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We will shoulder
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our fair share,
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not the whole
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t
budget burden
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M
ByKENNETHBRYNIEN
Overthelasttwomonths,thegovernorhasmadetwomajor
e
addresses,theintroductionoftheExecutiveBudgetandthe
MA
KI
NG
A
StateoftheState.Bothspeechesoutlinedthestate’sdirefiscal
th
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N
ow
T
s
d
—
conditionandtheneedforsharedpainandsacrifice.
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Whiletheproposedbudgetmakescutsacrossanumberof
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n
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ee
e
re
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nt
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efo
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areas,person-for-person,publicemployeesareamongthe
g
hardesthit. suchareasasovertimeandwastefulspendingonconsultantsto e
SincelastApril,stateoperationshavebeencutby$1.4billion, getthebestvalueforeverytaxdollar.Wehavepushedforthe
andthegovernorwantstocutmore. millionaire’staxandotherwaysofaddressingthestate’sfiscal
Hewantstostripourcollectivelybargainedpayraises,lagour crisisthatarelessdamagingtothestate’seconomyandthe
pay,increasehealthcarecostsbypartiallyeliminatingthestate’s essentialservicesthatareneedednowmorethanever.However,
contributiontoMedicarePartBpayments,increaseretirees’ whilethegovernorhasincludedsomeofourproposalsinhis
contributionsforhealthinsurance,androll-backpension budget,thevastmajorityhavebeenignored.
benefitsforfutureretirees,re-creatingthetierinequitiesthat OnJanuary7,thousandsofPEFmembersralliedalongside
PEFworkedforthepast25yearstoaddress. membersfromtheCivilServiceEmployeesAssociation,theNYS
Asthegovernorsaid,thereissharedpain.Theseproposals NursesAssociation,AFSCMEDistrictCouncil37andtheService
affectretired,current,andfuturepublicemployees.Altogether, EmployeesInternationalUnionwithonemessage:“WeareMain
theseconcessionswouldamounttotheequivalentofa66 Street!”
percenttaxincreaseforpublicemployees.That’saburdenwell Ifthegovernortrulywantsthisfiscalburdentobeshared,
beyondwhatthegovernorisaskingofothers. he’dbetterlooktomorethanpublicemployeesandpublic
Weunderstandtheneedtosharetheburdenofthisfiscal servicestobalancethisbudget.
crisisandhavedoneourpart,absorbingalmostabillionanda Therearetwosidestothebudgetequation,andthosewhoare
halfdollarsincutssincelastAprilanddoingmoreworkwith mostculpableforthefiscalcrisisshouldnotbeimmunefromits
fewerresources.It’stimethegovernorlookedelsewherefor impact.Thisisamessagewehopethegovernorunderstandsand
sacrifices. willacton.Ifnot,theJanuarygatheringofthousandsonthe
Wehaveproposedwaystoaddressthefiscalcrisisbycutting Capitolstepswillbejustthefirstactinthisbudgetdrama.
CommunityResidentialHome(RH)in
Addiction services
RetardationandDevelopmental
MonroeCounty,andSyracuseCommunity
TheManhattanAddiction
Disabilitieswouldabolish110positions,
RHinOnondagaCounty.
TreatmentCenterwouldclose,
vacateanother174andfill231vacancies.
Also,threeeveningreportingcentersin
probablyinthefirstorsecondquarter,
That’sanetstaffinglossof53.Allthe
Albany,BuffaloandSyracusewouldbe
and20jobswouldbeabolished.
layoffsandattritionsmustbedoneby
closed.
Another31jobsatthestateOfficeof
October1.
Operationsattwootheryouthfacilities
AlcoholandSubstanceAbuseServices
–AllenRCinDelawareCountyandTryon
wouldbevacatedbyattritionandfournew
Real property services
RCinFultonCounty–wouldbereduced.
positionswouldbeadded.
Twelvepeoplewouldbelaid-off,
ThestateOfficeofChildrenandFamily and18wouldbeattrited.
Services(OCFS)wouldhavethesecond
Mental health services
Someadministrativesupport
highestnetjobloss:288.Ofthose,127
ThestateOfficeofMental
functions,includinghumanresources,of
arebylayoff.
Health(OMH)wouldreduceits
thestateOfficeofRealPropertyServices
treatmentcapacityby450adult
wouldbe“hosted”bythestate
Economic development
inpatientbedsstatewide.And300
DepartmentofTaxationandFinance.
TheentireEconomic
outpatientswouldbereclassifiedtoreceive
DevelopmentDepartmentwouldclose
lessintensivestaffing.
Labor and
anditsoperationswouldbeabsorbed
Thebudgetwouldabolish120jobs,
unemployment services
byapublic-benefitcorporation.
andcallsforanother410tobevacatedby
Threelayoffsand12attritionsare
(See related article, page 8.)
attrition.Then,itwouldadd586new
budgetedforthestateLabor
Thebudgetcallsfortheeliminationof
positions.
Department.
200,anestimated117bylayoff. Theremaining20layoffsarescattered
Developmental services
acrossotheragencies.
www.pef.org
ThestateOfficeofMental
TheCommunicatorFebruary2009—Page7
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