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VIDEO: State Budget Battle Showdowns

Posted By Rob Bluey On February 25, 2011 @ 5:33 pm In Enterprise and Free Markets,Scribe | 8 Comments

Wisconsin. Ohio. Michigan. New Jersey. New York. Budget-battle showdowns [1] are coming soon to a statehouse near you.

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) has provoked the ire of labor union leaders in Wisconsin, but he’s not alone. Governors across America are confronting budget shortfalls — and looking to public employees to help make up the difference.

Walker’s budget repair bill [2] asks government workers to make a 5.8% pension contribution (about the national average) and 12.6% health insurance contribution (about half the national average). In New Jersey, Republican Gov. Chris Christie proposed that public employees pick up 30 percent of their health care premiums [3]. And in neighboring New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, asked public employees to pay $500 million toward benefits [4] they’re currently receiving for free.

It’s a scenario all too common after years of out-of-control government spending. To tell the story, Heritage partnered with Reason.tv [5] to showcase how states were grappling with the problem [1] and what the consequences would be for public employees.

Article printed from The Foundry: Conservative Policy News Blog from The Heritage Foundation: http://blog.heritage.org

URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/02/25/video-state-budget-battle-showdowns/

URLs in this post:

[1] Budget-battle showdowns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je3UT7ol1JY

[2] budget repair bill: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_detail.asp?locid=177&prid=5625

[3] pick up 30 percent of their health care premiums: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-25/christie-plan-for-workers-to-pay-30-care-premium-may-spread.html

[4] pay $500 million toward benefits: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2011/02/22/2011-02-22_what_wisconsin_can_teach_ny_compared_to_scott_walker_andrew_cuomo_almost_looks_t.html

[5] Reason.tv: http://reason.com/blog/2011/02/25/budget-battle-showdowns-coming

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