The Columbian’s Jan. 3 editorial on state employees and state services contributes to the healthy public debate on the current state budget crisis, but relies on unfortunate stereotypes and flawed information.
Far from being coddled, the more than 1,000 Clark County state employees in our union — the Washington Federation of State Employees — along with state employees across Washington, have sacrificed more than $1 billion in negotiated pay raises, health benefits, pension funding and jobs (through 4,700 layoffs by July 2010). Hardly an example of refusing to budge.
What’s even more devastating to our members is the frustration that their sacrifices aren’t translating to a continued commitment to quality services for the vulnerable, public safety and our environment.
Still, state employees have rolled up their sleeves. They are working harder because there are fewer of them.
Some of the cuts to quality state programs are a tragedy waiting to happen — based on recent history. When 13-year-old Alycia Nipp was brutally murdered last year in Vancouver, it was our members in Community Corrections who accompanied her mother and family to the state Capitol to make their case against legislation ending supervision for 12,000 dangerous offenders. Together, we mitigated but did not totally eliminate the harmful parts of that legislation (SB 5288).
That’s the kind of potential devastation The Columbian didn’t mention, but is a constant and terrifying public safety concern of our members.
Flawed information
The Columbian also relied on a skimpy and flawed briefing paper from the Washington Policy Center to argue that much of state government that isn’t already privatized should be. The Columbian and its source are just plain wrong.
The 2002 Personnel System Reform Act set up a process where state agencies can expand contracting out if it saves money for taxpayers, results in efficiencies and allows state employees to form business units to compete for the work. It was modeled after the successful competitive contracting process established by Republican Mayor Steven Goldsmith in Indianapolis. (Goldsmith later was a special advisor to President George W. Bush). I might add that the part of our law on competitive contracting was written, in part, by business.
The law set up a rule-making process. We understand it fully. Our position has been ratified by the state Court of Appeals.
To now push for a change to the very law on state competitive contracting that business agreed to is an interesting bit of revisionist history.
The process is working. Between July 2005 and December 2008, we raised issues with 359 instances of proposed contracting out by state agencies, colleges or universities. Using that process, in the end only 18 percent of the projects stayed in-house. The vast majority were contracted out to private businesses.
That doesn’t mean we don’t still believe that more often than not, state employees can do the job faster, more economically and more efficiently. For instance, in 2006 at Cape Disappointment State Park, our members rewired a cabin at a cost of about $10,000. The agency then contracted out the same additional work at another cabin — to the tune of $100,000!
We realize The Columbian is, like all of us, trying to find solutions to our temporary economic crisis. But in doing so, The Columbian shouldn’t be taken in by those whose position is to privatize state government at any cost.
It is clear we have reached a defining moment for our generation. We need to raise revenue and close appropriate tax loopholes. There are numerous ways to equitably raise revenue. Similarly, of the $98.5 billion in tax exemptions given in this state, $14.8 billion could easily be eliminated or suspended, according to the state Department of Revenue’s latest report on tax exemptions. That includes tax breaks for: stadiums for the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Mariners; dealers in precious metals and bullion; and condominium maintenance fees.
I am confident legislators will rise to the challenge and make tough decisions and show real leadership.
Greg Devereux of Olympia is executive director of the Washington Federation of State Employees (http://www.wfse.org).
