Advising the FPE/AFT program and policy council and providing information to local union leaders on the federal budget's impact on public employees and government services are two key objectives of the Revenue and Taxation Task Force which met Dec. 12 at AFT headquarters in Washington, D.C.

The task force, staffed by FPE/AFT department director Steve Porter and AFT research department director Jewell Gould, is composed of representatives from nine locals. The day-long meeting featured presentations by well-known economists Donald Boyd of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, who discussed state revenue trends, issues and risks; Marcia Howard of Federal Funds Information for States, who discussed federal budget implications for states; Brian Dobson of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, who discussed CFED's Report Card for the states; and Robert McIntyre of Citizens for Tax Justice, who talked about the politics of tax policy.

"Twenty-five percent of every state dollar comes from the federal government, so the impact of the federal budget is a significant part of public employee representation," Porter says.

FPE/AFT affiliates represented on the task force are: New York State Public Employees Federation; North Dakota Public Employees Association; Wisconsin Professional Employees Council; UAW/AFT Unity Team in Indiana; Kentucky Association of State Employees; AFT Maryland; Illinois Federation of Public Employees; Kansas Association of Public Employees; Connecticut's Administrative and Residual Employees Union; and the Colorado Federation of Public Employees.

At press time, the FPE Recruitment and Retention Task Force was scheduled to meet in Washington, D.C., Jan. 17.