Disclaimer: The ideas that follow are my own.
They do not necessarily represent those of PECG,
the California State government, or anyone else.
James M. Orr
“I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help!”
If you agree with Ronald Reagan that these are the nine most terrifying words in the English language, then you should seriously consider giving up your position as a professional in California government.
We members of PECG ARE from the government, and we ARE here to help.
The citizens of California rely on us for many professional services. They rely on us for safe, well-designed roads, expressways, and highways. They rely on us for accurate and timely surveys to guide designs, to construct projects, and to address environmental issues. The citizens rely on us to insure that private contractors really do deliver the quality projects they promised when they won a competitive bid. The citizens rely on us for water that is swimmable, fishable, and drinkable. The citizens rely on us for air that can be breathed safely, and for working with us to make unsafe air safer. In times of crisis, we members of PECG have consistently shown that we can deliver high quality quickly, effectively, and efficiently. For performing our professional services, we bargain for fair salaries and a reasonable assurance of security in old age.
Due to circumstances well beyond the capacity of most of us to affect, the entire world economy faltered a year or two ago. Combining a degree of malfeasance, a measure of greed, and the blind eye of government, a chain of events dominoed in a cascading crash. People throughout the world lost their accumulated savings overnight. Others were forced to return from retirement to find what work they could. Small companies went out of business. Large corporations faltered. Some failed. Others were propped up by public funds. With the loss of jobs and the shrinking economy, California suffered. Its people suffered. Its revenues suffered. All this is old news now.
Among the responses to a California budget billions of dollars out of balance, the Governor and the conservative legislators told us California workers in no uncertain terms: “Just be glad you have a job. Any job.” Well, we are. We also object to the tyranny implied by that threatening observation.
The jobs we do are essential, vital, and important to the wealth of California. Abandoning any pretext of collaborative effort, the Governor (aided by conservative legislators) ensured that a balanced budget could not pass. They insist that someone make the “hard choices.” For them, that means making decisions that will wreck government, destroy safety nets and measures of last resort for the poorest and least among us. We workers were threatened with loss of jobs. Then in an artful political move, we were deprived of part of our pay. Rather than layoff a portion of the State workforce, the Governor decided to cut our working hours. First one day a month, then three days a month.
In the economic environment as we find it, this cut in cash flow has caused great harm to us workers, to the people we buy from, and to wholesalers from whom the retailers get their goods. This reduction in income came at a time when our major investment—the value of our home—also plummeted. Of course we complained. Who would not under the circumstances? Organizations such as PECG started rolling the slow millstone of the legal process—seeking justice for all of us. It is likely that the courts will agree that the Governor overstepped his authority. Resolution of this mistake is likely to be very expensive, measured only in money.
The Handwriting is on the Wall
The last budget was passed as a balanced budget, using the carefully placed fulcrum of smoke, mirrors, chicanery, and lies. This year, it will be harder to use the same tricks. It appears that the California budget will not be passed by the end of June. Now, it is possible that something may happen that is unexpected and unforeseen. Past experience indicates that there is little chance of the Legislators meeting their goal.
Be prepared for another late budget!
The Governor indicates that the 3 Friday a month furlough will end. That’s great as far as it goes. In return, he is asking for permanent cuts that add up to at least a loss of 15%. Maybe the loss will be more when the effect of permanently lowering our pay scales is factored into the future. The Governor does not seem to think that collectively bargaining with the workers is the right and proper thing to do. Perhaps we are to behave as dutiful children: speak when spoken to, say “yes sir!” when given an order or a polite request, and leave the family finances to daddy.
A problem with this is that we professionals in California Government are also adults with valued knowledge, skills and abilities. We and other workers for the state are treasurers to be nurtured, not expenses to be cut. However, nurturing the family is not in the world view of the conservatives who hold the budget hostage. Demanding obedience, however, is within that view of the world.
Be prepared for a pay cut to federal minimum wage!
The Governor has asserted that he has the authority, if a budget is not passed by the end of June 2010 to pay us workers minimum wage. The proposed wage is not the $9.79 one might find in San Francisco. It is not the California minimum wage of $8.00. Rather, it is the Federal minimum wage of $7.25. It is interesting to note that the buying power of this 2010 minimum wage is markedly less that the buying power of the 1968 minimum wage of $1.15.
One must recognize than no one knows for sure if this dire event will really happen. You just have to use your own crystal ball. What chance do you give the legislature to pass a budget? When you view the current California economic crisis as the goal intended by the anti-tax, anti-government wrecking crew, just how willing do you think they will be to yield when their dream is on the cusp of fulfillment?
How can I prepare?
If you are among the few of us who are independently wealthy, and secure in our finances, you can condescend to walk among the less fortunate. Surely you must be superior, the übermensch. The rest of us quail under your dominion. You, however, might forgo some luxuries, and might transfer even more money each month into a savings account, or other liquid store of assets.
During the time of Adam Smith (Wealth of Nations was published in 1776), he noted that journey-level workers for the most part were just getting by from payday to payday. Not much has changed in this regard for most of us. Our budgets have been stretched, at least. For many of us the fabric of our lives has been torn. We are working hard, running as fast as we can to remain in one place. Less effort and we loose. Sticking a lot more money into savings is not feasible.
First, check with your primary financial institution. Some credit unions have in the past agreed to temporary loans at zero or low interest to maintain the cash flow of their state-employed members. Find out if your financial institution is prepared to help. Find out how much and for how long. Do this NOW! If your primary financial institution will not lend a helping hand, you still have time to locate one that will, and to transfer your direct deposit (or to cash your check) at a place that better supports us State workers. A good turn will long be remembered. Playing us false will never be forgotten.
Second, refrain from making unneeded financial commitments. Don’t run up more debt. If possible, reduce your cash flow. Examine your fixed expenses. Ask yourself if any of them could be eliminated. Can you modify the biggest ones? Can you eliminate any of the smallest ones? Can your variable and discretionary expenses be revised, reduced, or eliminated. Of course as each of us retrenches, becoming more thrifty and more self-reliant, the persons who rely on us as customers are also hurt. The paradox of thrift is a deflationary spiral.
Third, remain calm. Follow the guidance written prominently on The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: DON’T PANIC. This too shall pass. For us, the question is if we can survive until it does.
Fourth, in the calmness of the eye before the storm, COMMUNICATE. Each and every PECG member could commit to writing at least one handwritten letter to their assembly person and their state Senator.
Start by saying: “I am from the Government, and I AM here to help you.”
Then say how you do this.
Then encourage your legislators to enact and pass a balanced budget that encourages the discouraged, nurtures the impoverished, and rewards the hard-working.
Then say that you know that California is a wealthy state. You know that the ongoing needs of the citizens can be met when the common wealth is properly shared for the common good. Say that you know that the foundation of democracy is the concept of majority rule, and that the destruction of democracy is in the process by which the minority coerces the majority to abandon its collective will in favor of that of the minority.
You might even buy thirty different post cards. Address fifteen of them to your assembly person. Address the rest to your state Senator. Then send one each week with a short message. You might just say “I am from the government, and I AM here to help.” And then express your assessment of the situation so far. Brevity will be appreciated.
James M. Orr
PECG Fresno Section President Elect
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