Denver, CO – Around 10:45 a.m. on August 30 Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), at the Auraria Campus staged a lightning rally to demand an adequate resolution to the $12 million budget crisis that University of Colorado Denver is currently facing.

As it stands, instead of cutting from an already massively bloated administrative budget, the university is vying to impose further restrictions on education and campus life. These “solutions” include, but are not limited to, increasing maximum class sizes, leaving faculty roles empty after retirements, cutting classes or moving them online, and raising tuition. SDS stands opposed to these attacks on education.

During this event, SDS members were able to hand out hundreds of flyers while their fellow students recorded and cheered in support. Students all around Auraria were clearly fed up.

SDS has chosen “Chop from the top!” as their main campaign slogan. This reflects their demands to see the crisis resolved through cuts to administrative salaries and the Auraria Campus Police Department rather than from education and campus workers.

The top 10% and 1% of Colorado University personnel make, on average, $283,827.85 and $532,342.44 per year, respectively. These salaries are egregiously high, especially when compared with the bottom 10%. These workers labor tirelessly and provide much more to the daily operation of the Auraria campus, but for only $35,043.56. Despite this mind-boggling wealth disparity, the CU Board of Regents wishes to attack the education of students and the lives of workers to resolve this “budget crisis.” An ironic move, when considering these issues arose from the reckless privatization and debt-driven expansion strategies employed by the very same individuals on this board.

SDS says that students have had enough! Their demands include: Cuts to university must occur first and most heavily at the top of the university’s administrative workforce; that meetings where budget cuts are currently being planned be open to the public and advertised ahead of schedule; that faculty jobs be protected from these cuts and that any of the shameful scheduled faculty performances to “win” funding be canceled; that the university cease debt-driven expansion of amenities or buildings; university budgets need to be built around students and faculty, not growing customers; that the university make reductions to campus police funding before taking funding from university faculty positions; that the university budget prioritize a faculty and staff wage minimum capable of supporting a family, and, finally, no tuition hikes!

Sign the petition!

#DenverCO #BudgetCuts

Tampa, FL – Students at the University of South Florida (USF) won a campaign to keep their library open 24 hours per day. Returning USF students were surprised in August to find the library would be closed at midnight and re-opening at 7:00 a.m. everyday. This comes after years of open hours on the campus. The students defeated the cutbacks imposed by the University administration by organizing and taking action. The victory was announced Sept. 5.

At midnight on Friday, Aug. 30, as the library began to close for the night, about 90 USF students, including Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), began setting up camp for a sit-out protest. Some students studied for their classes, while others struck up conversations about how the students could take further actions to make positive changes on campus and in society. Melissa Garzon, a lead organizer of the sit-out, said, “I did not expect the large turnout. The restoration of library hours is a testament to the power that students can have.”

Jared Hoey of Tampa Bay SDS said, “The administration's attempt at shortening the library's hours is an attack on students and learning. Many students have to work at jobs, in addition to taking classes, due to surging tuition costs. Late nights and early mornings are the only time some students are free to go to the library, and this attempt at shortening hours is a direct affront. It shows the administration’s lack of concern for students. The administration claims budget shortfalls.”

On Sept. 5, William Warmke, student government president, announced the administration’s reversal of the cutbacks. Students won a solid victory with the library once again open 24 hours a day during the week.

#TampaFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #BudgetCuts #education #UniversityOfSouthFlorida

Minneapolis, MN – Members of AFSCME Local 3800, clerical workers at the University of Minnesota, filled the room here, June 5, testifying at a Board of Regents’ public forum on the university budget. The clerical workers spoke about how they have been impacted by administrative bloat and tuition hikes. Some of the 25 workers laid off last week attended the hearing.

Cherrene Horazuk, President of AFSCME Local 3800, told the regents, “Create a truly world class university that pays all workers a livable wage, not a poverty wage for many and luxury wages for a few. A university that recognizes and respects the work that is done and the people that do it. A university that can’t be called the university of haves and have nots. It’s long past time to chop from the top.”

In her testimony, Melanie Steinman, chief steward of AFSCME Local 3800, condemned the recent layoffs at the U of M.

Chris Getowicz of Students for a Democratic Society also testified, saying “Students overwhelmingly voted for our referendum last semester calling for increased budget transparency, student voice in tuition and fee decision, and a 10% salary cut for the 167 administrators making over $200,000. My tuition dollars should go towards education, not administration.”

#MinneapolisMN #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #BudgetCuts #UniversityOfMinnesota #AFSCME3800 #ChopFromTheTop

Tampa, FL – Students gathered in the Marshall Student Center, on the University of South Florida's (USF) campus, on March 6 protesting budget cuts and tuition hikes. The average USF student's debt is over $22,000 from loans. Meanwhile, the school's Board of Trustees – those who cut the budgets and raise tuition – are made up of representatives of corporations like Tampa Electric Company and Fifth Third Bank. Last year the Board voted to raise tuition by 11%. On top of this, Florida Governor Rick Scott has cut $300 million from the eleven state universities' budgets. Now, the USF administration is threatening to raise tuition yet again.

Students marched into the Marshall Center demanding that the school “Chop from the top.” From there, they dropped a banner from the fourth floor which read “Education is a right, not a privilege.” Inside, the students, most of whom were a part of Students for a Democratic Society, gave speeches.

Susie Shannon, a staff worker and member of AFSCME Local 3342, said “The union's position on education is that it should be free! Students shouldn't have to get two jobs or put debt on their families in order to get an education. We have the voice to do something about it.”

Jared Hoey of Tampa Bay SDS said, “We can't default on student loans. While the banks on Wall Street got billions in bailout money, we didn't get a dime! Where the hell is our bailout?”

