September 22, 2017
From: The Federation of
Connecticut Taxpayer Org
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
BATTLEGROUND CONNECTICUT
The Battle for Connecticut Taxpayer
Dollars
The Contenders
Governor Malloy, State Democrats,
and the State Employee Unions
versus
Connecticut Taxpayers
STATE DEBT $74.3 BILLION
STATE DEFICIT $6 BILLION
State Democrats have controlled the state legislature
for all but two years since 1992.
Now the State is Broke!
Rating agencies have taken notice as headlines read With S&P downgrade, Connecticut now cut by all three rating
firms and 3rd credit rating agency in 5 days downgrades Connecticut status and Connecticut Capital Hartford Downgraded To Junk By S&P | Zero
Hedge.
Instead of developing a plan to mitigate
the States $6 Billion deficit, State Democrats sealed a 10 year deal with the
State employee unions which includes job security and wage increases.
Union give backs only covered a portion of the deficit. Now the
Democrats are scrambling for money and want local property taxpayers to cover
the rest.
***********************
Last week, a day of Shock and Awe beset Connecticut taxpayers. It was supposed
to be smooth sailing for Malloy and his fellow Democrats as their near sinking
Ship of State sailed toward the ports of Connecticuts 169 towns to pick up
some cash.
Whether that cash came from Connecticut homeowners and
businesses through increased property taxes due to cuts in municipal aid or
picking up some of the teachers pensions, there was little doubt some
Connecticut property owners could ultimately lose their homes to tax lien sales
if property taxes were increased beyond their ability to pay.
For years, Democrat
State Legislators favored their voting
block the public sector unions over Connecticut
taxpayers and local property owners who paid the bills.
And this year was no different as the Dems
sealed a 10 year deal with the State employee unions which included Job
Guarantees and Wages Increases, while leaving nearly a $4 Billion deficit on
the table to be picked up by taxpayers.
But suddenly one could hear a voice in the crowd who would
ultimately change the dynamics. He was State Senator Paul Doyle who was
first elected to the Senate in 1994. He wanted to make a difference along
with Democrats Gayle Slossberg of Milford
and Joan Hartley of Waterbury.
And they did as they voted across party lines as noted by CTMirror.org in their
headlined article captioned Trio of senators defect, vote with GOP to block Dems
budget .
As the Hartford Courant reported in their article captioned Connecticut
At A Turning Point As Republicans Gain Upper Hand In Yes, I may be risking my political career, Doyle said, as
stunned politicians and lobbyists started to grasp that the political dynamic
was shifting. My party may not be happy with me. But to be
honest, I dont care. Continue reading at http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-state-budget-drama-continues-20170916-story.html
As CTMirror.org notes
Hartley, Doyle and Slossberg all warned
they would not support the next state budget if it did not incorporate a series
of fiscal reforms they proposed.
Some of the reforms sought by the trio would restrict in statute
benefits the state could offer in contracts after 2027.
Others would end automatic cost-of-living adjustments to
pensions, remove overtime earnings from pension calculations,
and restrict future benefits contracts with state employee unions to no
more than four years in duration.
The moderates also wanted arbitration awards to better reflect the
states ability to pay increased wages and benefits. Continue Reading
And now State Democrats, Governor Malloy and the State Employee
Unions intend to fight the taxpayers as Malloy threatens to Veto the Republican
Budget
Suzanne Bates of the Yankee Institute
writes the following:
Today, Connecticuts
government unions held a rally at the Capitol to protest the bipartisan budget
and to pressure Gov. Malloy to use his veto power.
The government unions continue to spread misinformation
about the budget, and continue to call for a budget that includes higher taxes
on Connecticut
residents.
The bipartisan budget makes some important common-sense
reforms that will lead to budget stability and economic growth in the years
ahead. Those reforms include setting state employee pension benefits in statute
after 2027, requiring a vote on every government union contract, and shoring up the teachers pension fund.
But union leaders are refusing to budge even a little on
giving up the power theyve come to enjoy. It is
telling that their response to many of the suggested
reforms is that the reforms cannot be done because of language in union
contracts. They have even thrown around the word illegal as if our legislators,
the people who make state law, cannot make changes to the law that the
unions do not like.
It also shows just how much power the unions have through
these contracts the power to stop meaningful reforms that allow the state to
both save money and continue to provide services for our most vulnerable
residents.
The three Democratic senators who recognize that things need
to change have now found themselves targeted by the union-funded Working Families Party who has vowed to replace them with union-friendly
candidates.
At some point, this has to end.
The taxpayer well in Connecticut
is running dry. People and businesses are leaving, and those who remain have
grown tired of paying more money to a state government that refuses to fix its
underlying structural problems.
The low turnout at todays rally
shows that many union members have grown tired of the union leaderships
relentlessly progressive stance. Public employees do not want their taxes to go
up either.
