FLU SEASON has hit the country hard this year, and Wisconsin seems to have been hit the hardest. Last week, thousands of Wisconsin teachers called in sick; so many, in fact, that many school districts had to shut down. Instead of sleeping-in and drinking plenty of fluids, however, they chose protesting as their preferred medicine. New legislation being pushed through the Wisconsin legislature, which would reduce government workers' benefits and decrease public unions' bargaining power, has created political unrest among public workers despite the reasonable nature of the bill.
The bill, endorsed by the Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, will make state employees spend 5.8 percent of their salaries toward their pensions and 12.6 percent toward their health care premiums. The governor states that the cuts are justified because the state of Wisconsin is facing a $3.6 billion shortfall over the next two years. The cuts will be painful, of course, but the government of Wisconsin does not have much choice. Since the recession, state revenue has plummeted and the state, which is legally obligated to balance its budget, is having a hard time making ends meet. The problem is compounded further by pension payments the state promised to employees and "Obamacare" regulations that forbid state governments from decreasing spending for Medicaid.
The bill seems like a reasonable solution. Not only does it restructure the state's pension model to a more sustainable system, it also decreases the amount the government spends on medical care. While no one wants to see teachers and other public workers have their benefits cut, the money has to come from somewhere. The governor chose to cut benefits instead of raising taxes.
Opponents of the bill have criticized the governor for continuing existing tax cuts and then balancing the budget by decreasing public sector benefits. Yet the tax cuts, which total $120 million, would come nowhere near covering the $3.6 billion shortfall. It is rather narcissistic of the protestors to demand that Wisconsin taxpayers, who have been suffering from a deep recession and high unemployment, should have their taxes raised so public workers, who have job security and state-funded pension plans, do not have to contribute more to their benefits. The tax cuts are not even in the same vein as George Bush's "tax cuts for the rich." According to Atlantic columnist Megan McArdle, the Wisconsin tax cuts are aimed toward "businesses that hire new employees, businesses that relocate to the state, and health savings accounts." It is not as if the Wisconsin GOP is being unnecessarily cruel to teachers and public employees. The tax cuts were implemented to help those who have the greatest need of state assistance - the unemployed. The bill is pragmatic and fixes short-term revenue problems while simultaneously tackling the long-term issues of reorganizing the state's poorly structured pension plans and stimulating economic activity.
The issue that has raised the most outrage among protestors is the provision in the bill that decreases the bargaining power of public sector unions. While unions are still able to bargain for wages, they are no longer able to bargain for benefits. Political commentator Joseph Cartin stated that the bill would make public sector workers akin to second-class citizens. Forcing unions to limit their bargaining power for only wage increases does not reduce public workers to second-class status; when unions bargain for health benefits they are, in effect, bargaining for higher wages which can then be distributed to health care, pensions and other costs. The bill actually increases transparency: Workers can better quantify their compensation when it is in dollar amounts as opposed to more vague increases in benefits. Even if the bill did confiscate workers' rights, how many "first-class" citizens have job security, state-supported pensions and benefits, a government work schedule - teachers from Wisconsin's largest school district only work 188 days a year - and powerful unions lobbying to increase their wages? Cartin compares private sector unions to public ones, but fails to make the distinction that while private unions bargain for a share of profits from generally for-profit institutions, when public unions use collective bargaining they are bargaining to get more money from the government - that is, from the taxpayers. It is no wonder the governor wants to decrease the unions' influence to help correct the state's financial problems.
The biggest reason so many people are upset is not that public workers' jobs are now less "cushiony;" it is that this bill causes public service unions, as political machines, to lose influence. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) contributes more money to Democratic political campaigns than any other source. During the November midterm elections, the AFSCME spent a total of $87.5 million to help keep Democrats in office. According to The Wall Street Journal, it was the biggest "outside spender of the 2010 elections." It should be no surprise, then, that Democrats have fled the state in order to prevent the Wisconsin legislature from establishing the quorum needed to vote for the bill. Republicans no doubt would benefit from a weaker AFSCME. What that does not mean, however, is that the cuts and financial restructuring in the current bill are dishonest or unwarranted. The recession has taken a toll on the country and public service workers will need to share the burden with those without government jobs - not call in sick.
Nathan Jones' column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at n.jones@cavalierdaily.com.
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