From there they marched through campus to the office of USF President Judy Genshaft. The USF president has not taken a firm stance on the budget cuts nor the tuition hikes. SDS demanded that she join the students and fight against the budget cuts brought on by Governor Scott's office in Tallahassee. Across campus the crowd chanted, “No cuts, no fees, education should be free!”

20 students occupied the lobby of the Patel Center, where the president's office is located. With them they brought a list of eight demands to pressure the president with. One of these demands was that, instead of raising tuition and implementing mass layoffs, the administration should chop from the top and cut administrative salaries and reduce bureaucracy.

Once inside, they were immediately confronted by two USF administrators who attempted to argue with the students. Though the students came to see President Genshaft, the administrators were sent down in order to try and prevent that from happening. They claimed the university president was unavailable. Nevertheless, the students remained vigilant and waited for her to come down from the fourth floor. They told the administrators to send the president a message: they were not leaving until she met with them.

At that point a few of the students called the President's office to demand that she meet with them. The secretary over the phone gave them the run-around, not giving them a definite answer on when or if they could meet.

From there, SDS in Tampa organized a call-in action, in which people from around the city, state, and country called the President Genshaft’s office demanding she meet with the students. Impatient with the administration's refusal to meet, the students gathered in front of an elevator waiting for it to open, as it only opened from the inside. Administrators quickly called the police.

The police, who were already on site, blocked all entrances to the elevator and stairs. At one point they shoved students from entering the elevator. Students were demanding that the police move out of the way. There is no law or administration policy barring students and people from the president's office. USF, a public institution, is open to the public. However, university police working directly in the interests of the administration blocked the students from the office. The students were only trying to set up a meeting physically, after all other means over the phone and through the administrators had failed.

Fearing more confrontation, more administrators came out to try and convince the students to leave. With them they brought the student body president, who wanted to meet with the students. The student body president, who sits on the Board of Trustees (USF's governing body), voted in favor of last year's 11% tuition increase. The students met briefly with him in order to pressure him to get them a meeting with the president. The students told him they did not come down to meet with him. From there, he went upstairs to try and arrange a meeting.

The administrators, with the student body president, came down half an hour later announcing that they could not set up a meeting with President Genshaft because none of the secretaries in the President's office had her schedule. On top of that they said that everyone had gone home an hour before. With police and administrators blocking the stairs and elevators, and after three hours of occupying the lobby, the students decided to continue the fight for another day.

It was clear that President Genshaft had refused to meet with the students. Along with other administrators they had barricaded themselves up on the fourth floor using police officers as protection. The students struck fear in the administration and forced them into hiding. SDS has vowed to come back to the president's office and plans to have a meeting within the next few weeks.

More actions and struggle to come!

#TampaFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #BudgetCuts #tuitionHikes #UniversityOfSouthFlorida

San José, CA – On March 1, the automatic spending cuts demanded by the 2011 Budget Control Act are scheduled to go into effect. These cuts were originally scheduled to go into effect Jan. 2, but were delayed as part of the solution to the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’ Included in the spending cuts is an 8.4% reduction in federal financial aid. While the large Pell Grant program is exempted, other federal financial aid, including the Stafford Loans, Work-Study, Perkins Loans and others would be all reduced by 8.4%. This would lead to less aid to students receiving financial aid, and some would be cut off entirely.

Over the years, the costs of college, in particular tuition and books and supplies, have soared in price, rising much faster than the general rate of inflation. For example in 2012, the overall Consumer Price Index, or CPI, rose 1.7%, while college tuition went up 4.0% on average and the prices of college textbooks rose almost five times as much as the general rate of inflation, or 7.9%. With financial aid lagging behind, more and more students have had to borrow more and more. Today, total student loan balances come to about $1 trillion, more than total credit card debt and more than total auto loans.

While it is possible that the automatic spending cuts will be put off again, it is also possible that a new budget cutting agreement might cut federal financial aid more by including cuts in the Pell Grant program, which provides an average of $3000 in aid to almost 9.5 million students. College students are facing not only a lack of financial aid, but also a lack of jobs. A recent survey showed that about half of all recent college graduates are either unemployed, or working jobs that don’t need a college degree. The recent increase in the payroll tax combined with these automatic spending cuts will further reduce the number of jobs this year.

While politicians of both parties talk about the importance of education, they dance to the tune of big businesses, who are calling for austerity (tax increases and spending cuts). During the debate leading up to the 2011 Budget Control Act, over 100 business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable, and the National Association of Manufacturers called on congress to come up with more than $4 trillion in deficit reduction, or more than three times the $1.2 trillion in the cuts in Budget Control Act.

#SanJoséCA #BudgetCuts #financialAid #spendingCuts

Tallahassee, FL – The afternoon clouds were dark, but even the threat of rain couldn't stop students, retirees, and union members from taking a stand against federal budget cuts. About 35 people rallied outside of Republican Congressman Steve Southerland’s office here, Dec.10, demanding no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security.

The protest was part of a national day of action called by the AFL-CIO and other trade unions in response to the so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’ If Congress does not act by Jan.1, 2013, they will trigger a set of austerity measures, budget cuts and tax increases.

Carrying signs that read, “Don’t cut my Medicare benefits,” and “No more tax cuts for the rich,” protesters listened to a short stack of speakers in the parking lot below Southerland’s office.

Republican lawmakers, like Southerland, have pushed for deep cuts to programs that support workers and retirees, like Medicare and Medicaid. President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senate have proposed a compromise that includes meager tax hikes for the richest 2%, coupled with cuts to Social Security and Medicare in the form of increasing the eligibility age.

Michael Sampson, a student at Florida State University, fired up the crowd with a passionate speech explaining how budget cuts by politicians benefit the rich at the expense of working people. He said, “We see the politicians of the 1% trying to balance the budget on the backs of the hardworking people who built this country. And it is a shame!”

The crowd erupted into cheers and chanted, “When Medicare is under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!”

