Veteran Oregon AFSCME Political Coordinator Mary Botkin is representing Council 75 at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) 2010 Legislative Summit in Louisville, Ky. The event runs through July 28.

 

As the name suggests, the NCSL is an organization for sitting lawmakers (and staff) from the 50 state legislatures across the U.S. But it is traditional for lobbyists to attend the group's annual legislative summit event, which draws some 5,000 attendees each year. Oregon AFSCME political staff generally rotates the "duty" of attending each year, and this year it's Botkin who's in Louisville.

 

"There's always a lot of good information," said Botkin. "This year's program features over 150 sessions. I've spent one entire day on retirement and pension issues, most of another day on budgets and revenue shortfall strategies, various corrections issues and some workshops on voting rights and redistricting issues. So, as you can see, it's all very timely information for what we're facing in Oregon right now."

 

While the NCSL is officially non-partisan, obviously the vast majority of lawmakers in attendance are members of one or the other of the two major parties, and with that, they bring along certain perspectives and biases. Botkin was particularly flustered by what she heard in one of the retirement sessions, which included a good dose of employee bashing. She hammered out some notes, made her way to a microphone and made the following statement:

 

"We have learned much today about the challenges facing states and workers as it relates to retirement. Unfortunately, we have also heard a lot of finger pointing at benefits and blame being placed on the workforce and recipients. We actually heard one presenter blame the retirement of autoworkers for the failure of Chevrolet manufacturing in America.

 

"I rise to respond. Career workers' retirement did not bring down the American auto industry. The lack of corporate decision makers responding to the needs of Americans for an efficient vehicle and design failures are to blame for those losses — not the workers or their unions.

 

"The single largest beneficiary of state and local pension funds is Wall Street and the Wall Street deal brokers. Unscrupulous bankers and Wall Street are the ones who created a false economy and when the system failed, they are the ones who walked away with millions in profits while all of the workers and American citizens lost everything they had. If they had been a teenager in any city and robbed a liquor store, they would have gone to prison instead of banking their multi-million dollar windfalls. The lesson clearly is 'stealing big pays, with no accountability.'

 

"I want to remind the group here that retirees from state and local governments and the private sector are the only economic engine still running. They spend their money in stores on Main Street and vacation largely here on our shores. They may be the best hope we have right now for a true lasting recovery. Taking their pension security or cutting benefits will only make matters worse, not better.

 

"Every American will get a public pension of sorts — either one that is planned for and properly funded, or one built on public assistance and welfare. If we do not plan for Medicare expansion, they will get health care through uncompensated medical costs and unpaid emergency room visits. The question before us should not be how to destroy defined benefit retirement plans, but rather how to fund a system that rewards 30-plus years of dedicated service. When these hard working Americans enter their retirement years, the only real question is what type of dignity will they have?"