Unions seek stimulus funds

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100603/NEWS01/706039867

By Maggie O’Brien
World-Herald Staff Writer

Leaders of Nebraska labor unions want Congress to provide more federal stimulus money for jobs and schools.

Representatives of the Nebraska AFL-CIO, Nebraska Association of Public Employees, the state workers union, and the Omaha Education Association held a press conference Wednesday to outline their plans to lobby the state’s congressional leaders.

They want Congress to extend the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to include more money for the state and its schools to keep people employed.

Last November, state lawmakers used across-the-board and specific spending cuts to help close a $334 million gap in the state budget. They passed additional cuts this spring to deal with a further slump in state tax revenue.

Union leaders said the situation could worsen next year.

“Without a new infusion of federal funds, programs are going to be cut,” said Chuck Loveless, legislative director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees International, the umbrella group of the state workers union.

Doreen Jankovich, president of the Omaha Education Association, said that if teachers lost their jobs, sales tax revenue would decline.