Next, protesters heard from David Jacobsen, the President of the Northwest Florida AFSCME Retiree Council, which represents more than 600 retired workers.

“We want legislators to keep their hands off these programs,” said Jacobsen. Speaking to Republican proposals that would force working class retirees to pay crippling bills, he added, “Medicare should never, ever, ever be a voucher program. It should be available to young people the same way it is available to me now.”

After Jacobsen’s speech, the protesters marched upstairs to Southerland’s office chanting, “They say cut back, we say fight back!” The crowd packed inside the small office and asked Southerland’s staff to pass on their demands to the congressperson.

Taking video using an office cell phone, the staff recorded a message of retirees and students speaking out. The footage was sent directly to Southerland’s phone via text. The protesters then reconvened outside briefly to discuss future actions.

For more in depth analyses of the ‘fiscal cliff’ see: http://www.fightbacknews.org/2012/9/25/federal-government-course-austerity-2013

#TallahasseeFL #PoorPeoplesMovements #BudgetCuts #crisisOfCapitalism #SocialSecurity #Medicare #fiscalCliff #CongressmanSteveSoutherland

For many years young people have been told that they should go to college to improve their opportunities in life. And it is true that adults who are college graduates do have higher incomes and lower unemployment rates on average than those who did not get a college degree.

But today’s college students are facing a triple whammy of soaring college costs, cutbacks in public schools that make it more difficult to attend and graduate from college and bleak job prospects once they graduate. After accounting for financial aid, as well as government aid in the form of tax credits, the cost of college tuition has risen 87% faster than the overall rate of inflation over the last ten years. This has led to a huge rise in student loan debt, which now totals about $1 trillion and is more than credit card balances, auto loans or any other consumer debt.

Cutbacks in public colleges and universities are forcing students to take longer (and spend more) to complete their degrees, or turn to even more expensive private schools that at least offer a shorter path to graduation. At Sonoma State University (one of the California State University campuses north of the San Jose-San Francisco Bay area), students this spring were allowed to sign for only nine units in the first round of registration, and then there was a second round where few classes were available for the rest of the units. At that rate it would take a student almost seven years to graduate.

Both these trends of higher fees and class cuts can be seen at the College of San Mateo, a community college about half way between San José and San Francisco. Enrollment at CSM fell 10% over the last year as fees went up 40%, a new, stricter payment policy was implemented and class sections cut. The administration there is planning another 5% cut in class sections, and fees are going up another 30% for this coming fall semester. And to add insult to injury, administrators at CSM and the other campuses in its district are phasing in a 20% raise for themselves, even as they say there is no money for more classes.

Last, but not least, there is a just plain terrible job market for new graduates. Of the nearly 3 million young people with college degrees, about a quarter, or 750,000, had no jobs at all. Another 750,000 were underemployed, or working in occupations that didn’t need a college degree, such as food service workers, receptionists, and retail clerks. A sign of these hard times is that a recent poll of college seniors showed that 85% planned to move back home after graduation. On college campuses across the country, students, with support of progressive faculty and staff and their unions, have been fighting both campus administrators as well as state politicians to limit tuition increases and stop the cutbacks in higher education. But college students and college graduates will need to struggle with the capitalists and their economy to provide more jobs that use their skills.

One reason for the bleak job market is the financial crisis and deep recession brought about by Wall Street’s financing a boom and bust in housing. Studies show that almost all the job losses were in middle-income, semi-skilled jobs that could provide entry-level work for college grads. But the elimination of middle-income jobs did not just start during the last economic downturn.

There is a long term tendency, first described by Karl Marx 150 years ago, for capitalism to deskill jobs with the use of new technology. The government’s Department of Labor estimates that only 10% (3 of 30) of the fastest growing occupations in 2020 will require a college degree, while the other 90% will not.

While right-wing Republicans and those enthralled by or on the payroll of Wall Street call big corporations and the rich “job-creators.” In fact, large U.S. corporations have cut millions of jobs in the United States through the use of technology and off-shoring jobs to other countries. Big business (and capitalism) itself is not about job creation, it is about profit maximization, which often mean cutting jobs and making the remaining workers work even harder. Look at the reaction of Wall Street when a big company announces another round of lay-offs – the company’s stock price goes up, showing that wealthy investors think that the business will be more profitable.

As we build a fightback against tuition increases and even more cuts to education, we also need to demand that the government start a jobs program that puts the millions of unemployed back to work and offers unemployed and underemployed college grads a chance to use their education. Those who see the need for radical change should study the political economy of Marx and other socialists to better understand our capitalist system and the need for a socialist economy that is based on people’s needs, not profit.

#SanJoséCA #BudgetCuts #Capitalism #TuitionHike #DefendEducation #MasaoSuzuki #Marxism

Tallahassee, FL – On Sept. 28, more than 50 students from Florida State University (FSU) came together to rally against proposed 15% tuition hikes and continued cuts to education.

The student protest, organized by the FSU Progress Coalition, marched to the FSU president’s office where administration officials and University Police awaited them, blocking their entry to the administration building. However, refusing to be turned away, the students’ resilience forced a meeting outside with the FSU President Eric Barron. The students demanded that President Barron attend a public forum with students and stand publicly with them against the Florida state legislature’s education cuts.

The students’ demands were met as Barron agreed to a public forum with students where he would address projected tuition hikes and education cuts, all while taking questions and concerns from students.

Student leaders then presented Barron with 1400 petition signatures, collected by members of the Progress Coalition, reflecting FSU student opposition to the 15% tuition hikes. Barron promised to stand with students against state-initiated education cuts.

“Regular students from all inclinations are very upset with higher tuition and continued education cuts,” said Tallahassee student activist and Progress Coalition member Michael Sampson. “Continued tuition hikes will create a situation where only the privileged minority can receive a college education, hurting many working families and students. Students must unite against these attacks on their ability to get an affordable and quality education.”