Meanwhile, the people of Connecticut are contacting their lawmakers in record numbers to say that enough is enough.
--Suzanne
And on Sept 16, 2017 Hartford Courant
headlines read
It appears that UConn President
Susan Herbst is not too happy with changes to the
Budget to reduce costs to taxpayers as according to Herbst
the Republican budget would decimate the university.
Herbst continues Both houses of the
General Assembly approved a state budget that is appalling to us at UConn, Herbst said. The approved
budget would cut state funding for the university by more than $300 million
over the next two years. That level of cut is unprecedented and would be
devastating for UConn, higher education in Connecticut, and the
state as a whole.
Well lets take a look
at UConn salaries.
Within the past 12 months headlines have read A few top
UConn officials get pay increases despite tough times Therein, it is noted that Recognizing his performance
in organizing UConns general counsel office, Herbst wrote Richard Orr that
his salary would increase from $220,000 to $275,000 over the next 13
months. He also was made eligible for and received an annual $25,000 bonus. https://ctmirror.org/2016/06/22/a-few-top-uconn-officials-get-hefty-pay-increases-despite-tough-times/
and UConn presidents compensation 12th among
flagship schools.
In 2014, in a Hartford Courant article captioned UConn
President Herbst To Get Contract Extension, Big Pay Boost it is noted The University of Connecticuts Board of Trustees voted Monday to extend UConn President Susan Herbsts
contract until 2019 with an overall increase in salary and other compensation
that will bring her total compensation to more than $758,000 a year in 2015.
Continue reading at http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-herbst-uconn-raise-20141229-story.html.
And as one reader of the Hartford
Courant wrote Hillary
Speech Payment Bad For UConn
Foundation - Hartford Courant.
The UConn Foundation may be a private fundraising arm of the University of Connecticut, but it had no business
paying Hillary Clinton $250,000 to speak at the university last year. I am
outraged that money raised to support development
and student aid was spent on a de facto campaign contribution. What pearls
of wisdom from Mrs. Clinton could possibly be worth a quarter of a million
dollars? Continue reading at http://www.courant.com/opinion/letters/hc-hillary-speech-payment-bad-for-uconn-foundation-20150526-story.html
So lets take a look at some of the
top 20 UConn salaries paid during Fiscal Year
2016. Susan Herbsts salary is now recorded at
$986,100 with benefits.
In Fiscal Year 2016
$689,509,785 has been paid to 8,732 UConn
employees
Earnings
Fringe Total
|
|
$3,041,667
|
$109,201
|
$3,150,868
|
|
Auriemma,Geno
|
$2,403,997
|
$54,653
|
$2,458,650
|
|
Diaco,Robert A
|
$1,748,333
|
$78,696
|
$1,827,029
|
|
Herbst,Susan
|
$911,038
|
$75,062
|
$986,100
|
|
Manuel,Warde J
|
$535,521
|
$63,226
|
$598,747
|
|
Choi,Mun
|
$421,685
|
$63,346
|
$485,031
|
|
Elliott,John A.
|
$419,810
|
$63,915
|
$483,725
|
|
Schwab,Richard L
|
$396,696
|
$70,502
|
$467,197
|
|
Gopal,Ram D
|
$393,268
|
$67,142
|
$460,410
|
|
Marsden,James R
|
$372,418
|
$87,135
|
$459,553
|
|
Glascock,John Leslie
|
$387,186
|
$72,347
|
$459,532
|
|
Seemann,Jeffrey R
|
$372,160
|
$66,954
|
$439,114
|
|
Verducci,Frank J
|
$330,724
|
$86,147
|
$416,871
|
|
Poindexter,Anthony S
|
$338,092
|
$70,179
|
$408,271
|
|
Calhoun,James A
|
$322,138
|
$77,951
|
$400,089
|
|
Teitelbaum,Jeremy
|
$330,063
|
$63,507
|
$393,570
|
|
Birge,Robert R
|
$333,165
|
$59,246
|
$392,411
|
|
Dailey,Christine A
|
$340,128
|
$51,068
|
$391,197
|
|
Ross,William T
|
$326,229
|
$62,790
|
$389,019
|
|
Suib,Steven L
|
$318,216
|
$64,971
|
$383,187
|
To continue the list, click on http://transparency.ct.gov/html/searchpayroll.asp
and go to Advanced Search .
Next go to AGENCY and scroll down to University
of Connecticut.
Click it on. Next go SEARCH and then to the column
headed TOTAL and click it on twice.
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DRAMA AT THE
STATE CAPITOL
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|
GOP BUDGET PASSES SENATE AS THREE DEMOCRAT SENATORS VOTE WITH
REPUBLICANS
Reporter Rich Scinto -
PATCH.COM - Sept 15, 2017
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