Rides will be provided from our Union hall beginning at 9:30 AM. Simply call Receptionist Yasmin Veras at (800) 894-9479, ext. 110, before Tuesday of the week you can go to sign-up and let us know if you need transportation.

And I'll be at the Capitol for each "lobby day" to provide material and basic training for delivering our message, as well as to connect members to their lawmakers. We have been telling our elected leaders:

• The public demand for quality public services actually grows in an economic downturn;
• Cutting core services will lead to a downward spiral further worsening Connecticut’s economy; and
• There are smarter alternatives to across the board cuts that protect our schools, rebuild our infrastructure, preserve services to our vulnerable citizens, and keep the public safe.

It's the same message we delivered earlier this month when we sent an Action Alert email to members of all thirteen unions in the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) to enable them to contact their elected leaders with a single mouse-click.

And of course, it's the same message SEBAC broadcast across the state in TV, cable, and radio ads earlier this month.

Some facts we are sharing with legislators:
 

According to Nobel Prize-winning economists Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz, "reductions in government spending on goods and services, or reductions in transfer payments to lower-income families, are likely to be more damaging to the economy in the short-run than tax increases focused on higher-income families."

Connecticut voters get this -- when polled recently, 84% agreed that cutting funding for public services like health care, education and road maintenance during a time of recession further damages the economy and denies services to citizens at the very time they need them most.

We're all in this together. Short-term cuts in public employee wages leads to serious unemployment among the private sector -- according to a report by the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, "cutting the remuneration of public sector employees will not only increase unemployment and exacerbate declining incomes but also generate sustained emigration and shrinkage in Connecticut’s labor force."

The tax burden in Connecticut falls disproportionately on middle income and low income workers -- they pay close to 11 percent of their income in state and local taxes, while the richest families pay less than 7 percent. Establishing a fair and equitable tax structure will move us off our reliance on property taxes.

Connecticut citizens favor raising taxes on those making more over $200,000 by 83%.

And responses to some of the tougher questions we are asked:

Won't new revenues cause an exodus of the state's wealthy?

Connecticut's top tax margin is seventh from the bottom of all states with an income tax. Connecticut's wealthy can be taxed more fairly and still pay less taxes than most of our neighboring states.

Connecticut's more fortunate citizens have a stake in preserving the quality of life we have here in Connecticut -- and to do so in a manner that is fair and equitable.

Aren't Connecticut's state and local governments already big and "bloated?"

Educate legislators and opinion leaders on the true size of Connecticut's government -- based on the number of state and local workers, we rank 39th, and in measuring their share of gross state product, we are the second smallest in the nation.

Point to workforce shortages in your own agency and department and educate your legislator on the challenges you face in delivering services.

You don't want cuts -- but what are you willing to do to help?

Point out that we are proposing long-term solutions:

• Secure federal resources;
• Maximize these resources (for example, don't cut Medicaid when it will mean a reduction in federal Medicaid funds);
• Reform corporate tax loopholes;
• Construct a fair, progressive tax structure; and
  
• Prepare a long-term results-based accountability plan.
  

Can't make it to the Capitol for one of our Wednesday "lobby days?" Contact your legislator by phone or email -- then let us know how they are leaning by completing our lobbying report-back form and returning it me by email or mailing it to the Union hall.