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Writers
and staff
Lincoln Daily News.com
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
TEL: (217) 732-7443
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Writers [click
here]
[to
top of second column]
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AFSCME
responds to governor’s blame for layoffs
3-27-02
To
the editor:
On
behalf of the 45,000 state employees represented by AFSCME in
Illinois, I would like to respond to Gov. Ryan’s attack on our
union for its role in dealing with the state’s billion-dollar
budget crisis. Rather than accepting any responsibility for
creating the crisis or seeking to build support for sensible and
fair solutions, the governor wants to make AFSCME a scapegoat to
divert attention from his failures of leadership and from the pain
his proposals would inflict on working families.
AFSCME
agrees with the governor’s statement that "the budget
problem in Illinois was not caused by ‘overspending’" —
if he means spending on services such as public safety, education
and health care that average Illinoisans really need. That’s why
it’s strange that the Ryan administration has called for drastic
cuts in these critical areas as well as day-care assistance for
working parents, drug and violence prevention programs for our
youth, and aid for the disabled.
In
fact, as Gov. Ryan knows full well, the current budget shortfall
is largely the result of corporate tax giveaways. This fiscal year
alone, Illinois will lose $100 million in income-tax revenue that
the state required large out-of-state corporations to pay in the
past. Another $225 million or more should be collected from the
riverboat casino, horse racing and other highly profitable
industries that have so far avoided contributing their fair share.
But despite repeated attacks on our union, the governor has never
once asked his business allies to give up any of their tax breaks
and subsidies for the public good.
He
also has also failed to weigh in as to whether Illinois will
follow the lead of other states and recuperate $350 million in
revenue by de-linking state taxes from recent federal changes in
the estate tax and business depreciation allowances — changes
that benefit the top 2 percent of taxpayers and big business at
the expense of working families.
And
the same goes for potentially the biggest and most beneficial of
revenue enhancements — an increase in the state’s cigarette
tax. Raising the cigarette tax 75 cents per pack would not only
keep 100,000 Illinois teens every year from smoking, it would
generate over $500 million for the budget and another $1.8 billion
in long-term health savings for the state.
And
it’s particularly shameful that the governor has so
unrelentingly badgered state employees to forgo a modest
negotiated pay increase while demanding that they and other
Illinois taxpayers foot the bill for more than $115 million in
legislators’ "pork" projects that he’s included in
his budget. Why isn’t Ryan willing to cut that fat — which
costs nearly twice the amount needed to fund pay increases for all
state employees?
These
are just some of the ideas that AFSCME has proposed — and
Republican and Democratic governors in states facing similar
fiscal challenges have pursued — to fill the budget gap without
causing undue harm to working families. But has Gov. Ryan given
any of these promising alternatives careful consideration?
As
his own letter makes clear, the governor’s sole initiative to
fill a $1 billion budget hole has been to try to threaten state
employees into surrendering their modest pay increase. These are
employees who risk their safety every day in state prisons, who do
the difficult work of providing treatment and personal care for
people with severe mental illness and mental retardation, who
maintain our state parks, who monitor air and water environmental
standards, and who perform countless other important public
services. Many of them live from paycheck to paycheck. Why are
they the ones the governor has targeted for layoffs and wage
freezes. All of the layers of management bureaucracy — laden
with his patronage hires, family members and ex-legislators —
have been left untouched. Not one of them has been threatened with
layoff as front-line workers have.
The
governor asserts that he cannot unilaterally raise revenue — and
of course he can’t. But he can’t unilaterally impose a wage
freeze either. That hasn’t stopped him from relentlessly
advocating for one. Yet he has not expended one iota of his energy
or political capital to try to build support among state
legislators for new revenue measures that could actually fill the
budget hole — and prevent the draconian cuts he has proposed.
Illinoisans
are desperate for real leadership that offers real solutions to
jump-start the economy and help working families, not
counterproductive or drop-in-the-bucket proposals. They want a
governor who understands their priorities, not one who asks them
to make all the sacrifices while sheltering his political and
big-business pals from the state’s fiscal storms. Unfortunately,
that’s not the governor we have now. So the task of righting
Ryan’s wrongs now falls to the General Assembly in order to
prevent the havoc his budget would wreak.
Henry
Bayer
Executive
Director
AFSCME
Council 31
No
to higher taxes and fees
3-26-02
To
the editor:
After
reading last Friday’s Lincoln Courier article regarding Mayor
Beth Davis agreeing to a 16 percent increase in our sales tax, we
believe her action calls for a response from Citizens for Justice.
Last
fall Mayor Davis led the opposition to the Casey Convenient Stores
Inc. effort to locate and build on nonproductive bare ground in
Lincoln, with very low taxable income, and turn it into $750,000
of taxable property. The city also should generate excellent
taxable income from Casey’s estimated $1,000,000 annual sales.
Casey also has the ability to help reduce Lincoln’s very
high gasoline prices. Lucky for us, sounder minds prevailed on the
city council and they overrode her, and Casey will now be allowed
to be a member of our community and add 10 to 12 new jobs.
After
the mayor lost in her bid to deny Casey from coming to
Lincoln, she then led the effort for the expansion to the city
sewerage plant that has created the highest sewer fee increase
ever in the history of Lincoln, a new 27 percent increase in fees.
With the constant downsizing by local industry, coupled with these
suggested higher taxes and fees, we may not need to expand our
sewer plant.
Mayor
Davis has announced that she favors the citizens of Lincoln to
once again pay a higher fee to the area water company for the city
fire hydrants. This will lead to a new 16 percent increase in our
water bill.
And
if this isn’t enough, the mayor once again is leading a drive to
increase the city sales tax by 16 percent. What message do you
think this sends to new business and people considering locating
here?
Higher
taxes and fees are the fast and easy solution to solve the city
budget shortfall. But we believe it should never be considered
until every effort possible has been made to cut enough operating
expenses in the city budget to balance the budget.
Higher
taxes and fees will discourage new businesses and families from
locating here. Higher sales taxes affect almost every local
purchase, including gasoline purchases. They will take away the
advantage local car dealers and other local big-ticket retailers
have over the big-city boys. We need every advantage we can get to
help and maintain both old and new businesses.
We
encourage Lincoln city council members to make every effort
possible to make the necessary cuts in the city operating expenses
and not raise taxes and fees.
And
now about the proposed new $3,000,000 industrial park. What is
wrong with the Spellman-owned industrial park on Fifth Street
Road? It has city services such as water and sewer very close by,
and it also has railcar access adjacent to it. And what is even
better, we don’t need to buy it; we only need to paint a new
sign indicating its presence and begin finding potential clients.
This idea will save us $3 million and we can start to work on this
project right now. Just think how much new real estate tax dollars
this will save everyone.
Remember,
if you are not part of the solution, then you become part of the
problem.
Citizens
for Justice, Inc.
Lester
C. Van Bibber III
President
.
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Lincoln Daily News
601 Keokuk St.
Lincoln, IL 62656
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reason. Lincoln Daily News will publish as many acceptable letters as space allows.
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