Connecticut For All, a coalition of unions and special interest groups, hosted a town hall discussion on Tuesday (Dec. 3), at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, demanding legislative action to overhaul the state’s fiscal guardrails and clear the way for billions in new spending.
The private event, titled “Paving the Roadblocks,” aimed to promote reforms that would tear down the state’s “fiscal guardrails” which were implemented to address decades of reckless spending, budget deficits and underfunded pension obligations.
Connecticut’s fiscal guardrails were enacted as part of a bipartisan budget agreement in 2017, including measures that limit spending, cap bonding, and redirect excess revenue from volatile sources like capital gains taxes into the state’s Rainy Day Fund and pension funds instead of using it for recurring expenses.
According to Connecticut For All, despite passing a budget in the spring of 2023 with a $3.3 billion surplus — the second largest in state history — “communities’ basic needs are not being met amidst budget cuts and understaffing.” The coalition claims it’s time for elected leaders to address what they call a “crisis of need” by increasing state spending to “invest in our people.”
Speaker of the House Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) and Rep. Josh Elliott (D-Hamden) joined the panel, appearing to align themselves with the union-backed agenda. They discussed the possibility of loosening Connecticut’s fiscal guardrails, outlined 2025 House priorities, and fielded questions from the audience.
But what exactly is this so-called “crisis of need”?
The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), which represents more than 40,000 of Connecticut’s unionized state employees and negotiates wages, benefits, pensions and working conditions, shared a photo on X/Twitter of the panelists seated at a long table in front of the church’s altar.
Attached to the table were signs with demands that left little doubt about the unions’ priorities. Slogans like “Husky Health Care for Immigrants,” “Public Higher Ed for All,” and “Unemployment Benefits for Striking Workers” were prominently displayed, alongside more vague demands of “Dignity for Paraeducators,” “Dignity for Childcare Workers,” and “Equity in School Funding.”
While most messages were clear, the others left room for interpretation, but it’s safe to assume unions are once again angling for more raises under the guise of addressing these so-called inequities.
SEBAC’s post claimed the event was an opportunity for state employees to “discuss the importance of investing in public services.” It’s not unreasonable to interpret “investments” to mean yet another round of raises for state workers, as SEBAC-affiliated unions have been meeting since at least October to prepare for upcoming contract negotiations, with their current agreements set to expire in June 2025.
Connecticut’s state employee unions have easily secured a staggering compounded 33% in step and annual raises over the past six years — a figure that dwarfs the 23% national average seen in the private sector during the same period. So, there is little reason to believe these never-ending pay hikes will end anytime soon, given the unions’ grip on negotiations and the state’s tendency to bow to their demands.
It is also interesting to point out that the coalition’s meeting took place from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., a time when most workers are on the clock. Yet state employees attending the event enjoy the privilege of getting paid time off to attend union functions — a perk paid for by Connecticut taxpayers.
Part of the meeting was shared on X, though it’s mostly inaudible. However, what could be heard revealed that lawmakers seem eager to abandon fiscal responsibility and return to the era of unchecked spending.
Speaker Ritter said, “What you are saying is heard, is noted” and that “we are committed to making every opportunity of what I call reasonable and legal tweaks to the guardrails”
Additionally, New Haven Federation of Teachers (NHFT) President Leslie Blatteau didn’t hold back when addressing the panel, declaring, “I’m hearing an M from you and not a B,” apparently calling out an earlier statement on increasing spending by millions of dollars.
Furthermore, she pressed Speaker Ritter for a commitment to increase spending, emphasizing that it should be “not about millions, but about billions” — a demand that was met with applause from union members in attendance, underscoring the growing pressure from labor unions to push state spending to unprecedented levels.
Blatteau also noted that she and other teachers had skipped school to attend the meeting seemingly with the superintendent’s permission.
The meeting wrapped up with everyone on the panel, including Rep. Elliott and the audience, but not Speaker Ritter, enthusiastically holding up signs reading “Clear the Road Blocks”. Speaker Ritter’s reluctance to join in could be a hopeful sign that he’s not fully on board with dismantling the fiscal guardrails to grant unions their wish for billions in extra spending.
Coincidentally, these calls to dismantle the fiscal guardrails come a day after a press conference with Gov. Ned Lamont, Comptroller Sean Scanlon and Treasurer Erick Russell, who shared the results of the Connecticut State Employees Retirement System (SERS) report on pension actuaries. The report shows that in fiscal year 2024 the pension fund had minor improvement going from 52% to 56% funded. However, this improvement was not enough to move the state out of the sixth worst funded pension plan in the country.
According to a Dec. 3 column by financial expert Red Jahncke, this miniscule increase is attributed to “the avalanche of federal aid and a budget mechanism (the Volatility Cap) redirecting almost $6 billion of tax revenue into SERS.” Jahncke points out that “the progress should have been at least double” but due to pensions being calculated as a percent of wages and the past six years’ worth of hefty raises “future pension obligations have surged 26%, from $34 billion to $43 billion.
Meaning if it weren’t for the fiscal guardrails the state’s pension fund would be in even worse shape, leaving our children’s grandchildren to clean up the mess.
If lawmakers are serious about protecting Connecticut’s financial future, they must resist pressure from the unions and prioritize fiscal discipline over careless spending.
The unions spent countless hours helping to elect candidates that they hope will advance their agenda and it appears that they are now looking to cash in for the favor by demanding billions in new spending at taxpayers’ expense. This blatant quid pro quo highlights why the state’s fiscal guardrails must remain intact to prevent a return to the dark times of fiscal chaos.
Caving to union calls for billions in additional spending on government worker raises, free college and healthcare for the undocumented would not only betray taxpayers but also plunge Connecticut back into the dark times of fiscal irresponsibility it has worked so hard to escape. Far from being roadblocks, the fiscal guardrails are lifelines for a state burdened by decades of irresponsible overspending, budget deficits, and unfunded obligations.
