
{"id":4809,"date":"2009-02-05T10:19:16","date_gmt":"2009-02-05T18:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=4809"},"modified":"2009-02-05T10:19:16","modified_gmt":"2009-02-05T18:19:16","slug":"state-workers-worry-about-job-cuts-health-plan-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/02\/05\/state-workers-worry-about-job-cuts-health-plan-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"State workers worry about job cuts, health plan woes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>By Kirk Ross<br \/>\nStaff Writer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As legislators gathered in Raleigh for a gloomy set of economic briefings, university employees continue to worry about possible furloughs and job cuts and are seeking more information on how individual departments will trim budgets.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, UNC system President Erskine Bowles said he is seeking authority to furlough workers to balance the system budget. On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, legislators heard consecutive briefings on the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s declining revenues and troubles with the state health care plan. In both instances, an already bleak outlook for state workers further dimmed.<\/p>\n<p>Revenue projections for this year show a gap of $2.1 billion between previous projections and reality by the end of the fiscal year in June. The recession will continue through much of 2009, analysts told legislators at a briefing Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>The health care plan news, delivered on Wednesday, was equally sobering. Without action, the plan will be out of funds by March 31 and unable to pay claims.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Mark Trogdon of the Legislature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Fiscal Research Division told members of the General Assembly that increased costs and planning errors will leave a $300 million gap in the state health plan by June 30 and a $1.2 billion projected deficit over the next two years. Trogdon called the situation dire and said bridging the gap will take a combination of premium increases, benefit cuts and additional administrative savings. Just relying on premiums, he said, would require a jump of more than 30 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Ellie Kinnaird said she wants to hold the line against state job cuts. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I do not want to see us layoff any state workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. Legislators have to be willing to consider raising revenue. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to raise alcohol and cigarette taxes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kinnaird said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Dana Cope, executive director of the State Employees Association of North Carolina, said cutting state workers at a time when the need for services is increasing doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make sense. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford any layoffs or furloughs,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The logic of cutting jobs, Cope said, runs counter to the Obama administration\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strategy of trying to put people to work. <\/p>\n<p>One hope for the state, he said, is if a federal stimulus bill makes it into law. The current version of the bill would pump more than $16 billion into the state, Cope said, with about $3 billion available to help ease the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s budget crisis.<\/p>\n<p>Cope also said that making the state health care plan less affordable hits one of the best remaining benefits for state workers.<\/p>\n<p>Brenda Denzler, vice chair of UNC-Chapel Hill\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Employee Forum, said the feedback she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hearing from workers indicates a need for more information about how individual departments are planning for budget cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Denzler said in a recent letter to employees, Chancellor Holden Thorp said that budget cuts could lead to staff losses ranging from 85 to 150 positions.<\/p>\n<p>Before that happens, Denzler said, employees want to be assured that administrators did a thorough job of cutting costs and studying options.<\/p>\n<p>If it does come down to cuts, Denzler said, employees are willing to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153link arms and share the burden.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d One idea, she said, would be for employees to agree to a small cut in hours instead of seeing job cuts. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If we can spread the pain around, we may not have to cut positions,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<br \/>\nBecause of that, she added, the idea of furloughs has some appeal. But Denzler said before the Legislature grants the UNC system the authority to furlough workers, there need to be clear limits and guidelines.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It needs to be time limited,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They should say \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcyou have this authority for the next year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and not make it indefinite.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>And the authority to furlough workers should also extend to other parts of state government, she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The option should not just be limited to the university. It ought to be an option for all state agencies. If it is a useful tool, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s useful for all state agencies.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Kirk Ross Staff Writer As legislators gathered in Raleigh for a gloomy set of economic briefings, university employees continue to worry about possible furloughs and job cuts and are seeking more information on how individual departments will trim budgets. Last week, UNC system President Erskine Bowles said he is seeking authority to furlough workers&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4810,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4809\/revisions\/4810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}