With the economy practically coming to a stand-still for the better part of three months, we know there will be plenty of consequences. Some are more immediate, like the overwhelmed hospitals in New York, and some are more laggard indicators. One such item is how States will deal with the enormous budget shortfall stemming from the coronavirus stoppages. Unlike the federal government, States have a mandate to balance their budgets; therefore should revenue come up short, the expense side of the equation must acquiesce.
Today in California, our governor announced a revised budget for the coming fiscal year, accounting for the utter financial damage COVID-19 has wrought on the economy. Cuts are happening, and of consequence to me is the funding for the CSU system. Within the new calculations is a 10-percent cut to the general fund for the public university system, which represents a significant chunk of the overall CSU budget. How that will materially affect campus operations - and my very own employment prospects at San Francisco State - remains to be seen, though I would not be surprised if temporary cuts to salaries - in the form of furlough days - is going to be a thing.
Because the biggest expense is labor, of course, and with news that California will be asking State employees to take a 10-percent pay-cut, I don’t see how workers at the CSU would be spared from the trimming. Furloughs happened after the great financial crash of 2008, so it’s very likely to happen again for this current crisis. A modest decrease in salary is magnitudes better than flat-out losing employment, something over 18-million Americans have had to face with in just the past month. We should consider ourselves lucky if the worse of this is only slightly less money coming into the bank account each month.
From a different perspective, a 10-percent salary cut is roughly equal to the amount of raises CSUEU members (the employees union I belong to) received in the past four years combined. We would simply be back to our 2016 pay levels, which doesn’t seem so bad. For sure it will hurt - I don’t exempt myself from those feelings - but it could be worse: have a look at the scores fo tech workers who got laid off from UBER and AirBnb just last week.
Much like the coronavirus, the economic pain stemming from it is a shared burden by us all.
Waiting for action.