All rights reserved -
9719 Lincoln Village Drive, Suite 501 Sacramento, CA 95827, Phone 916•368•0158 FAX 916•368•5820 Email scpa@scopo.ws
“Celebrating 27 years as the Voice of Probation Peace officers”
bright spot, is that there is public support for a simple majority approval of the budget. The Democrats are happy I'm sure, as they would have the majority, but hold onto your pocket books. If voters approve of a change in the way the budget is decided upon, you can surely expect your taxes to go up. Over the years, two approaches to solving our fiscal crisis have been discussed, raising taxes or cutting spending. Unfortunately, printing money like the Feds wouldn't even get us out of this; much less create long-term ramifications. How about a combination of the two? Creating new or restructuring current taxes to pay for selected services, such as law enforcement (Probation included) and services that are vital to the protection of the public; creating tax incentives for private businesses; having the courage to make cuts to some public programs; and the development of a long-term (10-year) plan to tackle spending and deficits. It's a start.
Recently, your President and leaders from other recognized statewide labor organizations, met to discuss the Governor's proposed budget; specifically the part of the budget that includes shifting the responsibility of 15,000 prisoners to local county jails. Discussion took place over his proposal and in the end, the group came up with a plan to create budget savings while better protecting the safety of our communities. The plan now resides with those at the State Capitol, and it is hoped that serious consideration is given the proposal. Perhaps, we are nearing a time where discussions will also involve the restructuring of the State Parole system and the possibility of Parole realignment. It certainly appears, that the State is getting out of the business of supervising juveniles, could the supervision of adults be far behind?
Back to the pension attacks for a minute. BE ON THE LOOKOUT for the following tax-related initiative, backed by Paul McCauley: The Secretary of State's tracking number for this measure is 1470 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 10-0017. If this initiative qualifies for the November ballot, it will impose a new annual surcharge and new annual tax on all
pension income over $40,000! That affects all of us folks! The details read as follows: Passage of the initiative would impose a new annual surcharge (between $5,000 and $50,750) and a new annual tax (between 20% and 60%) on all pension income, including employer-paid health insurance premiums, in excess of $40,000. Approval may result in the imposition of a one-time additional tax on California residents whose pension benefits earned in California in a taxable year exceed $40,000. What can you do, you may ask? First of all, don't sign the circulating petitions! Secondly, tell your friends, family and colleagues about this so that they will be aware of the petition.
On a related note, the current Governor is still battling hard to get restructuring and deals done on contracts that involve public employee pensions. In June, the California Highway Patrol Officers' union and three other state labor groups agreed to contract terms with the Governor, that roll back pension benefits for new state hires while increasing all employees' retirement contributions. Not a very positive trend for the rest of us. November can't come soon enough! Let's hope that the next Governor has a different approach to dealing with labor, and has the wisdom to see that we (public employees) aren't the enemy!
You may ask, what can be done about this? Continue to fight the efforts of those who would paint us as villains. Talk to people you know, tell them the truth about what each and every one of you are facing in your jobs. Tell them that you've seen many of your brothers and sisters in labor laid-off during a time where the argument can be made to increase staffing levels to deal with the amount of problems that we are confronted with. Write (email), call and visit your local politician, from the Board of Supervisors to your State Assembly member and State Senator, and tell them what matters most to you. Most importantly, spread the word that SCOPO is there to fight on our profession's behalf.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank Jim Traffanstedt for his work as Treasurer for this Organization. At our last SCOPO meeting in Ventura County, Jim announced that he would be stepping down as SCOPO’s Treasurer for personal reasons. In his place, Travis Rowe from San Joaquin County was appointed and subsequently confirmed by the Board of Directors at the same meeting. Again, a tremendous thank you to Jim for his effort at spearheading the financial changes that we’ve made during the first half of this year, and a round of congratulations to Travis for assuming the role of Treasurer!
Stay alert, stay safe, and stand committed.
Paul Brennan
President, SCOPO
“If we can find any comfort in the days ahead, it is that proponents of a measure to prohibit unions from deducting political money from public employee wages have dropped their efforts.”
HOME PAGE