Students at FSU are expected to see their tuition rise a projected 60% over the next four years.

“The hypocrisy comes when tuition is raised while President Barron receives a 10% pay raise this year and new pricey construction projects are being built on campus”, said Sampson. “Why are students taking the brunt of cuts to higher education? How can you talk of raising students’ tuition while simultaneously receiving a pay raise or allow the construction of these massive buildings?”

Just a few weeks ago, the FSU Board of Trustees approved a 10% raise for Barron as well as the beginning of a new state-of-the art $15 million athletic facility. All while FSU’s private endowment stands at $450 million. Given these facts, Barron will face an increasingly angry student body.

“As students, we feel as though this issue is more than just an education issue but a moral and social justice issue,” said Tallahassee activist and protest attendee Melanie Zardoya. “This is about institutional transparency and holding higher-level administration and politicians accountable to the needs of the students and their families.”

That accountability from school administrators is missing on campuses resonated with many students during the FSU education rights rally. Members of FSU Progress Coalition hope that President Barron will live by his promise of standing with students against education cuts, and by the appearance of the rally that took place last Sept. 28, the FSU students will hold their administration accountable.

FSU Progress Coalition was formed on the campus of Florida State University in the spring of 2011 as a union of student groups fighting for education rights. For information on how to get involved or information on FSU Progress Coalition, contact fsu.progresscoalition@gmail.com, on Facebook at FSU Progress Coalition, and on Twitter @FSUprogress.

#TallahasseeFL #BudgetCuts #FloridaStateUniversityFSU #tuitionHikes #FSUProgressCoalition

On July 14, Gov. Dayton proclaimed that he would accept a previous Republican budget offer, in order to end the shutdown. Before that, Dayton had already given up on many proposals to tax the rich in Minnesota, even though he campaigned on increasing taxes to the wealthy as a way to solve the deficit.

It is broadly acknowledged that the budget signed into law on July 20 relies on unprecedented amounts of borrowing. Less publicized is reliance on taking money from dedicated funds for the poor.

Secret deal: $58 million from the poorest of the poor

Most of the issues that involve programs for poor people are in the Health and Human Services bill. The 286-page HHS bill is the most complex of the budget bills. It is full of references to various laws and hard to follow. The government did not make the bill available to the public until the session was six hours along, only a few hours before it was voted on. As an example of the difficulty of the bill, the plain English ‘summary’ of the HHS bill had dozens of items such as: “[section] 27 – Citizenship requirements. Amends § 256B.06, subd. 4.” And that was it.

However, for some programs, the spreadsheets made it clear. “No wonder they didn't release the HHS budget until late in the night of the Special Session, July 19. The spreadsheets show a total theft of $58 million from TANF funds over the biennium,” says a statement issued by the Welfare Rights Committee.

TANF is the federal money that goes to states for welfare for families. In Minnesota, welfare grants put families 60% below the federal poverty line. The Welfare Rights Committee has fought for years against the state stealing TANF money, under the slogan, “TANF money for TANF families.” The 2011 theft of TANF money is one of the largest in history.

Welfare Rights Committee takes action

Since July 1 the WRC held many call-in campaigns to Gov. Dayton, demanding that he not give in to certain Republican cuts to welfare and insisting that they a tax on the wealthy. The call was, “Tax the rich or shut the government down!”

Late at night on July 18, Dayton abruptly announced that the Capitol building would open up the next day. Welfare Rights Committee members were there at 8:45 a.m., July 19, holding signs that read, “Vote no on the Dayton/G.O.P Budget. Tax the rich.” They met Minnesota legislators as the capitol doors opened for the first time in 19 days. The capitol complex’s buildings had been closed to the public since July 1, when the government shutdown went into effect.

“I was in the last group of people the cops pushed out of the capitol June 30,” says the Welfare Rights Committee’s Kim DeFranco. “I’m glad WRC was there to be the first at the re-opening.”

On the same day the capitol re-opened, Governor Dayton announced a special session for 3:00 p.m. Most of the bills that were to be taken up were not available to the public (or to most legislators) in paper or electronic form. Welfare Rights Committee members mobilized to be outside the doors of the House and Senate chambers with “Vote no” signs as the legislators filed in.

Budget deal aftermath

Much of the budget and how it will play out still needs to be analyzed. But there is general agreement that poor and working people, the elderly and disabled, and students from pre-K to college will be suffering from the cuts.

The ‘financing’ of the budget deal will make trouble down the road. Once money is taken away for the poor, it’s hard to get back. Angel Buechner, of the Welfare Rights Committee said, “This budget deal just sets us up for more cuts to the poor next year.”

#StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #BudgetCuts #MinnesotaWelfareRightsCoalition #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown

Madison, WI – In his latest attempt at smashing unions, derailing public education and further punishing the working class for the economic crisis, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker called together an ‘Extraordinary Session,’ June 14, so that right-wing legislators can ram through his proposed two-year budget. The new budget will slash funding for public education, make large cuts to social services and local governments and pave the way for more privatization.

The budget was prepared to include the notorious anti-collective bargaining components that protesters brought to a halt last spring. With unusual speed, the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned a court-issued injunction that prevented the law from going in to law – just before the Extraordinary Session began. Lawyers have other grounds to challenge the law, which may keep it tied up for some time.

Threatened with layoffs, cuts, losing their unions, paying increased costs for health care and pensions, provisions such as private school voucher systems and requiring local areas to use private contractors for some public works projects, protesters are again flooding the streets of Madison in protest. The people of Wisconsin know this budget must be stopped.

While protests are ongoing, including a ‘Walkerville’ tent city outside the Capitol that anyone may join, the next large protest will be at noon on June 16 on Capitol Square. Another rally will be held at 5:30 p.m. the same day by the State Street entrance.

