Local Government
Local government employees provide the services that keep our communities safe, healthy and open for business. Californians want to keep tax dollars close to home and under local control.
State and local pension funds are under attack. In many cases, politicians and bureaucrats are trying to hide their mismanagement by blaming problems on the employees themselves. AFSCME is working closely with state and city staff to ensure that pensions are preserved for the employees who worked for them.
We also must ensure that public employee jobs are protected from the threat of privatization and outsourcing. There is no doubt that public employees provide the highest quality of service and work compared to overall costs.
Local Government and the May Revision:
The May Revision continues the trend of shifting local government funding to the state. This year, the Governor is proposing to shift $602 million worth of tax funds for counties - monies counties use to pay for vital mental health services - away from the county to fund State costs in food stamps and child welfare programs. This would leave county mental health programs with only 40 percent of their existing funding.
Also, the Governor proposes to give county probation departments the responsibility of supervising state juvenile parolees released from the Division of Juvenile Justice. He proposes to detain felony inmates, who are sentenced to state prison terms of 36 months or less, in county jails, essentially shifting the cost from the state and burdening counties with the abandoned costs. The May Revision seeks $243.8 million in General Fund savings with this troubling shift.