“In light of the horrifying projected budget deficits revealed this morning and Connecticut’s long-term structural imbalance, the only responsible course is for Gov. Lamont to seek to reopen Connecticut’s existing contract with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC). State employee pay, healthcare, pensions and retiree healthcare costs represent a massive portion of our state budget that is increasing in cost, even as revenues drop and nearly half a million Connecticut residents are out of work. If there were ever a time when state employee unions should return to the negotiating table it is now – and it goes without saying that, like his counterparts in New York and Virginia, Governor Lamont should suspend the 5.5% pay increase for state workers scheduled for this summer.. Connecticut’s people cannot be taxed any more; further tax increases will only quicken our state’s fiscal collapse. And we cannot simply wait and hope that the federal government will bail us out – relying on others to rescue us from the consequences of decades of mismanagement isn’t a strategy. If we are truly in this crisis together, then some of the “shared sacrifice” must come from the government sector as well as the private sector. The taxpayers have suffered enough.”
Statement attributable to Carol Platt Liebau, President of Yankee Institute
Frank Ladoreds
May 4, 2020 @ 2:58 pm
State workers suffer having to bring services to people like you. Have fun at DMV. Get ready to watch the snow dry while waiting for your street to be plowed. Be prepared to add 2+2 for your kiddies when they are no longer taught how. Have a crime? Bummer, wait your turn for attention. Of course none of the staties will stick around to see it. They will take their pensions and leave the state.
Ivan
May 10, 2020 @ 12:59 pm
Typical Yankee Institute B.S. It’s always the state employees fault. Ms. Liebau and her comrades at YI won’t be happy until state employees are making minimum wage with no benefits. Why don’t you direct your focus to the state’s sanctuary city policies and unending social program giveaways? And a message to the unions, remember it’s no longer mandatory for the rank and file to pay union dues. Go ahead and open that contract AGAIN and watch how many people opt out of those dues.
Citizen
May 14, 2020 @ 12:20 pm
The same old nonsense. Beat it out of the working class. When will people smarten up and cry about spending waste. The state of CT pisses away more money due to poor spending principles that it would make you sick if you knew the half of it
Alphonse Esposito
May 18, 2020 @ 6:05 pm
Past governors going back to Rowland spent the money put aside in the pension system . Current state employees pay a retiree stipend in addition to the funds they pay for their own pension. None of it is free . The Unions additionally as part of the agreement took hard zeros for certain years in exchange for the increases they are getting this year and next . Stop blaming State employees , they’ve paid for their benefits , their pensions aren’t free . Go after the politicians that spent the funds !