In a report issued today to Missouri legislators the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees called Republican moves to divert federal stimulus money to tax cuts as "an affront" to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and "likely illegal."
"The proposed redirection," the AFSCME report charges, "will undermine the vital public services and structures thousands of Missourians rely on every day."
Furthermore, the report finds that "The proposed reallocation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds will have little effect on the Missouri's economy and will squander a historic opportunity to reinvigorate Missouri's public services." The supposed economic benefit and wisdom of such tax cuts has been challenged even by Republican leaders.
The ARRA was intended to ease state budget shortfalls and stimulate the economy by maintaining jobs and opening up new employment. However, the AFSCME report finds that the recent Missouri House Budget Committee proposal to divert the state's $1 billion share of recovery funds into further tax cuts "ignores urgent budget deficits...and puts at risk the growing number of vulnerable citizens who rely on the services."
AFSCME, with 1.6 million members nationwide, represents the state's health care employees and those who maintain state facilities. Over the past four years these agencies
have undergone severe budget cuts that have left them with serious staffing shortages and high turnover rates. High turnover wastes already limited resources and detracts from employees' ability to efficiently deliver services. In tandem with recent layoffs and cuts services provided to Missourians will be further undermined by the Republican proposal.
Doubt among Republican leaders about efficacy of tax cuts
Republican claims of the economic benefit of tax cuts are dismissed even by some of the party's own legislative leadership. Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields has downplayed the impact of tax cuts as most Missourians are in the periphery of the state and, "A lot of the money leaks out across the state borders." Given the nebulous benefit of the proposed tax cut, the report finds the Budget Committee to be "playing politics with much needed federal stimulus dollars."
Making stimulus dollars work for Missourians
To reinvigorate the Missouri economy as called for in the newly enacted stimulus package, AFSCME is calling on the General Assembly to direct stimulus money toward repairing vital services for the state's citizens. Specifically,
A Copy of the report can be found by clicking here: Investing in Missouri's Workers and Citizens