Budget Problems

We all know that the economy is bad. We hear about it on the news and they even include it in the scripts of nearly every TV show! Can we get away from it? Of course not, we are living it. Finances are tight at home. We go to work hoping to make a buck and we hear about budget cuts and lay offs from our boss. We leave work, stop to buy gas or groceries and are stunned by the increase in prices just since yesterday.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing about the recession, cutbacks, unemployment rates and the budget problems in our government. I have my own problems trying to keep the lights on and the rent paid.

It's depressing. Maybe if the state of California didn't make the unemployed wait 2 to 3 MONTHS to start receiving benefits the unemployed would have money to put back into the economy. The cost of the paperwork printing, mailing, and personnel working overtime is going to break the bank. I have to give the Employment Development Department [EDD] credit for at least allowing the common unemployed Californian to apply online. It makes it easy for the little guy and it cuts costs for the state.

Texas has an interesting system. What I know about the Texas Workforce Commission [TWC] is that their system cuts costs. TWC does everything online and by automated telephone, except when you need to talk to a human being, in which case you are assigned a particular worker who works your case. Benefits are paid through a Chase VISA debit card. No muss, no fuss. Imagine how many trees the state of Texas is saving, not to mention the money, by making their system electronic and/or technological. No postage, no paper to buy, no ink to buy, no heavy-duty printers to buy, no extra help employees to hire, to pay and to provide benefits. Now imagine how many reams of paper EDD has to buy. Let's do the math. Calculate 6-10 sheets of paper just for one applicant before they ever collect a dime of Unemployment Insurance Benefits [UIB]. The unemployment rate is hovering around 10%, conservatively, so 1 out of 10 California residents is unemployed. Total population of California was approximately 36 million in 2008. We'll use that number just because it is easiest. 36m multiplied by .10 (for the math challenged that 10% in decimals) is 3 million 600 thousand [written out 3,600,000]. Now we must multiply the 3.6m by an average of 8 pages of documents mailed to the applicant even before benefits have been received. The number is overwhelming: A whopping 28, 800,000 sheets of paper are used ! Every two weeks UIB recipients receive a paper check in the mail with a Continuing Claim Form attached AND the all important return envelope. The state is going broke paying for 3.6 million envelopes two times per month! I hope they get a discount for high quantity.

At least the post office needs to maintain its workforce to process those 3.6 million checks and 3.6 million returned claim forms every two weeks. Using the US Postal Service to distribute UI benefits is actually generating jobs at the USPS. Too bad they are the most frustrating, demoralizing jobs in the country hence the phrase "going postal".

I admit that I have no idea how much this really costs, but the numbers here are staggering. Knowing the State of California and recalling the billion dollar plus DMV computer system debacle as few years back there is no way that California will actually automate the UIB system without further bankrupting the state. How did this all happen? Why can't the highly paid politicians get us out of this mess?

Okay. I will admit here and now that I know most of this information about the UIB system from personal experience. I am unemployed for the second time in two years and no, I am not a bad employee. I work in non-profit child welfare agencies; the lowest paying, lowest funded area of social work, but that is for another blog.

Before I was laid off I was able to afford my iPhone service, Comcast internet, phone and cable TV...car insurance, food, medication copays, rent, electricity, gas for my car, etc. You know...the luxuries. Thinking that I would be able to return to work in maybe a month or two or three I continued consuming these things. If it wasn't for the church I attend I would have been homeless after the first month with no income. Now it has been 6 months and I am getting more and more behind in paying my expenses. I am faced with a severe budget problem. I must cut costs in order to maintain my ability to meet my basic need for shelter and food. It is going to be like a piece of a glacier falling into the ocean; the waves are going to be tremendous, but it must be done now.

Like ripping off a Bandaid, it is less painful if done quickly; however, this process has inherent barriers to hastiness. For instance, I have sent out over 100 resumés with my home phone number and email on them. Terminating my cable services will make both phone and email more remote for me if not extinct. I know, I know. You're probably saying, "The library has free internet for the public." They do. And I'm happy for it. The library allows any one person to have 1 full hour of internet per day. Have you ever watched your clock tick by the hours while you were searching the internet? Dilemma...not a blockade. Inconvenience...not impossibility.

I guess my point is: If I can turn my entire lifestyle, home, and method of operating in the world, upside down why can't we magnify that into the state budget. If I can make sacrifices, disturb the safety of having sufficient medications, access to job information and access to communication with the outside world without throwing a small child under the bus, then why can't the governor do it.

Isn't it ironic that there are more child welfare social workers being laid off every month and the public is more aghast at the level of cruelty to children and women being reported in the news everyday.

My plea is for the governor and the legislators take a HUGE reduction in salary in order to maintain funding in areas that protect children. If I can turn my world upside because of budget problems so can you!! It's just my opinion...