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Lyons calls guv’s furlough proposal ‘cruel’
Patrick Lyons
While Gov. Bill Richardson puts forward a plan to furlough state workers for five days over the holidays and into next year, state Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons says his own smart fiscal decisions mean he doesn’t have to do the same thing in his office.
“(Richardson’s) plan won’t hurt the political appointees who take home over $100,000 a year, but the classified employees who earn a fraction of that will feel the crunch, especially around the holiday season,” Lyons said in a news release blasting the governor. “It’s cruel.”
“It’s the governor’s reckless fiscal policy that got us into this mess, and now state employees are expected to bail him out,” Lyons said.
Lyons pointed to his own, self-described “conservative spending habits” in the news release “as the reason his employees won’t go without this holiday season.” From the release:
“During his seven-year tenure as land commissioner, the Land Office has generated a record $3 billion for the trust beneficiaries; he has consistently requested a flat budget of $13 million; reverted $5.85 million in unspent budgeted monies; reduced staff by four full time equivalents (FTEs); and not paid any employee more than $100,000 annually.”
Richardson can only furlough employees under his control by executive order, so his plan will not affect employees who work for other elected officials and the legislative and judicial branches of government.
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In this particular case I have to somewhat agree with Pat Lyons. The people that are being made to take furloughs are the people making below $33,000. The people making the big money of $50,000 per year that are like the appointees of the Governor and featherbedders that are in positions doing little to nothing are the ones who need to be cut, not just furloughed. There are many hard working people who work for the state in one capacity or another, but what about the people who work at jobs that could be handled by one person and but their are two and sometimes three doing the job of one. Many of the people who run for office only are thinking of themselves and their position, or one problem. We have many problems in this state and have had for more than ninety years. The candidates running need to know what all of the problems are and how to balance a budget and live within that budget.
Pat Lyons has done a good job for the people and they don’t seem to realize how much money he has brought to education through his efforts. He made a few stumbles and mistakes along the line, but haven’t all the politicians of the past.The Governor and his people have gone on a wild spending spree that has put the state in the same category as States like Oklahoma and others that are broke. Just because you have a surplus, you don’t have to spend it on foolish projects like the rail runner, supporting private businesses, or hiring unneeded appointees that are a drain on the surplus and ultimately create a shortfall that is close to a billion dollars.
The tightening of the belt should be done by the Governor and his lackeys, not the taxpayers and little people who do the work and draw less pay.
In the private sector when there are hard times there are always layoffs and budget cuts. Government officials including Lyons have no sense of business. Sometimes unfortunately you have to bite the bullet. Furloughs are necessary at this time.
I wonder if Lyon’s would consider it cruel when private sector employees are furloughed?
Politicians and bureaucrats have their agenda’s upside-down.
It’s cruel when the cash-strapped, belt-tightened taxpayers are forced to pay state employees who get two to three times the income of normal NM taxpayers.
Hopefully the voters will cast-out the whole lot and start fresh. Then, perhaps, the new politico’s will begin cleaning-out the real problem — the bloated, sticky-red-tape agencies.