Everyone knows that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a severe economic toll on governments at all levels, with sales tax collections and all other revenues down; governments left struggling with the costs of protecting their citizens from the virus and dealing with shutdowns of businesses and record unemployment.
Many throughout the country, including our union, have called on Congress and the White House to provide additional federal stimulus relief to states and local governments, in order to avoid drastic cuts to essential public services at a time when they are needed more than ever before.
Without that relief, many layoffs and furloughs are expected, as well as cuts that will negatively impact public services, as the governments have no additional ways to raise revenues. CSEA has already been notified of some municipalities planning for cuts if no relief is delivered from Washington.
This is not a red state or blue state issue. It is impacting all our governments throughout the country who could never have planned for the severe economic impact this pandemic has caused. This brings the issue of fiscal relief for our governments to the forefront for many union members, rightfully concerned that their jobs could be cut and the services they provide decimated.
Unfortunately, there has been little relief on this issue from Washington. President Donald Trump stood by as the Republican-controlled Senate sat for months on the Heroes Act, passed by the House of Representatives, which included the needed aid to our states and localities. Trump also offered no rebuke as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that states should declare bankruptcy rather than the government providing relief.
When the Senate finally met to negotiate a stimulus package and those negotiations hit a stalemate, President Trump provided some stimulus funding by executive order, but did not include any fiscal relief for our governments to preserve public services. Trump has publicly indicated recently that he would be supportive of some government relief, but so far no measures have been taken to provide it.
“Our current President and the U.S. Senate has allowed the issue of fiscal relief for our governments to be played out like a political game,” said CSEA President Mary E. Sullivan. “For union members who provide essential public services and depend on their jobs for their livelihoods, this is no game, and partisan politics should have no place in the decision-making. Our governments should have had real fiscal relief by now, and we need to hold the current administration and Senate leadership accountable for their lack of action, which will have real-world painful consequences.”
— Mark M. Kotzin
