Hector De La Torre
“Our major obligation is not to mistake slogans for solutions.” – Edward R. Murrow
The purpose of state government is to serve people – workers, business owners, patients, students, litigants, consumers and most importantly our taxpayers. Under our current circumstances, we all understand that the recession has drastically cut revenues and that some services must be reduced accordingly.
In the past year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put up a “no service” sign to California residents by locking state employees out of their jobs despite their willingness to serve the public. The governor imposed three furlough days per month – closing down hundreds of agencies and departments and forcing a dramatic reduction in vital state services that make it hard for everyone to do business and get anything done.
Several dozen state agencies are either federally funded or fee-funded, not from the state general fund. The governor’s executive order declares an emergency based upon the budget deficit in the state general fund, but the furloughs are thoughtless and apply to virtually all state employees, without regard to whether the furloughs result in any actual state general fund savings. Furloughing the employees of these agencies creates no state general fund savings, making the furlough a simple political statement.
Furloughs are forcing longer wait times for services. The Department of Motor Vehicles provides services most Californians use regularly. As a result of the furloughs, the average wait time for a walk-in customer has increased to 45 minutes at the DMV.
In addition, backlogs increased significantly this year on many license applications, investigations and audits. The DMV’s funds come almost entirely from vehicle, driver’s license and other fees paid by motorists, as well as from the federal government, not the state general fund.
Furloughs delay patient care. There is already a physician shortage in California. The governor’s furlough order has created a backlog of physician license applications because the Medical Board of California cannot keep up with current licensing demand.
As a result, communities are waiting even longer for new doctors while qualified physicians who are ready and able to practice medicine sit idle. The sole source of funds available to the Medical Board comes from physician license fees and other user fees mandated for Medical Board purposes. The Medical Board does not rely on the state general fund.
In this historic recession, furloughs are delaying unemployment checks to Californians. The Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board has a record 82,500 pending appeals, and the furloughs have increased the waiting time for unemployment benefits from seven weeks to three months. Both the Employment Development Department and the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board are federally funded and use no state general funds.
Furloughs are increasing unemployment. State construction jobs help increase employment and pump money into the state economy.
Furloughs are increasing the state general fund deficit. The state’s two largest tax agencies – the Franchise Tax Board and the State Board of Equalization – will lose more than $700 million in revenue because of the furlough order. Specifically, the furloughs have harmed both agencies’ ability to audit returns and collect money owed by taxpayers. These cuts mean less outreach to taxpayers to explain tax rules, lost audit opportunities due to expired statutory deadlines and postponed or missed collection efforts. The Board of Equalization and the Franchise Tax Board generate revenue for California, providing funding that helps the state general fund.
Common sense dictates that you only cut programs and services to yield savings. In an effort to stop this downward spiral, I introduced Assembly Bill 1215 to keep state employees working when the furloughs do not yield state general fund savings. The bill requires that when employees are funded by sources other than the state general fund, they cannot be furloughed. If enacted, the bill will help maintain services that meet the day-to-day needs of California residents, including unemployment checks and DMV registration, and create new job opportunities.
California residents are struggling in so many ways. We need innovative solutions to help fix this state. Shutting the door on state government to make a political point is counterproductive – it punishes California residents and businesses, and it absolutely does not fix the state general fund deficit.
Late last month, an Alameda Superior Court judge ordered back pay for state employees in positions funded by sources other than the general fund. This ruling affirms the reasoning behind Assembly Bill 1215 and Senate Bill 29 (8X), both common-sense measures to protect our state workers. In this difficult budget crisis, we need to have serious discussions about real savings and solutions and move beyond simple political ploys. The recent court ruling should help persuade Gov. Schwarzenegger to start these discussions right away.
HECTOR De La TORRE | Special to The Bee