Civil Service Reform

The University of Connecticut paid one dozen employees large settlements - many over $100,000 - to get them to resign and keep quiet about their time in state government, according to state auditors. Other agencies participated in the practice, too, although less frequently. The Auditors of Public Accounts faulted the practice because the agreements lacked oversight from the governor or attorney general as required by law and keeps potential whistleblowers from speaking out.

Gov. Dannel Malloy proposed a new way to fund Connecticut teacher pensions Friday with towns and cities contributing one third of the costs or roughly $407 million. "At a time when state government is making difficult cuts to services, we can no longer afford to exclude how we pay for teacher pensions from the conversations,” Malloy said in a statement.

Connecticut was one of sixteen states that saw an increase in the number of union members. The percentage of workers represented by labor unions grew from 17.4 percent in 2015 to 18.4 percent in 2016. Nationally, the rate of unionization fell. There was a dramatic 61 percent increase in the number of people who decline union membership while still being represented by a union for collective bargaining - sometimes known as agency fee payers.

In a concentrated campaign of spending and activism over the past several years, two powerful New Haven unions took control of the city’s Board of Alders. Now the Board’s activities, investigated by the New Haven Independent, are raising questions about whether some Alders are pursuing the unions’ interests over those of the city and its taxpayers.

In its administrative report to the governor, the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, which is tasked with investigating claims of discrimination in employment and housing, claimed that it had “the best production rate" of any similar agency by securing $10,250,000 in discrimination settlements from employers and property owners during FY16. But some employers and property owners liken the CHRO's practices to “extortion” and claim they are forced to settle with claimants to avoid a longer and more costly fight.

Payments awarded to state employees through a 2015 SEBAC settlement includes a 5 percent interest rate from the date of loss in 2003. Due to the size of the settlement and the number of claims to be processed some payments are delayed and will result in accruing more interest, adding to the financial burden taxpayers must cover.