimate," I am not exaggerating. Mr. AnnieJo ran the numbers this morning, and came up with a 10% reduction in what we get to keep of our salaries.
We live frugally, in a small home in a moderately-high property tax area. With our two elementary-age daughters, one of whom has significant disabilities. Two cars, one car payment, not at all fancy. Eat out maybe once a month, go to the movies maybe twice a year, no vacations that involve hotel stays... you get the picture.
We'll need to reduce expenses by $650 per month, or scrounge some other income (though finding childcare when disabilities are involved is not easy or cheap). The lowest-hanging fruit is long gone. For example, we refinanced our home last year to offset the furloughs we both got socked with....
Multiply that by public workers all across Wisconsin, and just imagine the collective hit to the state economy!
Some will surely say that I should stop whining, that we're lucky to have jobs. I am indeed glad not to be unemployed. And if the state of Wisconsin were pulling together and looking at the budget in an adult way that shares the pain across where it can best be shared, I'd try to suck it up and do my part.
But the legislation that's passing at that blistering rate is also blowing further holes in the state budget through tax giveaways to corporations. In other words, the piano lessons (or therapies?) my daughters won't be able to have, the pared-back giving to our church, and all the rest -- are going straight into corporate pockets.
It's hideous. And it's going to take years to undo.