From: The
Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep,
President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Just one month from adopting the next state budget,
legislators have learned the $19 billion spending plan they got from Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has a $70 million hole in it, according to
a new report from nonpartisan analysts.
USA Today | by Dustin Racioppi | March 21,
2014 A 2013
In Illinois, which has the
lowest credit rating in the U.S. and was most recently downgraded for failing
to properly fulfill pension obligations, its $187 billion pension liability
represents 318% of its revenues despite a range of overhauls, according to
Moody's. Connecticut's $57 billion liability is at 243%, and Kentucky's $41 billion liability is 211%
relative to revenues, according to the service.
Some of my best friends, to coin a phrase, are
lifetime government employees. When they stop working, their pensions will put
them among the highest-earning retirees in the country. On a personal level,
I’m glad my friends’ retirement will be so comfortable. But as a taxpayer, I
know that their good fortune, multiplied by hundreds of thousands of government
workers like them, will only worsen a swelling political and fiscal crisis.
Around the
country governments are facing a tidal wave of pension obligations that they
haven’t figured out how to pay for. By some estimates, the states’ long-term
unfunded pension liabilities add up to more than $4 trillion.
There is no way to meet such a staggering financial burden without sacrificing
more and more of the basic services — public safety, education, roads, and
infrastructure — that governments are formed to provide. Already some cities —
from Vallejo, Calif., to Detroit to Central Falls, R.I. — have been driven into
bankruptcy by the unaffordable retirement benefits they have promised
public-sector workers. And there has been talk in Congress of crafting a bankruptcy option for
states, a proposal that no longer seems as outlandish as it once did.
Everywhere,
the writing is on the wall. In San Jose, reported The Washington Post recently,
“the roads are pocked with potholes, the libraries are closed three days a
week, and a slew of city recreation centers have been handed over to nonprofit
groups.” Taxes have been raised, public services cut, and the number of city
employees drastically reduced. Yet annual retirement payouts for public-sector
workers continue to climb, thanks to lavish pensions that enrich municipal
retirees with as much as 90 percent of their former salaries — and court
decisions barring pension benefits for public-sector employees from being
rolled back.Continue reading at ….. http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/03/22/public-pensions-are-eating-taxpayers-alive/TcWFHYnvzCZMe4nUEZdD3J/story.html
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In 2013, the State of Connecticut Paid 48,115 Retirees Pensions
Totaling $1,535,268,324.The following
is a sampling.
When at
the Website, Click Search, Then Click on Total Pension Payments - Twice This will allow
you to see the highest to the lowest pensions being paid.
Legislation that seeks to find a way to allow the
state to pay down some of the money businesses owe to the unemployment
compensation fund also was approved by the committee.
The committee
raised the bill after House Minority Leader LawrenceCafero
used a parliamentary procedure to get around Democratic opposition. The bill
would eliminate the additional monies businesses have been paying since the
fund went bankrupt, and the state had to borrow nearly $1 billion from the
federal government to shore up the unemployment insurance fund. The bill passed
the committee 7-3 with bipartisan support.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration is looking at how it can
pay down principal, rather than just interest, on the 2009 loan without
penalties. Until now, the unemployment program has been funded entirely by
taxes on businesses, but the amount businesses have to pay is expected to
continue to rise as a result of the nearly $1 billion borrowed in 2009. Right
now, the state owes about $595 million.
Statewide,
businesses paid an additional $30 million in unemployment taxes in 2012, an
additional $60 million in 2013, and they’ll pay an additional $90 million this
year. The amount will continue going up until 2016 when it’s scheduled to be
paid off. Read the entire article at http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/archives/entry/legislative_deadlines_fast_approaching/#more