#MadisonWI #BudgetCuts #CollectiveBargaining #GovernorScottWalker #Wisconsin #WisconsinProtest #Walkerville

St Paul, MN – As the legislative session nears its final day, Republicans continue to push the state toward a government shutdown. For working and poor, disabled and elderly Minnesotans, a government shutdown would by far be a better outcome than the deadly cuts that Republicans are trying to force down our throats.

“The Republicans are acting like school yard bullies, threatening the people of Minnesota with their deadly cuts and refusing to make the rich pay even one dime!” stated Kim DeFranco of the Welfare Rights Committee.

The Richest in Minnesota Have Not Paid One Dime for the Past Decade of Budget Deficits

While working and poor people have paid for past budget deficits, the wealthiest in Minnesota have not paid even one dime. In fact they have gotten richer and richer at the expense of poor and working Minnesotans. Look at the facts: if the governor’s original proposal to raise taxes on 5% of the population with the most income results in over $3 billion, this signifies just how much the State of Minnesota has been losing in tax income, year after year after year because the rich have not paid enough and because of the massive tax breaks they have benefitted from. This is incredible. It also means that the richest have amassed billions of dollars in extra income year after year while the rest of the people in the state have been living in desperate times.

“We live in the one of the wealthiest states in the country and one of the richest countries in the world,” stated Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee. “Yet our kids are homeless, going hungry and being kicked off health care! We did not make this crisis and we should not be the ones to pay for it.”

The Rich Created the Budget Crisis, The Rich Should Pay!

The fact is, if the rich paid enough taxes we would not even be in a budget deficit. The rich should actually pay back the wealth they have gained at the expense of poor and working people. In this time of budget crisis this state should be prioritizing the survival needs of the families and individuals in who are coping with disabilities and unemployment.

The Republican’s Health and Human Services Bill Butchers the Safety Net for Working and Poor Minnesotans! Governor Dayton must veto this bill.

The Governor must veto SF760 because it would cut the cash portion of the MFIP (Minnesota’s public assistance program) grant by $50 per adult SSI recipient who resides in the household. This uses disabled people’s federal SSI funds as a bludgeon against their impoverished family members. A cut such as this has never been carried out in any other state in the country. Also, it basically forces parents to break federal law by using the federal SSI grant for living expenses for the entire family rather than for the disabled family member as intended.

The Governor must veto SF760 because of the 60-residency requirement. It’s unconstitutional.

At least half of the MFIP grant is federal money and if we’re eligible, we’re eligible. When we are that broke and desperate, we don’t move to other states for “fun” or for “great benefits.” We move because we have concrete hopes and plans to make a better life. In this time of economic crisis, everyone in this country should have equal rights at survival.

The Governor must veto SF760 because it eliminates General Assistance and emergency programs, by folding them into under-funded county block grants. General Assistance is not a supplement to other income, it all people have; it’s GA or zilch. These programs are there to keep disabled people alive based on clear need.

The Governor must veto SF760 because it slashes health care for the poor and working people. It cuts our PCA services that allow us to live independently.

And, after the Governor vetoes the bill, we will call on him to reject all of these cuts to the disabled, poor and working people in the Special Session.

Who should be paying for the budget crisis – the children living deep in poverty or the rich who get big fat tax breaks to pad their already stuffed pockets?

A family of three on MFIP gets only $532 per month – far below the federal poverty level. A disabled person on GA gets a whopping $203 to live on. When we are forced onto assistance, life is already a miserable struggle, 24-7. We don’t need any more hate-driven laws to make things even worse.

We say, “Not one dime in cuts to poor and working Minnesotans! We call on Dayton to stand up to those who are threatening devastation on the people of Minnesota and veto all cuts!”

#SaintPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #BudgetCuts #GovernorMarkDayton #governmentShutdown

St. Paul, MN – On May 11, members of ADAPT Minnesota and up to 20 of their supporters challenged politicians to not accept any of the Republicans’ health and human services cuts to people with disabilities. While the supporters stood outside the Senate chamber doors with signs, four members from ADAPT MN – Galen Smith, Chris Bell, Nikki Villavicencio-Tollison and Darrell Paulsen – went to the senate gallery intending to send a clear message to the politicians below. As soon as the session’s gavel struck down, the four ADAPT members shouted, “I'd rather go to jail than die in a nursing home!” The session came to a halt while the four were briefly detained and removed from the gallery.

ADAPT MN members decided to disrupt the floor session because of the proposed budget cuts by the hands of the Republican leaders. People fear these cuts go through, it will send them to expensive and unhealthy nursing homes and institutions.

All four demonstrators were still chanting, “Our homes, not nursing homes!” and “Cuts kill!” as they were removed one by one by the capitol police. Nikki Villavicencio-Tollison described looking down from the gallery to see the reactions of the legislatures. “Most of them looked stunned while some looked curious.”

###Activists Speak

Villavicencio-Tollison said, “What we accomplished today was to show the GOP, especially the Senate GOP, that people with disabilities are not going to allow these devastating cuts to happen. We want them to understand that our independence costs less. We shouldn’t have to fight to stop these cuts. Disability services are human rights!”

Galen Smith said, “I am here as a queer, transgender and a person with a disability. What the GOP is doing right now hurts our communities and families. The GOP is trying to restrict marriage [referring to the anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment that was slated to hit the floor that day] and making major cuts to people with disabilities. The proposed cuts will kill people. Thousands of people will end up in institutions. This is not acceptable!”

Chris Bell stated, “The GOP believes some human beings are worth more than others. That’s a sin. The GOP is willing to have all kinds of human beings – whether they are people with disabilities, the poor or the elderly – all to be put in a boat and they would pull the plug. Only the wealthy people are more worthy than other people and the cuts in the budget prove it. They are balancing the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class. The DFL [Democrats] in Minnesota need to get a moral clarity on this.”

