It’s a big budget day in the state Senate today.
I couldn’t make it to Oly for the press conference, so here’s reliable AP reporter Curt Woodward’s article on the senate budget.
I will say, Woodward’s article comes with an odd headline (in the P.I. anyway) about “tax hikes.”
Tax hikes, in this instance, mean closing a few tax breaks—not raising taxes in the traditional sense. (Nor does it sound like the Democrats recommended going after any controversial corporate tax breaks that Democratic state legislature candidates are always hyping on the campaign trail. Nor are these “tax hikes” likely to be approved.
As Woodward reports in the final few paragraphs of his article:
Even though they cut deeply, Senate budget writers assume more money coming in by closing some tax loopholes. That includes exemptions offered to buyers of hybrid cars, and to financial institutions that sell foreclosed homes.
Those steps pose a problem, because voter-approved taxing limits set a very high bar for raising money. And with their current majorities, Democrats aren’t likely to get the two-thirds vote needed.
And here, by my estimation, is the first press release (of many to come, I imagine) from the disgruntled Democratic base. It comes from the Service Employees Union Local 775, and it gets right to the point:
“If budgets reflect values, what does it say about Democrats when they choose to treat the lowest paid employees the worst,” asks SEIU Healthcare 775NW Vice-President Adam Glickman. “The budget cuts wages for home care workers who make $15,000 a year, and will force 6000 caregivers to drop their health coverage. What kind of Democratic value is that?”
I’ve posted the angry press release in full, below the jump.
Why does your budget treat the lowest paid employees the worst?
While the budget crisis is bad news for all public employees, Senate Democrats chose to inflict the deepest pain on the lowest paid workers – home care workers who care for vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities.
“If budgets reflect values, what does it say about Democrats when they choose to treat the lowest paid employees the worst,” asks SEIU Healthcare 775NW Vice-President Adam Glickman. “The budget cuts wages for home care workers who make $15,000 a year, and will force 6000 caregivers to drop their health coverage. What kind of Democratic value is that?”
While all public employees are seeing their wages frozen, home care workers are forced to take a direct wage reduction, since the Senate Democratic budget both freezes their wages and reduces hours of work.
While the Senate Democratic budget – like the Governor’s – includes nearly $100 million dollars to offset increasing health care costs for state employees, it includes $0 for increased healthcare costs for home care workers. This will lead to 6000 home care workers dropping their health insurance coverage because it will become too expensive.
Home care workers make just over $10 an hour – an average of $15,000 a year – providing life sustaining care to vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities so they can live with independence and dignity in their own homes.
The budget also ignores the will of the voters expressed in Initiative 1029. Just four months ago, voters supported better training and certification for home care workers by an overwhelmingly 73% vote.
