MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-07-13 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Undermining our Government and Economy
|
http://www.salon.com/2020/07/13/coronavirus-side-effects-deep-budget-cuts-for-state-and-local-government-services_partner/
Bridges, Schools, Libraries, Public Safety, Rodes, Healthcare Workers are all heading for layoffs and
pension cutbacks. The result of the lockdown, not the virus, is a death
spiral..
Salon.com
Coronaviruss painful side effect is deep budget cuts for state and local
government services
7-9 minutes
Nationwide, state and local government leaders are warning of major
budget cuts as a result of the pandemic. One state New York even
referred to the magnitude of its cuts as having "no precedent in modern
times."
Declining revenue combined with unexpected expenditures and requirements
to balance budgets means state and local governments need to cut
spending and possibly raise taxes or dip into reserve funds to cover the
hundreds of billions of dollars lost by state and local government over
the next two to three years because of the pandemic.
Without more federal aid or access to other sources of money (like
reserve funds or borrowing), government officials have made it clear:
Budget cuts will be happening in the coming years.
And while specifics are not yet available in all cases, those cuts have
already included reducing the number of state and local jobs from
firefighters to garbage collectors to librarians and slashing spending
for education, social services and roads and bridges.
In some states, agencies have been directed to cut their budget as much
as 15% or 20% a tough challenge as most states prepared budgets for a
new fiscal year that began July 1.
As a scholar of public administration who researches how governments
spend money, here are the ways state and local governments have reduced
spending to close the budget gap.
Cutting jobs
State and local governments laid off or furloughed 1.5 million workers
in April and May.
They are also reducing spending on employees. According to surveys,
government workers are feeling personal financial strain as many state
and local governments have cut merit raises and regular salary
increases, frozen hiring, reduced salaries and cut seasonal employees.
Washington state, for example, cut both merit raises and instituted
furloughs.
A survey from the National League of Cities shows 32% of cities will
have to furlough or lay off employees and 41% have hiring freezes in
place or planned as a result of the pandemic.
Employment reductions have met some resistance. In Nevada, for example,
a state worker union filed a complaint against the governor to the
state's labor relations board for violating a collective bargaining
statute by not negotiating on furloughs and salary freezes.
Most of the employee cuts have been made in education. Teachers,
classroom aids, administrators, staff, maintenance crews, bus drivers
and other school employees have seen salary cuts and layoffs.
The job loss has hurt public employees beyond education, too:
librarians, garbage collectors, counselors, social workers, police
officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, health aides, park rangers,
maintenance crews, administrative assistants and others have been
affected.
Residents also face the consequences of these cuts: They can't get ahold
of staff in the city's water and sewer departments to talk about their
bill; they can't use the internet at the library to look for jobs; their
children can't get needed services in school.
Most of these cuts have been labeled temporary, but with the extensions
to stay-at-home orders and a mostly closed economy, it will be some time
before these employees are back to work.
Suspending road, bridges, building and water system projects
As another way to reduce costs quickly, a National League of Cities
survey shows 65% of the municipalities surveyed are stopping
temporarily, or completely, capital expenditure and infrastructure
projects like roads, bridges, buildings, water systems or parking
garages.
In New York City, there is a US$2.3 billion proposed cut to the capital
budget, a fund that supports large, multiyear investments from sidewalk
and road maintenance, school buildings, senior centers, fire trucks,
sewers, playgrounds, to park upkeep. There are potentially serious
consequences for residents. For example, New York housing advocates are
concerned that these cuts will hurt plans for 21,000 affordable homes.
Suspending these big money projects will save the government money in
the short term. But it will potentially harm the struggling economy,
since both public and private sectors benefit from better roads,
bridges, schools and water systems and the jobs these projects create.
Delaying maintenance also has consequences for the deteriorating
infrastructure in the U.S. The costs of unaddressed repairs could
increase future costs. It can cost more to replace a crumbling building
than it does to fix one in better repair.
Cities and towns hit
In many states, the new budgets severely cut their aid to local
governments, which will lead to large local cuts in education both K-12
and higher education as well as social programs, transportation, health
care and other areas.
New York state's budget proposes that part of its fiscal year 2021
budget shortfall will be balanced by $8.2 billion in reductions in aid
to localities. This is the state where the cuts were referred to in the
budget as "not seen in modern times." This money is normally spent on
many important services that residents need everyday mass transit,
adult and elderly care, mental health support, substance abuse programs,
school programs like special education, children's health insurance and
more. Lacking any of these support services can be devastating to a
person, especially in this difficult time.
Fewer workers, less money
As teachers and administrators figure out how to teach both online and
in person, they and their schools will need more money not less to
meet students' needs.
Libraries, which provide services to many communities, from free
computer use to after-school programs for children, will have to cut
back. They may have fewer workers, be open for fewer hours and not offer
as many programs to the public.
Parks may not be maintained, broken playground equipment may stay that
way, and workers may not repave paths and mow lawns. Completely separate
from activists' calls to shift police funding to other priorities,
police departments' budgets may be slashed just for lack of cash to pay
the officers. Similar cuts to firefighters and ambulance workers may
mean poorly equipped responders take longer to arrive on a scene and
have less training to deal with the emergency.
To keep with developing public safety standards, more maintenance staff
and materials will be needed to clean and sanitize schools, courtrooms,
auditoriums, correctional facilities, metro stations, buses and other
public spaces. Strained budgets and employees will make it harder to
complete these new essential tasks throughout the day.
To avoid deeper cuts, state and local government officials are trying a
host of strategies including borrowing money, using rainy day funds,
increasing revenue by raising tax rates or creating new taxes or fees,
ending tax exemptions and using federal aid as legally allowed.
Colorado was able to hold its budget to only a 3% reduction, relying
largely on one-time emergency reserve funds. Delaware managed to
maintain its budget and avoided layoffs largely through using money set
aside in a reserve account.
Nobody knows how long the pandemic, or its economic effects, will last.
In the worst-case scenario, budget officials are prepared to make
steeper cuts in the coming months if more assistance does not come from
the federal government or the economy does not recover quickly enough to
restore the flow of money that governments need to operate.
Carla Flink, Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy,
American University
-
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
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