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Ramona Welton of Augusta is the past president of the Maine Service Employees Association, Local 1989 of the Service Employees International Union who led the union during the 2017 state government shutdown. She works as an auditor for the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles within the Maine Department of the Secretary of State.
Nearly four years ago, in the summer of 2017, instead of reporting for work as they usually do, thousands of my coworkers were locked out of their jobs throughout Maine state government.
Highway and bridge workers, court workers, unemployment insurance workers, Maine State Library workers, environmental protection workers, health and human services workers, along with building maintenance workers and many others all were held hostage in a budget fight between the former governor and state legislators. It was a ridiculous and unnecessary government shutdown.
Beginning on July 1, 2017, the first day of the state government shutdown, my coworkers and I rallied in Capitol Park and marched on the State House. We demanded passage of a responsible state budget to end the shutdown, so we could all get back to work. We kept rallying every day until, finally, on July 4, a state budget was signed.
The whole affair was a disgrace. The shutdown never should have happened, and it should never happen again. The shutdown disrupted the lives of scores of workers and their families as well as the services all of us count on as we go about our daily lives. The shutdown also resulted in Maine’s tax system being further rigged in favor of the wealthy and against Maine’s working families, as Maine still hasn’t achieved paying its statutory 55 percent of the cost of our schools.
For too long, basic essential services such as courts, road construction and Maine’s safety net have been political bargaining chips in state budget negotiations. This must stop immediately. The last thing Maine people need during this ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is another state government shutdown.
The 2017 shutdown didn’t just interrupt the lives of state workers. It also ground to a halt state-funded highway construction projects as contractors stopped work in the runup to the shutdown. They kept their crews home until the shutdown ended. Right now, the Maine Department of Transportation continues to deal with a massive backlog of projects. Another state government shutdown would be catastrophic for our state’s highway and bridge construction schedule.
Half of Maine’s courthouses also were closed during the 2017 shutdown, leaving only one courthouse open per county. Right now, Maine’s courts are dealing with a whopping 18,157 unresolved criminal cases. The last thing Maine’s justice system needs is another state government shutdown.
Using public workers and public services as pawns in political gamesmanship must never happen again in our great state. That’s why everyone should demand their state legislators support the current proposed two-year state budget, known as the Back-to-Basics Budget Proposal. It’ll keep state services running uninterrupted. It’ll provide workers, schools and businesses the stability they need as our schools and economy get back on track.
By passing a baseline state budget next week, the Legislature then can assess updated revenue projections and the federal American Rescue Plans funds available for new initiatives. Spending for a future supplemental budget will be developed and debated later this spring.
As state legislators work toward passing a two-year state budget, my coworkers and I will continue advocating every step of the way to ensure the priorities of Maine’s working families are heard.