Darrell Paulsen wanted to send a clear message to the Republican caucus and the powers that be, “People with disabilities are tired of being pushed down and having to endure devastating cuts. They need to rethink the budget and not to balance the budget on people with disabilities.”

Another part of the Republican proposal is to give counties block grants so they decide how to split up the money and services. Paulsen added, “Giving all the power to the counties to decide how to spend the state money for people with disabilities isn’t the solution.”

All four were escorted out of the capitol by the police and were given a no trespassing ticket. They were warned that if they come back into the capitol anytime that the day, they would be arrested. However, they vowed that they will not stop protesting.

#StPaulMN #BudgetCuts #Healthcare #civilDisobedience #ADAPT #disabilityRights

Chicago, IL- In a press conference held May 13, City College faculty and students joined forces with community activists to protest attacks coming down on the colleges from the Board of Trustees and Chancellor Cheryl Hyman. Professor Jessi Choe of Wright College announced plans to protest at the inauguration of incoming mayor Rahm Emanuel, Monday, May 16 at 9:30 a.m. Marching from Roosevelt University to Millennium Park, they will demand the trustees hold public hearings so students, workers and the community have their voices heard.

Viviana Moreno of Students for a Democratic Society at Wright College criticized the “Reinvention” process underway throughout the seven-school system. “So far the only changes we have seen are cuts of staff who serve students,” said Moreno. Jokarhi Miller, student at Malcolm X College and District student council parliamentarian, said over 225 essential employees are being taken away.

Professor Choe called attention to the fact that the city colleges serve working class, minority nationality and immigrant students. Community activist Nubian Malik in turn exposed that the other changes in the “Reinvention” program were 54 new top administrators with a total salary of $5.1 million.

Reverend Paul Jakes of New Tabernacle of Faith Baptist Church criticized the Board for forcing six of the seven presidents of the colleges to reapply for their jobs. When they were chosen the process was more open and a number of presidents receive positive marks by their students and faculty. Choe exposed that the Board hired a consultant for over $300,000 to perform the search for the new chancellor, Hyman, who has no background in education.

The activists are also demanding that Martin Cabrera, the Board of Trustees chairman, call a public hearing on May 26, in the evening, and advertise it two weeks in advance, in, for example, community newspapers. Miller explained, “They call it Chicago Community College for a reason: it’s supposed to serve the community.” He called for public meetings that can hear from the people, and not, “… an illusion of inclusion.”

While the coalition stated their hope the new mayor would have a fresh start and mark an end of the Daley administration history of patronage and privatization, the actions by what will now be Emmanuel’s City College Board caused Jokarhi Miller to call for “an end to mayoral control.”

#ChicagoIL #StudentMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #BudgetCuts #ChicagoCityColleges #MalcolmXCollege #RooseveltUniversity #RahmEmanuel

Grand Rapids, MI – 150 people protested here, March 15, against Michigan Governor Rick Snyder’s plans to impose extreme budget cuts to health clinics, schools and other social services. The crowd chanted, “It’s not fair!” “Chop from the top!” and “They say cut back. We say fight back!” outside a health clinic serving mainly women and children on Cherry Street in Grand Rapids.

Concerned parents, union members and their children joined March 15 protests in many small cities and towns across the state. For many it was their first protest as they prepared for the big rally in the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing set for March 16. Thousands prepared to protest and possibly occupy the Capitol Building to stop harmful legislation.

The legislation being pushed by Governor Rick Snyder is deemed worse than the anti-union and anti-democratic laws imposed by Wisconsin’s Governor Walker. Michiganders are surprised by the sharp attacks from Snyder, who presented himself as the ‘nerd’ candidate, a sensible and moderate Republican. Snyder defeated two Tea Party candidates to win the Republican primary, but is now carrying forward the Wall Street agenda of imposing cuts in services and breaking unions. Everyone knows the money is in the banks and the rich people are hording it.

The Parent-Teacher Association circulated a notice explaining that Snyder is cutting per pupil funding by $470, while forcing local school districts to pick up 3.8% of pension responsibilities and as much as 20% of health insurance premiums. The Grand Rapids Public Schools Communication Director, John Helmholdt, sent an emergency alert explaining, “In addition to the per-pupil funding cut (a cost of $5.6 million to GRPS), the district is facing an additional $6 million-plus in cuts to the ‘categorical’ funds. Specifically, the Governor's budget cuts or eliminates funding for small class sizes, declining enrollment, bilingual services, special education services (expense reimbursement), school health centers and GRAPCEP Engineering and Biomedical School.”

The actual loss in funding from the state will be closer to $700 per student. This comes at a time when Grand Rapids Public Schools are announcing a successful turnaround in performance, gaining high marks in student achievement. The attacks from the state capitol are targeting urban school districts with large populations of African-American, Mexican-American and working class students.

The rally ended with a call to protest in Lansing on March 16 with unions, students and community organizations. Michigan’s own Michael Moore is organizing buses from all over the state and promising to cheer working people on as they take matters into their own hands at the State Capitol.

#GrandRapidsMI #PoorPeoplesMovements #BudgetCuts #BudgetCrisis #GovernorRickSnyder

On March 15, Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee testified in front of the House Health and Human Services Reform Committee on House File 171. Buechner told committee members, “We would like to address the provision that makes it illegal for MFIP [one of Minnesota’s welfare programs] families to withdraw cash from the cash portion of the MFIP grant – and in fact, appears to make it illegal for MFIP families to have any type of money at all in their pockets. How do you expect people to take care of business like paying bills such as lights, gas, water, trash and phone?”

House File 171 would make it so that families on MFIP – and disabled single adults on General Assistance and Minnesota Supplemental Aid – could not have their cash grants in cash or put into a checking account. Rather, they could only use a state-issued debit card at special terminals in certain businesses that are set up to accept the card.

