The absurdity is that there is no money saved. University employees still worked and earned their pay. The state legitimately owes June's $11 million payroll to employees.
For an individual, it's like not paying a mortgage payment, then spending that money on a vacation. It's not as if the mortgage payment isn't due. In fact, it's due right now.
If a business were to do this, it would have to recognize the money it owes as both an expense and a liability that it owes. If it tried the shell game the Regents are suggesting, the company's auditor would blow the whistle.
Fortunately, such trickery would need to be approved by the Legislature, which is the body that gave the Regents enough money to meet its true payroll obligations in the first place. We can't imagine the Legislature falling for it [Jon Hunter, "Regents' Proposal Is Simply a Money-Shifting Shell Game," Madison Daily Leader, 2008.08.28].
It takes a lot to pull our man Hunter out of his editorial shell to issue such a direct condemnation of the shenanigans of his friends in Pierre. When even he will call the Regents out, their plan must be a stinker.
Oh get over it. Our US congress and president pulled this accounting gimick years ago on the military and civilian work forces in order to fund something or another. It makes perfect sense to achieve a greater benefit. I never thought I'd read DSU supporters bad-mouthing a technique to enhance web access.
ReplyDelete"perfect sense"? That Sioux Falls paper jumps in to agree this is smoke and mirrors, not real leadership. If a project is worth doing (and making every campus fully wireless is worth doing), it's worth doing honestly.
ReplyDeleteAnon:
ReplyDeleteThe ends don't justify the means here. They are essentially taking out a loan to pay for this money. They should just be asking for more money using the correct, regulated channels. They are pulling an end run to grab some more money and are trying to leave the regulators out of the loop. Whoever came up with this idea should be punished severely.
They're screwing the employees. My guess is one of Perry's greasy underlings cooked this idea up. That girl that runs the payroll has done some pretty slimy stuff, my guess is with her. But they'll probably pull it off. I doubt the legislature can actually stop them even if they want to.
ReplyDeleteIf you live paycheck to paycheck like most of us, you've used this technique to some extent. What makes no sense is to further delay progress for the sake of a few seconds on a clock, for feeling good that perfectly dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's. The military didn't riot when it was done to their pay. The retirees didn't march in the streets. The federal civilian employess didn't stage a work slow down. There's "free" money in the fiscal year budget, it's a failure of leadership to not use it for greater good.
ReplyDeleteBut someone's got to pay for that trick, Anon 9:57, and as another commenter noted elsewhere, retirees will bear part of the cost. Move payday one day, and employees will show only two paychecks, not three, in one quarter, and their retirement beenfits will be reduced. It may not be much per person, but the Regents are still foisting the cost onto their employees instead of showing the leadership to obtain the funding honestly. It's hard for me to support deception as sound public policy.
ReplyDeleteIt is a load of ____! And these are supposed to be the learned people in charge of our higher education?? What is this teaching the students about ethics? It stinks. I wish I could say I have a whole lot more money to spend just because I might delay paying my rent for one day, or my car payment, or any other loan. Good grief, the amount of money they have to work with has not changed one iota, just the perception they are trying to put over on the people who are paying their bills.
ReplyDeleteFire the lot of them and hire some who understand economics and morality!
Maybe they could not build a new university building for athletics and put that money toward wireless! Oh, right, athletics is the sacred cow - that would never fly. Sports over academics once again. But at least they would be playing honestly if they approached it this way.