For some states, the time of austerity is here. For many others, it’s not very far away.
Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and a couple of others have been in the news, but the problems run much deeper than just the Upper Midwestern states.
According to the Center on Budget and Priority Policies, forty-five states and the District of Columbia will have deficits in 2012, totaling $125 billion. This is on top of the cuts that many states have already made, between 2009 and 2011.
All the states need to reduce their deficits to at least break-even. And that will involve painful cuts on all levels.
I think that the Wisconsin governor asking the unions to give up their say on everything other than wages is going too far. There is definitely room for a compromise, but both sides in Wisconsin have dug in and adopted a “my way or ELSE” attitude which is not particularly helpful to resolving the stalemate.
As for the missing Democrats in the Wisconsin state legislature, they need to get back to work and do what they were elected to do: represent the people of Wisconsin. There is no provision in the Wisconsin constitution for the seats of shirking lawmakers to be declared vacant, and special elections called. This is unfortunate.
Every state should have such a provision for it in order for all representatives and senators to know what will happen if they abandon their posts. Their pay should be forfeit, so should any benefits that follow a state legislator’s leaving office honorably.
Lots of problems ahead, for at least forty-five states.
No comments:
Post a Comment