In the old days, becoming a public servant meant receiving less take-home pay but getting good benefits. It was a trade-off some were willing to make, but that trade-off has eroded in Connecticut.
July 1st will mark the beginning of fiscal year 2019 and the day when most state employees will receive a $2,000 lump sum payment as part of the concessions agreement negotiated between Gov. Dannel Malloy and the state employee bargaining agent coalition.
Governor Dannel Malloy has announced 30 nominations for Superior Court judges to fill a purported 42 vacancies, but the state of Connecticut’s ability to pay for those judges — and even provide them offices — remains in doubt.
For a state facing billions in projected deficits, $11,000 may seem like a drop in the bucket, but that is what it will cost Connecticut taxpayers when lawmakers convene for a special session to override Gov. Dannel Malloy’s veto of a bill to save a popular Medicare program.
Gov. Dannel Malloy released a plan Wednesday to close a $208 million state deficit this year by offering a combination of cuts to social service programs and tax increases on cigarettes, hotels, and the state sales tax.
Although Connecticut’s 2017 budget crisis may have come to an end when Gov. Dannel Malloy signed the bipartisan budget on Tuesday, the next budget promises to be just as difficult. The nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis is already projecting a $4.6 billion deficit, largely due to the rapidly rising costs of pensions, retiree healthcare and debt service combined with declining tax revenue. Fixed costs now consume more than 50 percent of General Fund expenditures.