RESTORING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

WHEREAS, state and local governments bear responsibility for providing direct essential services that contribute to the general welfare and quality of life for all residents of this nation; and

WHEREAS, the demand for state and local government services continues to increase as a result of decreased federal aid, unfunded mandates from Washington, D.C., and in impact of failed economic policies enacted by the current and previous national administrations; and

WHEREAS, under the Bush-Reagan administrations, overall federal financial assistance to state and local governments declined by more than 36 percent below previous levels, including cuts of

• 50 percent from housing subsidies

• 48 percent from energy assistance

• 47 percent from natural resources and environmental funding

• 39 percent from employment, training and social services

• 22 percent from community development and

• 76 percent from aid to general government administration; and

WHEREAS, the policies of the Bush-Reagan administrations have created an unprecedented fiscal crisis that, during FY 1992 alone, has required state and local governments to close budget deficits exceeding $50 billion; and

WHEREAS, many state and local governments have responded to the Bush-Reagan fiscal crisis by cutting essential services in social welfare, public health, education, transportation, environmental, employment, and training programs, by postponing and ignoring necessary infrastructure maintenance and capital improvements, by imposing regressive tax measures that adversely and disproportionately affect the working poor and the middle class, and by shifting the burden of unwise and unfair revenue and budget benefit cuts, increasingly unmanageable workloads, involuntary furloughs, and layoffs.

RESOLVED, that AFT work with the AFL-CIO, national and community organizations and others to enact legislation that restores the role of the federal government as a full partner in providing fair and adequate funding to enable state and local governments to deliver high-quality essential services, to promote economic growth, maintain high employment and enhance productivity; and

RESOLVED, that AFT continue to work with the AFL-CIO, citizen groups and others to promote and enact progressive tax policies at the federal, state and local levels.