Fighting to Preserve Public Services, State by State
February 22, 2010
AFSCME members nationwide are standing up to tell their elected representatives that raising revenues is the best solution to a budget crisis that threatens critical public services just when they are needed the most.
In Illinois, more than 3,000 activists, including hundreds of members of AFSCME Council 31, rallied at the state Capitol rotunda in Springfield this month to demand that lawmakers pass legislation to increase the individual income tax rate and expand the state’s sales tax base.
One thousand Minnesota Council 5 members also rallied in February at the Capitol in Saint Paul to demand that lawmakers save and create good jobs to jumpstart the economy. They also met with their representatives to press for increased revenues, including fair taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.
In Washington, more than 500 members of AFSCME Council 28 also rallied at the state Capitol in Olympia this month with thousands of others to oppose an anti-government Tea Party coalition rally the same day. They also lobbied lawmakers to allow a simple majority vote to raise revenues.
Approximately 1,500 AFSCME members from throughout New York state demonstrated and met with legislators in Albany earlier this month to find a fair way to protect essential public services.
"Elected leaders are on the verge of destroying vital public services and putting more people out of work. They're jeopardizing the health and safety of the people and our communities,” AFSCME International Pres. Gerald W. McEntee told members from AFSCME District Councils 37, 35, 66, 1707, Council 82 and Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000.
In Maryland, a delegation of AFSCME members carried boxes of “Budget Fight Back” cards to their lawmakers in January. Signed by more than 3,000 state employees, the cards propose a plan to generate more than $2 billion in revenue to close a budget gap, including drawing on the state’s rainy day fund, expanding the sales tax to more services and increasing gas and alcohol taxes.
In New Mexico, more than 300 members of Council 18 rallied at the state Capitol in Santa Fe last month to propose budget cut alternatives that included preventing out-of-state corporations from dodging state taxes. Read more about the rally here, and also watch this video.
AFSCME members in several other states have also lobbied – or plan to lobby – their state lawmakers in coming weeks. They include: Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
