PEFmemberstakebudget
BySHERRYHALBROOK
Wherever Gov. David Paterson goes on
his “town-hall-meetings” tour of the state
to build support for his budget proposals
he finds PEF members ready to tell their
side of the issues.
Not only did members confront
Paterson with their call for budget
fairness at his meeting sites in Buffalo
and Binghamton, they joined March 5
rallies throughout the state, including one
on the Capitol Steps in Albany, and
others in New York and in Rochester.
State legislators also heard from
members who visited them in their
district offices and buttonholed them at
the annual conference of the Black,
Puerto Rican and Asian Legislators
Association in Albany.
Binghamton
Several PEF regions also held
legislative breakfasts or receptions to
discuss why PEF feels the state has better TOUGHQUESTIONS—PEFRegion5membersquestionGov.Patersononproposed
options for balancing the budget than budgetcutsathismeetingonthebudgetatBroomeCommunity
cutting important services, laying off —
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employees, lagging pay, reneging on “PEF members have been working very wait until the end of the state fiscal year,
contractual pay raises and other hard to educate our lawmakers about March 31, to close the Manhattan
measures in the Executive Budget how these budget proposals will affect the Addiction Treatment Center. (See related
proposal. The union’s top public,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. story, page 9.)
recommendations include stopping the “Unfortunately, in some cases, the ax is Brynien has been traveling the state to
state’s expensive outsourcing to private already falling.” meet with members whose jobs are in
consultants, and raising taxes on the For instance, the state Office of Alcohol jeopardy.
wealthiest New Yorkers. and Substance Abuse Services did not The union also has been campaigning
PEFpens takeon budget ax
BySHERRYHALBROOK information technology that are expiring
The state’s penchant for contracting out and coming up for renewal or extension.
cost taxpayers $2.78 billion last year, “PEF is concerned about certain
much of it unnecessary. contracts, that appear to be one or two-
“If the governor and state leaders year contracts, being extended or in some
sincerely want to close the budget gap in cases continuously extended,” Brynien
the most practical and responsible way, wrote to Anglin. These contracts are
they can’t continue to turn a blind eye to between a variety of consultants and the
this massive abuse and waste of tax state: Office for Technology; Office of
dollars,” said PEF President Ken Brynien. Children and Family Services; Office of
The union is doing everything it can to Temporary and Disability Assistance, and
keep reminding the Albany powerbrokers Department of Transportation (DOT).”
to put real actions behind their words. PEF Brynien also wrote to the state
is waging a war of words and facts through comptroller, the director of state operations
letters, press conferences, district lobbying agencies to determine if it would cost less and to the heads of agencies, asking them
and a brochure all pointing out the to have their own employees do a job all to consider the likely savings to be
hundreds of millions of tax dollars wasted before handing it off to private consultants gained by doing work in-house, instead of
every year to support the state’s addiction or contractors. Paterson also established a automatically extending contracts.
to private consultants. taskforce on personal services contracting “In addition, we would like the same
In February, Brynien wrote to state to study the problem and make analysis to be done for new information
Budget Director Laura Anglin, reminding recommendations for solving it. technology and transportation engineering
her of Executive Order 6 issued last year Specifically, Brynien drew Anglin’s consultant contracts,” Brynien wrote. “A
by Gov. David Paterson and requiring state attention to several state contracts for great deal of savings may be realized if the
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