Sharing responsibility means sharing funds as well!
Posted in Community Engagement, Public Communication on 04/01/2009 10:59 pm by enricamaffucci
Washington’s giant budget deficit means cutting a lot of programs, and therefore eliminating many services that people have come to rely on. Another option, which my research in Quincy, WA identified specifically with educational programs and civic engagement, is the way that a community-based organization made to fill one purpose can often serve double duty because it is already positioned to provide other programs. This is especially important for minority communities, such Latinos.
This seems like an easy ‘Yes’ choice across the board, because the more liberal thinkers love the wealth of program options it offers, while the more conservative thinkers hone in on the economic efficiency.
What I found in Olympia, though, was interesting. Many people have difficulty seeing the crucial partnership aspect of having community-based organizations either support or take over previously government run services. While legislators are happy to pass the responsibility for these projects to local organizations, they tend to not want to pass even a small portion of the funding already earmarked for those projects, saying that the state really can’t afford to be funding any more programs (it is left unstated how these small programs can expect to finance their newfound responsibilities).
If you can spend half as much to support an organization that provides not just the one, but multiple services, isn’t that actually funding fewer programs while providing more resources?
One thing which stuck strongly with me from the trip to Olympia is how important it is for legislators look not just at cost-cutting changes, but rather at truly cost-saving options when working to tackle the looming budget dilemma.