While we're on the subject of well-named programs, let's chat for a brief minute about California's state employee "furloughs."
Nobody in Sacramento has the guts to push for serious "layoffs" but apparently "furloughs" are OK.
The astonishing thing with the current two-day-per-month furloughs (a 9% cut) is we hear zero --and I do mean zero-- complaints about unavailability of state services. (DMV was already so difficult that it doesn't count.)
So far, the increase to three days per month (14% cut) has not been portrayed in the press as unduly depriving California taxpayers of our precious public services.
This leads to a series of suggestion that will surely help balance the California budget:
1) "Taxpayer Fridays"
Raise furloughs to four days per month (20% cut), effective October 1st. (About when the next budget "crisis" arrives.)
Not only are state labor costs now cut 20%, but Friday rush hours are easier to navigate!
2) "Golf Course and State Park Relief"
Add Wednesday afternoons as furlough days. As partial offset to the 30% in taxpayer savings, give furloughed workers their choice of discount passes to the muni golf courses littering the state or to state parks where the entry fees were jacked up to preserve state worker headcount and pay.
Assuming this 30% cut finally causes some ruckus from taxpayers:
3) "California Carbon Credit and TAxpayer Relief Program" or "C-3 TARP!"
Renegotiate all state labor contracts so that office hours are 30 hours per week (25% cut), scheduled either 6am -1pm or 12N -7pm. This way, state workers are relieved from being on the road during rush hour. (Before you object, note these are not terribly different schedules than those forced on some students due to budget maneuvers concocted to preserve teacher and administrator salary and retirement packages.)
Think of all the gas money taxpayers also save since we will be driving to work with ~105,000 state employees off the roads at rush hour. Think of all the road projects which could be avoided (many of which are already delayed, and possibly lost anyway) when rush hours loads are reduced.
Finally, a TARP program working for taxpayers instead of against them!
If you don't absolutely love these ideas, then we suggest:
4) "California taxpayer savings" (CATS)
Let the layoffs begin! Keep cutting until the budget balances. When it gets out of balance again next quarter, go back and cut again!
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2 comments:
Clearly California state government spending levels can and must decrease from current levels, and clearly state services and jobs can be preserved by trimming the ridiculously generous state worker benefits (medical, pension, etc.).
It's also clear that our politicians don't have the guts to stand up to the well-funded (through taxpayer-paid salaries) labor unions to make these necessary cuts.
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