Even while the U.S. Congress is voting for federal tax cuts despite the growing
federal government debt and a huge federal government deficit which still hasn’t
factored in the total costs of the recent war and its aftermath, state governments
are drowning in debt, with almost no attempt by the feds to help them. They
are up a creek, without a paddle and, it seems, with water flooding into their
little boat.
Yet, somehow most Americans don’t seem to know – or to care –
that state governments are facing perhaps the greatest crisis in our nation’s
history at the same time that they are being called upon to do even more with
less money in their coffers. Do we realize that while school-age populations
are growing rapidly in many states, 20 states already have cut K-12 funding
this year? Do we realize that despite evidence that classroom size is a key
to learning, classroom sizes will inevitably grow over the next years as thousands
of teachers receive pink slips and that right now in Oklahoma teachers are acting
as janitors and, in Oregon children may face a cut-back school year? Do we realize
that inequities in school funding in Ohio, New Hampshire and Wyoming (all already
under court orders to assure adequate funding of all schools) will face even
more funding dilemmas? Do we realize that many states have already raised tuition
for higher education and that a number of them are projecting cuts in higher
education budgets?
Do we realize that many libraries across the nation will be curtailing hours,
laying off staff and cutting back on purchases? Do we realize that because many
states are cutting Medicaid dollars, seniors are losing access to prescription
drug plans and those cuts are imperiling health care for poor children, pregnant
mothers, the elderly and sick? Do we realize that as more Americans lose jobs,
they lose health care and that we all pay for those costs anyway?
Yet, somehow as much of the media covers this perfect fiscal storm facing state
governments, they fail to tell the full story. Instead of interviewing governors,
they are interviewing chamber of commerce presidents about tax cuts. Or, headlines
highlight the increase in state spending without explaining why – increased
corrections costs, increased costs for states due to the shifting of Medicare
patients to Medicaid (from the federal budget to shared budgets), and increases
in education budgets due to larger school populations and unfunded mandates
from the federal government.
This funding crisis is real! This is not the little boy crying wolf. There
are no magic rabbits to pull out of state funding hats. The rainy day funds
amassed during the 1990's are now gone. The President has all but told the governors,
Republican and Democrat alike, to fend for themselves. The Congress is not much
better, allocating a paltry $20 million thus far in budget negotiations to pay
for the $150 million deficits facing state governments.
But there are things we can and must do. Here are a few ideas:
Call your state legislator and ask for an appointment with him/her or their
staff budget person. Find out for yourself what is being cut in your state.
Then organize, organize, organize. If schools are being cut, organize parents.
If libraries are being cut, organize your neighbors. If seniors are being cut,
organize your church or temple or mosque.
- Call the Children’s Defense Fund at 202-662-3671
to find out how you can participate in their Stand for Children Week-end on
June 1 or their Capitol Hill Wednesday in Washington Stroller Parade on June
11. Or visit their web-site at www.childrensdefense.org.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper
about the state budget crisis. If you need a sample letter, go to www.ucctakeaction.org.
- Send an e-mail or letter to your Senator and Congressperson
calling on them to increase aid to states. A sample letter for this is also
at www.ucctakeaction.org. You can
also go to www.stopbudgetdisaster.com
to contact your legislators. Stories of how budget cuts will impact your family
and your community are especially important.
- Join religious folks committed to ending poverty
at the Call to Renewal Pentecost 2003 mobilization in Washington, D.C. June
9-11. For more information go to www.calltorenewal.com.
- Pray that our nation will change its priorities
and work to end poverty and wage peace.
More tax cuts are not the answer. We need immediate jobs, not future ones, in
this nation. We need more investment in public education and higher education.
We need health care for all Americans. We need to help the states, not allow
them to sink into an ocean of red ink. These are our real national security
issues. It’s up to you and me.