Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

In 2010, 380 State Retirees received pensions from $100,000 to $263,048; 1467 retirees received pensions from $75,000 to $100,000; and nearly 6,000 retirees received pensions from $50,000 to $75,000, in addition to their healthcare benefits.

The following links will take you to excel spreadsheets to view the pensions paid.� The first link includes pensions from $20,000 to $263,048.� The second link includes pensions paid below $20,000.� If you wish to receive the full excel spreadsheet of pensions paid, email fctopresident@aol.com.

http://www.ctact.org/upload/home/PENSIONS1.xls

http://www.ctact.org/upload/home/PENSION2.xls

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OVERTIME CAN BE LUCRATIVE FOR SOME STATE EMPLOYEES

Supervisory Nurse: Base Pay $103,239,

Overtime $231,190 = Total $334,429

There�s More��

Some state workers have the advantage of overtime which surpasses their base pay as reported by the Hartford Courant.�� For example at Connecticut Valley Hospital �A supervising nurse with a base pay of $103,239 received an estimated $231,190 in overtime payments in 2010, for total pay of $334,429. In the past six years, this employee has collected nearly $1 million above his base pay.� �A story by The Courant's Matthew Kauffman reported that about one in 10 full-time CVH employees doubled their base salaries in 2010 through overtime, shift differentials, bonuses or other additional pay. At least a dozen nurses and mental health assistants tripled their salaries. The top 25 overtime earners added a total of more than $3.5 million to their base pay.� See what others are being paid at http://articles.courant.com/2011-04-11/news/hc-ed-overtime-cvh-20110411_1_overtime-payments-cvh-mandatory-shifts

State of Connecticut

100 of the Top Delinquent Income Taxpayer Accounts
Deficient in Excess of 90 Days as of March 1, 2011

http://www.ct.gov/DRs/cwp/view.asp?a=1453&q=296114

Japan's nuclear crisis comes home as fuel risks get fresh look

By Renee Schoof | McClatchy Newspapers Apr 13, 2011��

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/04/12/112048/us-begins-to-reconsider-nuclear.html

Tax the rich! OK, but then what, Mr. President?

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/12/news/economy/national_debt_taxes_obama/index.htm?hpt=C1

CPAs to Lawmakers: The State Is Broke by Christine Stuart | CTNewsJunkie.org Apr 6, 2011� The Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants were at the Capitol Tuesday trying to give legislators the courage to do the right thing by getting rid of the state�s long and short term financial debt. �Connecticut is broke. Not going broke, but broke,� Marcia Marien, president of the organization, said. She said not counting the state�s unfunded pension liabilities Connecticut�s debt is equal to $4,859 for every man, woman, and child in the state. Counting the unfunded pension liabilities, other post employment benefits, and other liabilities and that number jumps to $46,100 per person. Complete article at http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/cpas_to_lawmakers_the_state_is_broke/

State Employee Longevity Bonuses Costing Taxpayers $40 Million a Year April 09, 2011 The Hartford Courant Says �.. Why Reward Just Showing Up? Longevity Bonuses A costly state practice that must be eliminated to save money This year the General Assembly should do what it tried but failed to do last year: Get rid of the twice-a-year longevity payments given to more than 30,000 union and non-union state employees who have been on the job for 10 years or more. Senate Republican leader John McKinney wants the practice � which costs almost $40 million a year � completely terminated.� Continued at �. http://articles.courant.com/2011-04-09/news/hc-ed-longevity-bonuses-for-state-emp20110409_1_longevity-payments-state-employees

Connecticut Conference of Municipalities� Do The Math campaign

is a call to the public-at-large and state policymakers to make municipal aid and municipal issues a priority during the 2011 state budget debate and legislative session. The message of the campaign is a simple but powerful one: Don't balance the state budget on the backs of municipalities and hard-pressed local property taxpayers. Continued at �.. http://advocacy.ccm-ct.org/Plugs/do-the-math.aspx/

Listen to: Radio Ad: DO THE "BUDGET" MATH

Minding the Gap By Cathryn J. Prince | Email the author | April 11, 2011 A pair of proposed bills seeks to help fill the state�s education achievement gap, among the nation's largest. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Connecticut has the largest disparity nationwide between low-income and non-low-income students. In a 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress study, among fourth-grade and eighth-grade math and reading students, non-low income students outperformed low-income students by 34 points in math and 28 points in reading. http://stamford.patch.com/articles/minding-the-gap

Supreme Court: State can cut medical benefits to legal noncitizens

By Arielle Levin Becker on April 8, 2011 The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that the state can cut off medical assistance to legal noncitizens who have been in the country fewer than five years, clearing the way to implement a 2009 budget cut that had been stalled because of legal action. Read more http://www.ctmirror.org/story/12164/supreme-court-state-can-cut-medical-...

