logo

San Francisco Wage Cuts And Freezes: Helpful?

image
Created: 09 January, 2009
Updated: 13 October, 2022
2 min read

While state and city officials throughout California gear up to dealwith serious budget shortfalls, officials are gearing for action. Surprisingly, the Republican governor of California and theDemocratic mayor of San Francisco are taking not dissimilarapproaches.

When Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-16-08 onDecember 19, 2008, he effectively ordered all state employees whose paycheck relies onthe General Fund to begin taking unpaid "furloughs" for two days permonth. This will affect state employees, but in SanFrancisco, drastic action also has to be taken, to address aprojected citywide budget shortfall. In early December, Mayor GavinNewsom set out a number of budget proposals, including a wage freezefor many local city and state employees in the Bay Area.

The mayor's office reports that the budget deficit for next year is expected to benearly $600 million. By law, San Franciscolawmakers are required to keep a balanced budget. One San Francisco Board ofSupervisors even reportedly suggested a wage freeze for many cityworkers, allowing that such an action could save more than $30 million peryear. That particular suggestions has not appeared to gain muchtraction, though it is not known if the mayor has warmed to the ideaor not.

Like the governor,the mayor has suggested dealing with a budget shortfall by proposinghiring and spending freezes, which have not been specified as of yet,and are still options on the table for the mayor and city lawmakers.Various layoffs have reportedly already occurred.

Like the governor’sproposal, wage freezes for city employees may have success wrapped inboth fiscal and psychological bases. Like President Franklin D.Roosevelt’s many ABC-programs during the Great Depression, someof the budget fixing alternatives offered by Newsom are little morethan window dressing on a crumbling building. Not hiring one class ofpolice cadets will no more save the city than will raising taxesenormously: when the economy is in shambles, you don’t forcethe struggling citizen to foot the bill.

While California creaks and groans under thecurrent financial fiasco, Schwarzeneggerand Newsom both have their work cut out for them, andboth appear to recognize the psychological and fiscal impactof finding and determining the best way to solve the state's dire budget problem.

Wage freezes and minimal firings are theugly necessities that come with a bloated budget that wasirresponsibly created in the first place.

Humans are incrediblycomplex figures, and they need both emotional and physical assurance thattheir elected leaders are working to solve their government’sproblem. Newsom and Schwarzenegger are on the rightpath, though neither has reached the end of their journey.

Latest articles

votes
Wyoming Purges Nearly 30% of Its Voters from Registration Rolls
It is not uncommon for a state to clean out its voter rolls every couple of years -- especially to r...
27 March, 2024
-
1 min read
ballot box
The Next Big Win in Better Election Reform Could Come Where Voters Least Expect
Idaho isn't a state that gets much attention when people talk about politics in the US. However, this could change in 2024 if Idahoans for Open Primaries and their allies are successful with their proposed initiative....
21 March, 2024
-
3 min read
Courts
Why Do We Accept Partisanship in Judicial Elections?
The AP headline reads, "Ohio primary: Open seat on state supreme court could flip partisan control." This immediately should raise a red flag for voters, and not because of who may benefit but over a question too often ignored....
19 March, 2024
-
9 min read
Nick Troiano
Virtual Discussion: The Primary Solution with Unite America's Nick Troiano
In the latest virtual discussion from Open Primaries, the group's president, John Opdycke, sat down ...
19 March, 2024
-
1 min read
Sinema
Sinema's Exit Could Be Bad News for Democrats -- Here's Why
To many, the 2024 presidential primary has been like the movie Titanic - overly long and ending in a disaster we all saw coming from the start. After months of campaigning and five televised primary debates, Americans are now faced with a rematch between two candidates polling shows a majority of them didn’t want....
19 March, 2024
-
7 min read