Not knowing a ton about the Wisc. bill a friend of mine posted this and I gave it a read. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it Krisken (and anyone else), it's clearly from his perspective as a conservative state employee (as he states) but it he seems like a reasonably intelligent guy. although I'm sure there is a counter to a lot of this stuff and I'd love to hear other thoughts on it (mainly because the news ain't doing it. All they seem to be talking about is the drama which does not really inform a person).
Beware WALL OF TEXT to follow:
Ten Thoughts from a conservative state employee on the budget repair bill:
1. Collective bargaining on benefits is not a right. It is an ability that has been granted in the past but is now being taken away. It is not akin to voting rights or civil rights. All this rhetoric that the bill is "an end to ALL collective bargaining" is simply incorrect and borders on lying. The bill keeps the ability to collective bargain on wages and collective bargaining on benefits can always be reinstated by future legislative action.
2. Unions should never be mandatory. If your union is so terrified that its members will opt out of the union then you should reassess the value of the union to those members. I understand the complexity of payments and benefits for "union employees" and "non-union" employees but the fact remains that people should never be forced to join any organization that makes significant political donations to causes with which you may not agree. The hissy-fit that union leaders are throwing about this bill is mostly about the elimination of mandated contributions to the union. These "contributions" are taken directly from the paychecks (like taxes) and guess what? Those individual workers cannot negotiate with the leadership the union dues ($$$) the union mandates.
3. Despite the claims of the Cap Times editorial board, the recent tax cuts proposed by Walker and passed by the legislature have nothing to do with the $137 million shortfall coming in June of 2011. Yes, the legislative audit bureau estimated a surplus for June - based on spending as written into the budget. It did NOT take into account extra-budgetary spending, namely "health care spending for the poor, prisons, and a payment due to Minnesota in December after the canceling of an income tax agreement between the two states."
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/116480323.html When you take that spending into account the State actually does face a significant shortfall and Wisconsin is constitutionally PROHIBITED from running a deficit. That means the money must be paid. And Wisconsin cannot print money.
4. The "Walker Tax Cuts" WILL add an estimated $100 million to the projected 2011-2013 budgetary deficit. That $100 million figure however will be diminished by the additional revenue anticipated to be generated as a result of tax breaks on businesses. For example, if business A can now afford to hire unemployed persons B, C, and D, then B, C, and D are paying income taxes to the State instead of collecting unemployment from the State. For each individual hire the State is spending thousands less on unemployment checks and receiving thousands more in income tax than it otherwise would. That is additional revenue that should be subtracted from the $100 million figure.
5. There is no such thing as a unified "public employees union". The engineers, nurses, doctors, district attorneys, assistant district attorneys, sanitation workers, state troopers, DNR agents, etc all have different unions who all have different positions on this bill. Please don't lump all of us together with those that speak the loudest or carry the biggest signs.
6. Most of the people protesting in Madison are not State employees - meaning the 12% of health care contribution and 5% contribution of overall salary towards the pension does not apply to them...yet. For actual State employees, this contribution will go into effect immediately. For me, this will cost me approximately $250 every month. The decisions made by county boards, village boards, school boards, etc are a result of years of public employee unions being the only people who pay attention to local elections. Unfortunately, it took a State-wide election to rein in local spending of State resources. The State employees that played no part in the excesses of local governments and received none of the benefits are paying the price.
7. Though not comparable to many in the private sector, State workers have had to sacrifice. The commercial we are seeing is simply incorrect. Those of us who are State employees have had to take furlough days and for years have had no reasonable prospect of any raises at all. As a result, this bill feels like a kick in the pants. I personally have had to take more than 10 unpaid furlough days, which have taken away more than $1500 from my pocket because Doyle couldn't balance his budget.
8. Not all State employees are the same. Some State employees may be overpaid for their position, but I can assure you that some are not. I can speak specifically as to the Assistant District Attorneys. The average undergraduate and law school debt of a new lawyer is more than $100,000 after 7 years of college. Assistant District Attorneys in Wisconsin start at $48,000. Theoretically we can make $120,000 a year but that is only if we work for 65 years. You read that right - we make that not if we work until we are 65 - we can make that only if we work 65 years as an ADA. You say as I have with others - "If you don't like it, leave." The problem is, most of the DA's have. Since 2001 we have had 75% turnover. This has created a massive brain drain. The guy I replaced prosecuted homicides and rapes for 10 years and was making $56,000 a year. He left to become a police officer because he got paid more money as a first year patrol officer in Oak Creek than after 10 years as an Assistant District Attorney. (Read: local public employee v. state public employee). I can tell you that my office lost a lot when he left and they hired me. You can't teach experience. The office could have hired another attorney with 10 years experience, but the average attorney pay with 10 years experience is close to $100,000. Why would someone take half of that? Now, should a secretary in the Department of Administration be making $50,000 a year? Probably not. Should someone we entrust with the power to make someone a felon and put them in prison for the rest of their lives make more than a tree trimmer in Racine? I think so. Again, local public employee vs. state employee. http://news.racinepost.com/2010/09/city-salaries-public-works-utility.html
9. The great benefits enjoyed by State employees are oftentimes the cheapest way to make the job competitive with the private sector. Walker says he wants to make the jobs comparable to the private sector - for some of us the benefits are what do it. Speaking for the ADAs, the benefits were negotiated because the money wasn't there for the reduction of the ridiculous number of yearly steps in the pay scale. The State gave vacation days and bought massive Health Insurance plans and created a State pension system that is one of the biggest pension funds in the world. Benefits are cheaper in mass and it is much cheaper to give a week vacation than to increase the pay. Now, years of negotiations for benefits are being rolled back without a comparable pay increase. That scares people. That scares people who aren't looking to simply mooch off the public and have chosen a career of speaking for victims.
10. The Senators who left the State should be replaced by a special election. You don't get to hijack democracy by taking your ball and going home just because you have found a loophole in Senate procedure. You claim it is to encourage debate and negotiation, but Walker's proposal isn't something that came as a surprise - in fact, he's been talking about it for months. He ran on this issue and it was communicated in multiple speeches, advertisements, and debates. In fact, if you wanted debate and negotiation then you Senators should not have voted to pass the Doyle budget adjustment bill two years ago less than 24 hours after it was introduced. The ploy is childish and hypocritical.
11. The teachers who called in sick and caused their school districts to close had better not have the audacity to fight whatever discipline is coming their way. How can you possibly complain that your rights are being violated when instead of using vacation you lied to your district about being sick and got paid to go to Madison to make a political protest? Why should the single parents who rely on each paycheck have to lose DAYS of income so you could protest? How much money do you think you cost the families of your students? It's about the kids, right? Give me a break.
Just a few thoughts by a conservative State employee directly impacted by the bill.
Andrew Wier