Hot line tips suggest ways to trim waste to save state services

Hundreds of comments--ranging from suggestions to complaints to outright allegations--have been registered with the Government Waste Hot Line set up by the Colorado Federation of Public Employees (CFPE), an affiliate of AFT Public Employees. CFPE activated the hot line after Gov. Bill Owens announced in late September that an additional $388 million would be cut from the fiscal 2002-03 budget and that "everything was back on the table."

CFPE president Jo Romero says the hot line is part of the union's effort to identify wasteful state government spending that should be eliminated before services are scaled back and frontline employee positions cut. Colorado state government already has taken a major hit for fiscal 2002-03, Romero says, pointing to the $220 million Gov. Owens cut from the state budget before it took effect July 1.

"Wasteful spending policies and practices should be cut before people," Romero says. The hot line (800/487-7402), she says, provides "a safe, non-threatening way for state employees to call in their budget concerns and suggest possible solutions." The union compiles the complaints, registered by rank-and-file state employees, mid- and high-level administrators and average citizens. These reports are sent to Gov. Owens and members of the joint budget committee. The union also shares the reports with a Denver-based television station that is investigating select allegations of wasteful spending.

Gov. Owens has not personally responded to the union's reports, says Romero; however, a spokesman for the governor told the Rocky Mountain News that Roy Palmer, the governor's chief of staff, is reviewing the suggestions "to determine which ones have merit."

Several members of the joint budget committee, including Sen. David Owen and Sen. Peggy Reeves, have contacted Romero personally to state their intentions to investigate the merits of the complaints. The state auditor's office, which is charged with investigating whistleblower allegations, also has requested copies of the union's reports.

CFPE's hot line has drawn statewide media attention, including countless newspaper articles as well as television and radio spots. The coverage is important to educating the public about state employee concerns over state government and the role that politics plays in budget decisions.

"I think we have successfully turned public opinion away from the rank and file as the 'problem' in government that needs to be cut," says Romero. "State employees are taxpayers and citizens, too. They share the same concerns as other taxpayers. But they have no control over budgets."

CFPE posts the government waste reports on its Web site at www.cfpe.org/.

CFPE is not the only AFT Public Employees affiliate to take proactive action to address wasteful spending in state government. Members of the Unity Team in Indiana can visit the union's Web site and electronically submit their ideas on how the state can save money. The form is available at www.unityteam.org/save_money.htm.