by Charles H. Crawford
So what are you hearing from your governor’s office this week? Oh yeah, it’s that pesky state budget deficit again. Seems like the good years of the nineties have been replaced with round after round of dire budget predictions, and anyone who wants anything from the state is told in no uncertain terms, “You gotta be out of your mind! ... In these tight budget times ... This is not the year to ask for that ...” And on and on, as they usher us out the door!
Wait, what was that they said? “A billion or two in deficit out of ...” How many billions in state spending? Come to think of it, there are a whole lot more dollars in spending than there are in deficit. Where are those dollars going? Who’s getting the benefit from that spending, and why? If you are being told that asking for an accessible pedestrian signal, voting machine or other important item is somehow taking food out of the mouths of babies or denying kids an education, or just not a priority in these days of tight budgets and deficit spending, then read on.
One thing that every state affiliate can do is to get a giant cup of coffee and start plowing through the state budget. Are there important things being supported with your tax money? Yes. Are there other spending lines oriented toward interest groups who represent things we all care about, like arts programs, or bringing wireless connectivity to rural areas? Sure. Now hold on a moment, what is this? Roads that go nowhere, consultants advising consultants, research projects into the history of the state bird, agencies hiring the guy or gal who lost the last election, new computer and software systems replacing the ones they bought two years ago, and statues honoring the mayor’s dog? Piggies in the blanket? Pork? Yep. And just how did all that pork get in there and survive?
Buried deep in the details of virtually every state budget, you will find millions if not tens or even hundreds of millions in spending that may have dubious value or that benefits only a few folks in someone’s district. Looking carefully at your state budget to uncover this kind of spending is very different from fighting over the crumbs or questioning the need for valuable state services; it is asserting your rights and responsibilities to know just where your public money is going and why. Moreover, it is finding out if your state is being responsive to your needs or simply prioritizing spending for stuff of little value while telling you there just ain’t no money anywhere.
This kind of approach to meeting our needs brings to mind the words of an old Harry Chapin song, “With our old folks eating dog food and our children eating paint, while the pirates steal the flag and sell us sermons on restraint.”
There are many things you have a right to expect from government. One is that you have access to information about what state government spends and why. Another is that state government must spend resources wisely without waste. Still another is that you count as much as anyone else, and, if government spends money to provide for traffic and pedestrian safety, then our needs in these very same areas are no less important than those of anyone else. If public money supports voting, then we vote too. If public money supports public meetings and document distribution, then we are members of the public too, and we deserve equal, accessible access to those documents as well.
What’s my point? Special no more. Our needs and rights as members of the public are not to be honored as a matter of charity. We are not the population that the state will get around to when and if there’s a budget surplus. It’s our money, our lives, and our interests that have been held hostage to the chronic half accusation that there is no money to meet our special needs — when our needs are no more special than those of anyone else.
The stark reality is that we have been relegated to a category called “special” only because politicians always serve the common denominator and if we allow them to marginalize us, then they will be more than happy to accommodate our complacency. So get to your chapter and affiliate meetings, do the research into local and state spending and let's decide our priorities or the politicians will simply decide them for us.
When it’s the people’s business to be done, it’s our business to remind ourselves that we are the people.