The $2 billion agreement also includes special lump-sum payments of $2,500 for active employees who've . That includes Gov. For retirements prior to June 30, 2022, these cumulative raises will be paid each year on either January 1st or July 1st depending on your date of retirement (DOR). House and Senate negotiators expressed optimism Monday as they began trading budget proposals, despite gaps in spending over issues such as public schools, land preservation and tourism marketing. In the prison system, there are separate classifications for supervisors of correctional industries, auto mechanics, data entry, printing, clothing, and general industries. And Lamont reported this week that the current fiscal years budget is projected to close on June 30 with an unprecedented $3.95 billion surplus, equal to nearly 20% of entire General Fund. House passes raises, bonuses for CT state employees By Keith M. Phaneuf / CTMirror.org Published April 21, 2022 at 5:22 PM EDT The House of Representatives approved a four-year package of raises Thursday that includes $3,500 in bonuses later this spring and summer for about 46,000 unionized state employees. 1 Week Subscription - $2.99 / 7 Days. That's an incentive to keep people working after that retirement date.". By the latest estimates of the comptroller's office, 14,764 state employees a quarter of the workforce will be eligible to retire on July 1, 2022, when a concession deal negotiated in . [your comment section will not enable me to type this in lower case] stop with the money illusion. Lamont hopes the extra money will slow a wave of retirements before July 1, when pension benefits drop as part of previous union concessions. The new raises are intended to give greater confidence to these managers that they will have consistent treatment with the union employees. According to the Office of Legislative Research in their analysis of a potential retirement wave, COLAs for new retirees will match the CPI-W during years it is 2 percent or less. People know not to bring paper in here, said Josh Geballe, a former IBM executive and tech entrepreneur. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the state's workforce. Were not attracting innovation and industry. By the latest estimates of the comptrollers office, 14,764 state employees a quarter of the workforce will be eligible to retire on July 1, 2022, when a concession deal negotiated in 2017 by the administration of Gov. He could outsource functions, but the state already pays outside providers an enormous amount about $1.4 billion annually to nonprofits. The one thing we know about Ned Lamont or any Democrat, for that matter is that he will not fight the unions. The managers who will receive the raises include division heads at state agencies, as well as commissioners and. "Today is Tax Day People want to know where their tax dollars are going, said Kim Healy, a GOP Wilton selectman running for the Connecticut House of Representatives. This deal was billed as a retention effort, said Rep. Laura Devlin, R- Fairfield, who is campaigning for lieutenant governor as the running mate of GOP gubernatorial contender Bob Stefanowski of Madison. Thats a big risk, but its also an amazing opportunity to reinvent how we do things, to bring in technology to automate a lot of the manual processes that can be more efficiently done by software today.. The agreement calls for 2.5 percent general wage increases and step increases retroactive to July 1, 2022. But its unclear if the bonuses will stop many workers, since they can still collect the $2,500 bonus even if they retire anyway. DAgostino said he believes arbitrators would have awarded unions annual cost-of-living raises of 3% or 3.5% given the state governments enhanced ability to pay. For the average pensioner, receiving $39,887 per year, the COLA increase would amount to an annual increase of $1,435.92. The Senate gave final approval Friday to a four-year package of raises for state employees that includes $3,500 in bonuses to help stem a surge in worker retirements. In a bill drafted . 13 Weeks . Because the state is facing a massive retirement wave, which, if mishandled, could cripple state government. The bonuses, the GOP argued, are hardly the key to retaining workers, as the governor and other Democrats claim. Ned Lamont believes it will keep critical state workers on the job. The newest class of state police trainees will be selected from a pool of candidates who were recruited on social media and applied and initially screened online. Hed also like to talk about a classification system that is flexible and provides a career ladder. Driven by a surge in state employee retirements, Connecticut's spending on pension payments ballooned to a recordhigh $2.5 billion in 2022, state data shows. Not this weeks data release showing that the median American household saw its income fall 2.9 percent last year while Connecticut state employees got a 5.5 percent wage increase. Deserves got nothing to do with it, Rep. Thomas ODea, R-Ledyard, said, citing the famous dialogue Clint Eastwoods Western outlaw uttered in Unforgiven, the 1992 Academy Award-winning film. Please reload the page and try again. While annual retirements usually range from 2,000 to 2,500 per calendar year, more than 3,400 state employees have either retired or filed their written intentions to do so between January and March 31, 2022 alone. It seems that JavaScript is not working in your browser. In addition, full-time workers would receive a $2,500 bonus in mid-May and an additional $1,000 bonus in mid-July. 0:04. In exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, the bill would cap overall 2024 spending to 2022 levels -- about a $130 billion cut -- and limit growth in spending to 1% annually over the next decade. And that was before surging state income and business tax receipts pushed this fiscal years surplus from $2.7 billion to $4 billion. The comptrollers office cautions that some those eligible to retire will not yet have earned full retirement benefits, giving some an incentive to stay. font size, Human Resources Business Rules and Regulations. listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information. The state also faces a potential wave of retirements. Finance panel: Next CT tax fairness study must focus on inequality, CT budget battle heats up as Lamont offers rosy financial picture, State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Bonuses are prorated for part-time employees. How will schools be implementing to curriculum requirements? Corporate Support: Advertising & Sponsorship, saves the state about $150 million over the next decade. There are nine classifications for custodians, 12 for assistant attorneys general, and a whopping 221 for program directors. Each of the 3.6 million residents in Connecticut rely on the critical public services state workers provide whether you are standing in line at the DMV, attending a technical school, community college or state university, getting treatment at UConn Health, driving on our roads and bridges, enjoying a state park or beach, or any of the other ubiquitous public services you will be uplifted by these fair and honorable contracts, the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition wrote in a statement after the Senate vote. Gov. CT State Employees Get Scheduled Raise Amid Economic