EDITORIAL: State workers testify in Carson City: Oh, the humanity!

The breadth of destruction and hardship wrought by the coronavirus and subsequent economic shutdowns would have seemed unimaginable just months ago. In addition to the disease’s physical and mental toll, the pandemic has altered lives, shuttered businesses, destroyed jobs, compromised the futures of Nevada schoolchildren and created a climate of uncertainty that could take years to recede.

And now, amid this pain and suffering, a forgotten group of Nevadans seeks recognition for their own struggles to deal with the havoc wrought as the coronavirus tears across the landscape. Their stories are, quite frankly, gut-wrenching.

“We’re working families,” state employee Paige Menicucci told lawmakers last week, The Nevada Independent reported. “I drive from Reno to Carson City to go to work because I’m passionate about what I do. I want to do something for our state and to do something that’s right, and this bill is not right for our state and it’s not right for our employees.”

Ms. Menicucci testified during discussion of Assembly Bill 1, which codifies Gov. Steve Sisolak’s proposal to furlough state government employees one day a month and to freeze merit pay as part of the effort to close a $1.2 billion budget hole for the current fiscal year. The step would save $66 million, or a whopping 5.5 percent of the fiscal gap. Surely the unbearable burden that Ms. Menicucci and other state workers are being asked to bear will bring tears to the eyes of caring Nevada taxpayers.

Or maybe not.

But wait … there’s more. A dozen state workers turned out during the hearing to express heart-rending tales of the untold trauma and distress that would emerge if they were asked to make the most minimal of contributions toward solving the budget crisis. In addition to Ms. Menicucci, government employee Ken Edmonds also took the microphone, the Independent reported, presumably accompanied by a violin ensemble.

“State workers and the communities we serve are always asked to make sacrifices while corporations enjoy low tax rates, subsidies and deductions,” he told lawmakers. “It’s time for corporations to share in this sacrifice.”

Poor, Mr. Edmonds. Imagine the levels of sheer stress and even delusion one would have to experience during these trying times to entirely block out objective reality in favor of publicly embracing an alternative fantasy universe where they serve free cake, cookies and ice cream all day long.

So here’s to Nevada’s unsung heroes during the coronavirus pandemic: the state government unions and their members, who ask only that they be acknowledged for their willingness to step up in ways that their selfish private-sector counterparts can’t even begin to understand.