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Upcoming Events
- State Employee Meeting in Phoenix to Discuss and Adopt the Action Plan on 01/07/09 @ 05:30PM
- State Employee Meeting in Tucson to Discuss and Adopt the Action Plan on 01/07/09 @ 05:30PM
- State Employee Meeting in Yuma to Discuss and Adopt the Action Plan on 01/07/09 @ 05:30PM
- State Employee Meeting in Flagstaff to Discuss and Adopt Action Plan on 01/07/09 @ 05:30PM
- Online State Employee Meeting to Establish and Adopt Our Action Plan on 01/07/09 @ 05:30PM
SEIU Activist Diaries
Avoiding Layoffs With New Thinking
By Public Works for Public Works
SEIU Arizona News
Napolitano Confirmation Hearings May Begin Jan. 15
Congressional Quarterly and local media sources are reporting that Gov. Napolitano may be confirmed by the Senate soon, leading to a quick transition of power to incoming Gov. Jan Brewer.
The East Valley Tribune reports:
Gubernatorial press aide Jeanine L'Ecuyer said Napolitano flies to the nation's capital midday this coming Tuesday, just 24 hours after giving what is expected to be her last State of the State speech. The governor is awaiting confirmation as Barack Obama's pick to be the next chief of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
"At this point there is not a return on her schedule,” said L'Ecuyer.
State Will Run Out of Money in February, Treasurer Says
State Treasurer Dean Martin is raising the alarm that Arizona could run out of the money needed to pay its bills as early as next month.
The Arizona Republic reported Sunday that Martin believes the state will likely have to start borrowing money soon just to make payroll. Such a decision would mark the first time the state has had to borrow money just to cover daily expenses since World War II.
"No matter what they do with the budget, we'll be negative in March or April," Martin said.
He has shared his sober analysis with the incoming legislative leaders, as well as Jan Brewer's gubernatorial transition team.
"Essentially, the state is broke," said House Speaker-elect Kirk Adams, R-Mesa.
Adams said he's not sure he agrees with Martin's belief that there is no way to avoid borrowing, saying lawmakers are hoping to rein in the state's $1.2 billion budget deficit through spending cuts.
But, he added, "there's only so much you can do in the next few weeks."
The state is facing perhaps its worse budget crisis ever and Arizona's budget troubles were recently ranked as the worst in the country by Business Week. The state is facing a budget deficit of at least $1.2 billion that is expected to grow even larger, forcing tough decisions to close the budget gap.
Some lawmakers have already discussed pay cuts and layoffs for state employees and cuts to popular programs like all-day kindergarten.
State Employees Continue to Join Together in Record Numbers
 Sabrae White, a DES employee in Phoenix, joins thousands of her co-workers in signing the SEIU support card this morning. |
This week, SEIU members and organizers will be all over Arizona, continuing to build support in the Department of Economic Security in anticipation of our SEIU election.
Already thousands of DES employees in more than 100 offices have taken action to build our public services union and every day more and more of our co-workers sign the SEIU support card. Thousands of other state employees are also building support in their departments to file for a union election soon.
State employees will also be holding a big kickoff meeting Wednesday at 5 p.m. to discuss and adopt our action plan moving forward. You can RSVP to attend one of the kickoff meetings by clicking on one of the links below:
Supreme Court May Fasttrack Lawsuit by Cities Against the State
The Arizona Capitol Times is reporting that the Arizona Supreme Court will meet Jan. 6 to decide whether it will hear challenges to a controversial law passed last session, which forced local governments to contribute nearly $30 million more to the state.
If the court hears the case, it would bypass the need for a trial and the Arizona Court of Appeals.
The request for special action filed in November by the Arizona League of Cities and Towns argues the forced transfer violates constitutional provisions that demand state revenue increases be implemented only with the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature's lawmakers.
Tempe City Employees: Cast Your Vote Today
SEIU members who work for the City of Tempe can now vote whether we should ratify the recent agreement reached with the city to protect jobs by deferring the 2009 market adjustment increase.
Tempe SEIU members are working hard to craft alternative budget solutions to protect City of Tempe jobs. Originally, the city indicated that it would need to eliminate 180 positions, a move that would have required layoffs.
SEIU members are developing a department-by-department recommendation with budget saving ideas to serve as alternatives to the city's original reorganization plan in consultation with city officials and members of the city council. Even with those changes, however, it was determined that deferring the 2009 market increase would be necessary to protect jobs given the city's budget crisis.