The bill also calls for unconstitutional residency requirements, not allowing the debit card to be used across state lines and other provisions that the Welfare Rights Committee and others consider unacceptable.

Buechner testified, “We’ll leave you with this. It is not right to punish a whole group because of the supposed actions of a few. You in this room could have a pretty rough time if that was the case. It is not right to stigmatize and dehumanize women living the hard life of trying to raise children while living 60% below the poverty level. It is not right to use racist, bumper-sticker hate to inflict human misery for political gain.”

See also: Minnesota Republicans continue push to make poor people with cash outlaws

#StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #BudgetCuts

Lansing, MI – Taking their lead from Wisconsin, 1200 protesters rallied against attacks on unions and democracy at the Michigan State Capitol, Feb. 22. Union fire fighters were out in force and in uniform, carrying signs reading, “Support Act 312,” a 1969 law establishing binding arbitration. Binding arbitration requires towns and cities to work out their differences with the workers.

A Dearborn fire fighter said, “We are here to protect Act 312 and our bargaining rights. We want Governor Snyder and elected officials to work with us, not just impose cuts. 95% of contracts are settled without arbitration. The current system is fair and transparent, with 71% of arbitration rulings siding with city government and the remaining solved in a workable manner with our unions.” The firefighters unions represented came from Grand Rapids, Dearborn and Flint.

African-American elected officials spoke one after another about the loss of decision-making power due to Emergency Financial Managers (EFM) takeovers. The common refrain was, “Governor Snyder plans to replace democracy with tyranny.” Michigan State officials can appoint an EFM who bypasses local elected officials and makes all financial decisions.

In Michigan, like Wisconsin, politicians are refusing to raise taxes on the rich to pay for basic services and put an end to the financial crisis. The Republicans swept the recent elections and are launching Tea Party-inspired attacks on African-American cities and public sector unions – teachers, fire fighters, city services and all levels of government.

Many signs and chants reflected the anger at Emergency Financial Managers. An EFM has taken over and is dismantling the Detroit public school system. EFM Robert Bobb is cutting Detroit schools from 142 down to 72, cutting the number of teachers and increasing class sizes to up to 60 students. The school board and the teachers’ union are organizing to stop the gutting of public education.

Due to Governor Rick Snyder’s announcement that he is cutting revenue sharing with local governments, the working class suburb of Allen Park fired all 26 firefighters and employees this week. There is no backup plan.

A school bus driver told AFSCME Council 25 Secretary-Treasurer Larry Roehrig that her school district is going to hand over buses, equipment and drivers to a for-profit company so union members are no longer covered for health care and pensions. Roehrig replied, “We need to fight privatization with all the unions sticking together.” When asked how the attacks in Michigan compare to Wisconsin, AFSCME’s Roehrig replied, “Governor Snyder’s plans are more insidious because he can void collective bargaining on a case by case basis, voiding contracts at will. Snyder and the Republicans are well funded by big corporations in Western Michigan who are anti-labor.” It is no wonder that many speakers called Governor Snyder the “the newly elected Republican dictator.”

A movement appears to be rising quickly in Michigan as the attacks on labor and local democracy escalate from Governor Snyder and the State Capitol. More protest are planned.

#LansingMI #CapitalismAndEconomy #BudgetCuts #Wisconsin #GovernorSnyder #Act312

Minneapolis, MN – Today 25 staff, faculty, graduate and undergraduate held a press conference to speak out against the University of Minnesota administration’s continued attempts to push budget cuts onto students and the lowest paid staff at the U.

Phyllis Walker, president of AFSCME 3800, the clerical workers at the U of M said, “President Bruininks budget pushes the U’s budget problems onto students and staff at the University of Minnesota while it continues to inflate the administration.”

Walker continued, “While the budget for public education gets slashed, over 250 administrators at the University of Minnesota are paid more than $200,000 per year. Increasing layoffs and the threatened furloughs reduce vital services for students. Furloughs are a pay cut and front line staff are already struggling to get by.”

Members of the progressive faculty group, Faculty for the Renewal of Public Education, also joined for the press conference asking the administration to stop using cuts that disproportionately effect lower paid staff and stop cutting academic programs at our public land-grant institution.

After the press conference most of the group went inside, where the Board of Regents were having their annual public budget hearing, the only time when the community can comment on the budget. This year the president has recommended a budget that includes additional departmental cuts and staff and faculty taking pay cuts.

Cherrene Horazuk, chief steward of AFSCME 3800, told the regents, “The administration states ‘we are all in this together – all employee groups need to sacrifice equally.’ Well, over the past year and a half, clerical workers have sacrificed. 36% fewer AFSCME members are taking classes since you instituted 10-25% cuts in the regents’ scholarship program. Clerical workers gave up two years of step increases, or 4%, in order to help the university deal with budget cuts. Over the past year and a half, 4.3% of our members have lost their jobs, compared to only 0.43% of academic administrators. Clearly, clerical workers and other front-line staff have made our sacrifice and should not be asked, much less mandated, to sacrifice any more. It’s time the university eliminate many of these bloated administrative positions and their six-figure salaries.”

Jesse Simmons, of the University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society, said, “It’s time for the Board of Regents to do the right thing for students and staff at this university. Chop from the top!”

#MinneapolisMN #StudentMovement #EconomicCrisis #BudgetCuts #AFSCME3800

Newark would be especially hard-hit by the cuts, losing over 150 teachers and many special programs. A Central High School student told the media his school alone would lose 16 teachers, a loss it cannot afford.

Newark has long been a bastion of people’s struggle and the students upheld that city’s proudest traditions. While spontaneous, the walkout showed the young people’s high state of awareness and militant struggle. They carried colorful hand-made signs that said things like “Christie says cut back, we say fight back,” “Education revolution,” and “Save my teacher.”

