Call it the Great Recession 2.0. The private sector was struck by the Great Recession in 2008, incurring massive waves of plant closures, property foreclosures and layoffs.
For the most part, the public sector continued doing business as usual.
Until now. With revenues from the private sector to the public coffers drying up, the bills are coming due.
And the pain that was felt in the private sector is now being transferred to the public sector.
At press time for this publication, Gov. Scott Walker planned to announce his budget March 1, and it no doubt includes massive cuts in the state’s shared revenue dollars to cities.
No city will feel the pain more than Milwaukee.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will incur the brunt of the budget cuts from his political nemesis.
The city’s contracts with its police and firefighters have expired. Walker spared the labor unions representing the police and firefighters from his demands to revoke collecting bargaining rights after they supported his gubernatorial campaign.
The problem is, the salaries and benefits for police and firefighters eat up two thirds of the city’s operating budget.
“That’s just plain wrong. He (Walker) has very effectively pitted police officers against librarians and firefighters against public health nurses,” Barrett said. “Clearly, he’s tried to pose for the holy pictures for law enforcement, knowing full well we’re going to have to have contentious battles with them … I know he’s trying to wash his hands of the public safety impacts of his decision by excluding Milwaukee police and fire from his proposals, but that just pushes the decision to the city level. There will be an impact.”
In his State of the City Address, Barrett said, “With a high degree of certainty, I can unfortunately tell you that the cuts coming from Madison are going to disproportionally impact the City of Milwaukee. The fact that we have been responsible stewards of your tax dollars will not matter. The fact that we are home to 73 percent of the region’s poor won’t matter.”
Walker’s cuts to shared revenues will mean painful, difficult decisions for Barrett and the mayors of all Wisconsin cities, as well as the superintendents of the more than 400 school districts and the county executives of the 72 counties in the state.
Still, no matter how tight the purse strings become, Barrett said he is opposed to revoking public employees’ rights to collectively bargain.
“I believe that employees need to pay more for pensions and health care, but I’m adamantly opposed to taking away their right to organize,” Barrett said. “That’s where he (Walker) has overreached … Most of us agree that shared sacrifices are necessary. The problem, of course, is that sacrifices are not always equally shared. All employees, including police and fire, are going to have to be part of the solution. No one should be given a pass based on who they supported during a political campaign.”
Meanwhile, many labor unions representing public employees who will be affected by Walker’s budget repair bill are preparing to go on strike.