To vote, Tempe members may click here.
Please note: You will need an SEIU Arizona online account to vote. If you have not created an account, you may do so here.
If you encounter technical problems or require assistance with online voting, please contact Chris Coil at 602-432-2001. Traditional voting will be available at Priest Yard from 5 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Online voting will close at midnight Monday.
Vote to Protect Tempe Jobs Will Be Held Here
Tempe SEIU members will be able to vote online whether we should ratify the decision of Tempe Chapter leaders to protect city jobs by deferring next year’s market adjustment increase.
SEIU members directed the chapter’s leadership to make protecting jobs our union’s number one priority at the last general membership meeting. Since then SEIU members have responded with a department-by-department look at the budget to generate budget saving ideas and agreed to defer next year’s scheduled wage increase to protect city jobs.
Before SEIU members started taking action, the city was planning to cut 180 positions to close the city’s budget gap.
Online voting will be held 9 a.m. Friday through midnight on Monday. Traditional voting will be available from 5 a.m. to 7:30 am on Tuesday at Priest Yard.
If you plan to vote online, make sure that you have an online account. If you haven’t already signed up for an account, please do so today to ensure that you’ll be able to cast your vote. You can sign up for your online account here.
UPDATED:
Carol Martsch, president of SEIU's Tempe Chapter, discusses the vote below:
Tempe Mayor Discusses Budget Solutions with Bargaining Team
With a vote to save city jobs on the way, Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman joined SEIU members on Tuesday to discuss the budget crisis and some of our union's budget solutions.
The discussion comes as SEIU members are preparing to vote to protect city jobs by deferring next year’s wage increase. SEIU members are also working on a report to highlight some alternative budget saving ideas. Originally, city officials stated that Tempe would need to cut 180 positions due to its budget crisis, but SEIU members are working hard to avoid layoffs.
Tempe SEIU members will be able to vote to ratify the decision to protect jobs by deferring next year's wage increase on this website starting Friday.
IQtv covered the event and caught up with Mayor Hallman following the meeting. The Republican mayor praised SEIU members for their approach and for saving city jobs, calling SEIU's action to prevent layoffs “one of the most important things that an employee bargaining unit has done in my entire career. ..”
Incoming Gov. Brewer Discusses How She Wants to Govern
While there will be differences with lawmakers on specific issues, Secretary of State Jan Brewer says she will strive to work in tandem with the Legislature once she becomes Governor.
The Associated Press reports:
"...basically I think we all want the same thing for the people of Arizona," Brewer said Monday in an interview with The Associated Press. "We want a strong economy, we want good jobs and lower taxes and (to) deliver those services for people that are unfortunate that they're not able to provide for themselves."
In the AP interview, Brewer also began to stake out a handful of policy positions even though she intends to wait until she becomes governor to make those and other policy decisions final. She said she opposes debt-financing to pay for state expenses, a position that could impact how the state budget gap is closed.
She also signaled that the state should remain involved in the Western Climate Initiative for now, but expressed concern over the planned cap-and-trade program to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.
City Leaders Fear State Will Cut Funds
Leaders from cities and towns are worried that legislators will raid state-shared revenue funds to tackle the state's growing budget shortfall, and they have made preserving the funds their top legislative priority during the next legislative session.
The Arizona Republic reports on the concern:
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman said the state has relied on "smoke and mirror techniques" rather than making real cuts to balance its budget, prompting it to raid the cities' coffers.
"The state must follow the example set by cities and properly balance its budget," he said.
...
While other legislators also have said they don't plan to touch state-shared revenue, city leaders remain worried. They're smarting from a budget bill passed last summer that would require cities, towns and other government agencies to pay a total of nearly $30 million into the state's general fund.
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns has filed a lawsuit to fight the bill.
Arizona State Budget Woes Rank as Worst in the Nation
Business Week recently ranked the states according to the severity of their budget crisis and Arizona is at the top of the list.
Before the state budget for fiscal year 2009 was approved, legislators had to cut $1.9 billion in spending. Since then, the situation has grown even more dire, and an estimated $1.2 billion more has to be found to fill the shortfall by June 30. The combined budget gap adds up to $3.1 billion or 30.8% of the total budget, Business Week reports.
State's facing the worst budget crises in order:
- Arizona
- California
- Rhode Island
- Florida
- Nevada
- Alabama
- Illinois
- Georgia
- Virginia
- South Carolina