The young people were ‘rewarded’ for their courage with misleading abuse. A spokesman for the governor said he hoped they were not stand-ins for the New Jersey Education Association. The NJEA is opposed to the governor’s simultaneous imposition of a pay freeze and a charge of 1.5% of salary in health care coverage for teachers. But it was the young people who got themselves out, no one else! The governor’s office should apologize to the students.

Police and school authorities dared take no action against the young people. Indeed, with election day only a few weeks off, Municipal Council President Mildred Crump proclaimed her approval of the young people’s action, calling the budget cuts “draconian” and proclaiming Newark’s students the standard-setters in the state.

#NewarkNJ #CapitalismAndEconomy #BudgetCuts #EducationRights

St. Paul, MN – Tombstones and bodies filled the halls outside the Governor’s office here, March 23, as participants in a ‘die-in’ demonstrated against the effects of Governor Pawlenty’s proposed cuts in health and human services. Members of the Welfare Rights Committee and the Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout, along with other social justice groups, joined the protest.

Joanne Gonzalez and Angel Buechner spoke at the press conference before the action, explaining the potential devastation of Pawlenty’s cuts and spoke out against further cuts that are being proposed by Democrats in the House of Representatives.

According to Kim DeFranco, of the Welfare Rights Committee, “Pawlenty’s proposed budget cuts are the most hurtful, illogical, inhumane and criminal to date. If these cuts are passed in this 2010 legislative session, it would bring more harm and devastation to many families that are already struggling. As we continue face severe economic crisis, there is a need more than ever for the very programs that Pawlenty is proposing to cut! Pawlenty is leaving office, but first he is trying to sink Minnesota.”

While the event started as a die-in, it soon morphed into loud and defiant chanting and drumming. For nearly 30 minutes, the capitol building rang with, “Hey hey! Ho ho! Pawlenty’s cuts have got to go!” Security guards eventually shut the doors to the governor’s reception room, only to have to witness dozens of tombstone-shaped signs that protesters pushed underneath the door.

#StPaulMN #PoorPeoplesMovements #WelfareRightsCommittee #BudgetCuts

San Bruno, CA – On Nov. 18, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) announced that the state was facing budget deficits of $20 billion each year for five more years . Over the past fifteen months, California responded to a total budget deficit of $77 billion with a combination of cuts in spending, increases in taxes on working people, federal economic stimulus monies and accounting tricks.

The budget cuts have fallen heavily on public higher education in California, especially the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems, which have taken 20% cuts in funding. UC students have been at the forefront of militant protests, with thousands hitting the streets on Sept. 24 and thousands more protesting the UC Board of Regents decision to hike tuition to more than $10,000 per year.

The cuts have not just hit UC and CSU students. In the latest round of budget cuts in July, the state cut $6 billion from K-12 public schools and community colleges. Almost $5 billion was taken from local governments, adding to the budget problems of cities and counties. State workers were furloughed for three days a month, cutting their pay by almost 15%. Low-income families on SSI, Cal-Works (welfare), and Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid health program) had their benefits cut.

These spending cuts hit low-income, working class and oppressed nationality (mainly African Americans, Asian Americans, Central Americans, Chicanos and Mexicanos who make up most of California’s non-white population) communities the hardest. These communities are already hit hard by soaring unemployment that averages more than 12% statewide. California is home to nine of the fifteen metropolitan areas with unemployment rates of over 15%. The metropolitan area with the highest unemployment rate in the country, 30%, is El Centro, California. El Centro is 85% oppressed nationality. High unemployment is contributing to even more home foreclosures and loss of health insurance.

California’s state budget is being hit by a triple-whammy of tax cuts, prison spending and the recession. Following the Proposition 13 property tax cut in 1978, the state took on the main role in funding local school districts, so K-12 education spending grew to about 45% of the state budget. Following the 1994 ‘three-strikes’ law, California came to be the state with the highest rate of imprisonment. Today two out of three state workers are prison employees. Finally, the recession has hit California tax revenues hard, despite increases in taxes on working people, such as the sales tax, which is now almost 10% in most areas of the state.

California is the only state that requires a two-thirds majority for both tax increases and to pass a budget. This allows a minority of right-wing Republican legislators to hold budgets hostage to their demands for more spending cuts. But pro-business Democrat legislators are also at fault. In the latest budget deal in July, the deficit was closed with spending cuts and accounting tricks without any tax increases. Democrat votes passed this deal in the legislature, while most Republican legislators voted against it.

While the federal government has provided billions of dollars in aid to California state and local governments, it was not enough to offset their budget deficits. Given the yawning budget gap, more federal aid is needed. In Washington D.C., concerns about the federal government deficit – $1.4 trillion (or $1400 billion) in Fiscal Year 2009 – is said to limit the options to create jobs or aid state governments. But right now the escalating war in Afghanistan is costing more than a $1 million per soldier per year. It is clear that the Obama administration is placing priority on the military over education and on bombs rather than books and jobs.

In the middle of cutting spending and raising taxes for working people, the California government has given businesses tax cuts worth almost $2 billion dollars a year! Educational administrators such as UC President Yudoff, who has a pay package that costs more than $800,000 a year and a mansion that costs about $300,000 a year to maintain, are rewarded with stunning pay increases.

On college campuses across the state, students, staff and faculty are mobilizing to oppose tuition hikes and cutting programs. They are raising the slogan of “chop from the top” to cut administrative costs and protect classes and student services. A new tide of activism is growing on California college campuses.

Masao Suzuki is Professor of Economics at Skyline College and active with a group of concerned faculty fighting for more cuts in administration and against the termination of programs.

#SanBrunoCA #SanBruno #StudentMovement #BudgetCuts #UniversityOfCalifornia