Walker, however, has gone much further than this. He estimates his proposal to increase all state employees’ contributions to their pension and health insurance would cost them 8 percent of their salary, or about $4,616. But for many workers, this is on top of the furloughs, meaning they could be losing as much as 11 percent of their salary. (Walker has said he’d like to end the furloughs, which continue through the current biennial budget, but has made no promise to do so.) Even at 8 percent, it’s a huge cut in pay for middle-class families. Walker has said he has no choice, given the budget deficit, but he’s only gaining an estimated $150 million a year instituting these draconian cuts. Just a half-percent increase in the sales tax, going from 5 percent to 5.5 percent, would raise $400 million a year. Walker, however, won’t raise taxes; as I noted, his policy choices are bracingly clear.
His approach raises an issue of basic fairness. Union leaders argue that they have regularly given up salary increases in favor of benefit hikes. These negotiations were done in good faith (and mostly, I might add, with Republican governors Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum over 16 of the last 24 years). Walker is basically saying, sorry, state government doesn’t have to live up to its past promises. Whatever you gave up in salary doesn’t matter; you will now contribute far more to benefits than previously agreed.
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