Protestors Demand More Money for Schools, Local Governments
by Clyde Weiss | February 27, 2013
Left to right: Local 1002 Chief Steward Mark Factor, Pres. Bart Anderson and member Janelle McKee. (Photo by Joe Weidner)
LIMA, Ohio – “More empty promises.” That was the theme of a demonstration by more than two dozen protestors, including AFSCME members, who stood in the freezing night air before Gov. John Kasich gave his State of the State address across the street.
Their message to the governor: No more budget cuts that hurt education and support for local governments. The demonstration, outside the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center, was sponsored by the progressive labor group We Are Ohio.
“The last couple of years have been tough, but we’re working our way back,” said Bart Anderson, an electronic technician who works on the city of Lima’s water plants. Anderson, also president of Local 1002 (AFSCME Council 8), said it’s still a struggle to fund education, and the last school levy failed to pass. “As a community, we’re just getting by,” he said. “And from what I know about the budget, it’s just more empty promises.”
Mark Factor, a water treatment plant employee and Chief Steward of Local 1002, talked about the long-term pressure on the city of Lima’s budget. “When I first started working for the city in the 1990’s, we had 180 members. Now we are down to 120. It’s taken a while but it seems like they just keep chipping away.”
The protestors specifically objected to the governor’s inadequate support for the Local Government Fund, which provides funding for counties and municipalities. They also decried the governor’s lack of support for education funding.
Governor Kasich’s first budget cut $1 billion from state revenues going to local governments, and $1.8 billion from education. That’s $2.8 billion in all. Ohio’s cities and counties now have $600 million less to work with compared to what they received before Governor Kasich was elected. For the city of Lima and Allen County, the loss to local governments was $8 million, while education funding was reduced by $13 million – a total $21 million hit.
Kasich’s budget proposals aren’t the only thing that have riled up Ohioans lately. AFSCME members recently joined other activists at a “No Rights At Work” rally to fight back against tea-party efforts to put “right-to-work-for-less” legislation on the ballot. Read more about that here.
