Vishnu Subramaniam: Budget times turn state workers into villains

It's budget time again in Nevada, which only means one thing - time for partisan politicians and the chambers of commerce to bring state employees out to scare everyday Nevadans.

When budget time rolls around, our state workers are quickly painted as the villains who are paid too much for work that could be done quicker, cheaper or maybe not at all.

Some of the more common myths about our state workforce are:

State workers haven't sacrificed enough. Gov. Sandoval's first attack on state workers came in his very first communication to them announcing a 5 percent cut. The governor unfortunately overlooks the fact that state workers have taken a 4.6 percent cut already in furloughs and many have given up additional income of up to another 8.4 percent in pay in the last two years. Thirteen percent in cuts to income, layoffs and hits to medical benefits have taken a toll on our workforce.

State workers are overpaid and earn more than the private sector employees. The Economic Policy Institute published a study in late 2010 that shows that public sector workers earn wages on average 11 percent less than their private sector counterparts. Nevada also happens to have the leanest state government of any state in the country - the lowest per capita number of workers.

State worker pensions are bankrupting the state. In late January, Moody's investor services showed that Nevada is ranked 40th in the country in lowest debt level when pension liability is taken into account. Public Employees' Retirement System of Nevada is confident it will be able to meet the retirement needs of current and future retirees. In fact, this year state employees are the ones who will see a further 1 percent decrease in pay which will go toward the increasing cost of their retirement.

The real problem in Nevada is the budget deficit. Our state workers didn't create the economic crisis we're in but have been serving everyday Nevadans to help them recover from it. The real problem in our state is a broken tax system and a revenue crisis that must be solved with shared sacrifice by all industries - not just everyday working people.

State workers are the ones that are helping our fellow residents who are hungry, unemployed, disabled or aging. We are on the front lines educating tomorrow's workforce, building roads and highways and ensuring we have a safe prison system. Yes, it's budget time again in Nevada, but no need to vilify our state's heroes - it's time to thank them for a job well done.

• Vishnu Subramaniam is chief of staff for AFSCME Local 4041, which represents Nevada state employees. He lives in Douglas County.