Budget Tricks Helped Obama Save Programs� By AP / ANDREW TAYLOR� Apr 12, 2011,�� Time, WASHINGTON) � Details of last week's hard-won agreement to avoid a government shutdown and cut federal spending by $38 billion were released Tuesday morning. They reveal that the budget cuts, while historic, were significantly eased by pruning money left over from previous years, using accounting sleight of hand and going after programs President Barack Obama had targeted anyway. http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2064853,00.html

Big government on the brink April 10, 2011 Washington Post Robert Samuelson Opinion Writer The Census Bureau reports that in 2009 almost half (46.2 percent) of the 300 million Americans received at least one federal benefit: 46.5 million, Social Security; 42.6 million, Medicare; 42.4 million, Medicaid; 36.1 million, food stamps; 3.2 million, veterans� benefits; 12.4 million, housing subsidies. The census list doesn�t include tax breaks. Counting those, perhaps three-quarters or more of Americans receive some sizable government benefit. For example, about 22 percent of taxpayers benefit from the home mortgage interest deduction and 43 percent from the preferential treatment of employer-provided health insurance, says the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Continued at �.. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/big_government_on_the_brink/2011/04/09/AFNcwrGD_story.html?wprss=rss_opinions

Republicans unveil spending-bill specifics: What's cut and what's not

Erik Wasson - 04/12/11 08:14 AM ET http://thehill.com/homenews/house/155421-six-month-spending-bill-unveiled-whats-cut-and-whats-not

Spending proposal excludes Republicans' cuts to foreign aid

John T. Bennett 04/12/11 04:21 PM ET http://thehill.com/news-by-subject/defense-homeland-security/155599-spending-plan-excludes-cuts-to-foreign-aid

Obama Puts Taxes on Table Wall St Journal April 11, 2011 In a speech Wednesday, Mr. Obama will propose cuts to entitlement programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and changes to Social Security, a discussion he has largely left to Democrats and Republicans in Congress. He also will call for tax increases for people making over $250,000 a year, a proposal contained in his 2012 budget, and changing parts of the tax code he thinks benefit the wealthy. Continued at �. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704366104576255282893680792.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0

Executive Pay Soars in 2010 - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/business/10comp.html?_r=1

New York Times: The Caucus: Now, the Hard Part for Nervous Republicans By John Harwood Step 2 comes with a radically higher degree of difficulty. Because it involves a threat to resist increasing the federal debt limit, this phase could jeopardize Republicans� relations with business donors who help finance their campaigns. Because it involves cuts in Medicare, it endangers the votes of older Americans who helped fuel their midterm victories. Even more problematic: Medicare cuts appeared nowhere in House Republicans� 2010 Pledge to America. To the contrary, it attacked Democrats for cutting Medicare. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/now-the-hard-part-for-nervous-republicans/?ref=todayspaper

Debate over raising debt ceiling plays with explosives, says Wall Street� Peter Schroeder and Erik Wasson - 04/12/11 05:51 AM ET http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/155399-debate-over-debt-ceiling-plays-with-explosives-says-wall-st

Most Illegal Immigrant Families Collect Welfare� by Judicial Watch, Inc. on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 12:21pm� Surprise, surprise; Census Bureau data reveals that most U.S. families headed by illegal immigrants use taxpayer-funded welfare programs on behalf of their American-born anchor babies.� Even before the recession, immigrant households with children used welfare programs at consistently higher rates than natives, according to the extensive census data collected and analyzed by a nonpartisan Washington D.C. group dedicated to researching legal and illegal immigration in the U.S. The results, published this month in a lengthy report, are hardly surprising.� REPORT

http://cis.org/immigrant-welfare-use-2011�� Continued at �.. https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150159225491561

Factbox: Top budgetary threats to U.S. state, local governments http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42152462

Tax inequity Counterproductive system punishes success but claims to be progressive http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/11/tax-inequity/?sms_ss=hotmail&at_xt=4da4aab551beba81%2C0

Written by Richard W. Rahn, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth.

Reports from the Tax Policy Center

http://search.urban.org/texis/search?dropXSL=&pr=wwwtpc&prox=page&rorder=500&rprox=500&rdfreq=500&rwfreq=750&rlead=750&sufs=2&order=r&cq=&query=2011&submit=SEARCH

Court Won't Lift Stay on Arizona Immigration Law http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/11/court-wont-lift-stay-on-arizona-immigration-law/