Turmoil State employees covered by unions got a 3.5 percent pay raise and two percent step increase as the state looks at massive budget deficits. The Lamont administration, labor leaders and other supporters of the increases have said they believe unions could have gotten even larger raises had they rejected the states offer and gone to arbitration. Connecticut holds $3.1 billion in its rainy day fund, equal to 15% of annual operating costs the maximum allowed by law. The agreement would cost the state nearly $1.9 billion over four fiscal years, according to nonpartisan fiscal analysts. Lamonts predecessor, Dannel Malloy, once boasted to a union gathering, I am your servant. Lamont is also in public (union) service, willingly or not. See stories by Keith M. Phaneuf / CTMirror.org, Love Wins at WCSU benefit concert for saxophonists daughter lost at Sandy Hook, Week in CT News: Se'Cret Pierce killing, what's in our water, Zero interest loans are back for some home buyers in Connecticut, Erica Lafferty has been fighting since Sandy Hook. 1 Killed, Child Critically Injured In Major Highway Crash: CT News, Meteorologist Leaves TV News To Take Over Family Business: CT News, 3 Soldiers Killed After 2 U.S. Army Helicopters Crash In Alaska. The agreements, which unions ratified earlier this spring, are retroactive to the start of this fiscal year, which began last July 1. Why? He is one of the mid-career, private-sector executives to join the administration of Gov. We felt one of the most efficient ways and equitable ways to make a dent in this challenge was to go back and provide those same increases to the managers that had already been given to our union employees.. During that time Connecticuts average pension payment increased 15 percent from $34.589 in 2015 to $39,887 in 2020. Access all Premium Content and the E-Edition for 1 day. While we wait to see the thousands of individual and committee bills that while dominate the myriad policy debates this year, Yankee Institute is hard at work promoting free-market solutions to the problems we face from Stamford to Putnam and Mystic to Salisbury. Topics you care about, straight to your inbox, More than 46,000 Connecticut state employees could soon get a significant raise -- and bonuses thanks to a new union. That sum hasnt changed much in two decades. We were trying to get people not to retire well, thats not what this agreement does, said Sen. Craig Miner of Litchfield, ranking GOP senator on the Appropriations Committee. Government bureaucracies are notoriously resistant to change, layered with the accretion of rules, processes, union contracts, all contributing to a workplace culture. Anniversary Date (AI Date) Change for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2271), Changes Anniversary Date from July 1 to January 1 for employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, DAS General Letter 193 - Anniversary Date (AI Date) for Classes Covered by Collective Bargaining, Procedures for establishing anniversary dates for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, Salary Increase - Cost of Living (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2090), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2014 to employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ-EX & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) & Annual Increase (AI) for Associate Attorney Generals (E-Item 2002), Authorizes a 3% Cost of Living Increase and a 3% Annual Increment not to exceed the maximum of the salary grade for Associate Attorney Generals, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 1935), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2013 to employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ-EX & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 1942), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2013 to specific titles assigned to the EX pay plan, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2091), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2014 for certain employees assigned to the EX pay plan, Salary Increase and Pay Plan Adjustments for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2147), Authorizes a Certain Percentage salary adjustment based upon most recent pay increase for certain employees assigned to the EX pay plan, adjusts the EX pay plan and effective January 1, 2016 pay increases for EX mirrors MP, Salary Increase Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non Represented Employees E Item 2664, Authorizes 3.5% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2019 to employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ-EX & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, Salary Increase Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2665), Authorizes 3.5% Cost of Living Adjustment to certain employees who are assigned to Bargaining Unit 01 effective July 1, 2019, As a State of Connecticut employee you may be entitled to a host of benefits that are not only attractive, but also may be portable should your career . The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The managers who will receive the raises include division heads at state agencies, as well as commissioners and deputy commissioners. Thats something we certainly need to work on here.. Part of the 2017 SEBAC Agreement between the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition and Gov. If youre going to get a bonus, youve got to stick around with us for a while, said Rep. Jay Case, R-Winsted. CONNECTICUT State officials announced the tentative state employee union bargaining agreement, which calls for multiple years of raises and bonus payments. The long session, as non-election years are called in Hartford, will be centered around the biennial budget. In 2015, Connecticut paid $1.7 billion to 49,111 retirees, according to the Comptroller's Open Pension website. That helps focus peoples minds and increase their willingness to change and to take risks. Republicans also said they appreciate the hard work of state employees, particularly during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, but the issue isnt as simple as some believe. Connecticut is facing pressure from the private sector, municipalities and other states for its workers, Osten said, adding that the pandemic has made many state jobs less attractive. But two union leaders say they see the states expectations of a significant retirement wave as well-founded. The easiest way out of the crisis is to keep employees on board by offering them generous pay and benefit incentives. Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. EVENT: Mark Pazniokas will sit down with Gov. There is ample evidence that this is a fair contract, a reasonable contract, an affordable contract, she said of Connecticuts wage hikes. The state of Connecticut is in the best financial condition that I can recall, being up here 10 years, said Rep. Michael DAgostino, D-Hamden, who led the debate in favor of the raises. Now shes asking for help herself, One musician remembers what it was like to tour the world with singer and activist Harry Belafonte, Connecticut COVID data: Your town's infection rate, hospitalizations & vaccinations, Tracking health threats, one sewage sample at a time, COVID during pregnancy may alter brain development in boys.

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