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Home
Some state pensions in dire straits

 

March 24, 2014

 

From:  The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact:  Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032

 

BREAKING

 

Analysts: Malloy’s budget for Connecticut never was balanced

 

 

By: KEITH M. PHANEUF | March 24, 2014  CTMirror.org

 

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.

Continue reading at ….. http://ctmirror.org/analysts-malloys-budget-for-connecticut-never-was-balanced/

 

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Some state pensions in dire straits

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.

Read complete article at …… http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/21/public-pensions-in-perilous-straits/6684383/

 

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Public pensions are eating taxpayers alive

By Jeff Jacoby   | Globe Columnist   March 23, 2014

 

Boston Globe ‎- by Jeff Jacoby ‎- 2 hours ago

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. 

More can be found at - Pensions  

 

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.

 

 

 

Calendar Year

Name

Total Amount    $$$

2013

Veiga, John F

283,273.38

2013

Blechner, Jack N

278,341.62

2013

Henken, Eleanor C

246,899.82

2013

Blanchette, Edward A

232,324.74

2013

Hartley, Harry J

216,943.62

2013

Judd, Richard L

213,543.66

2013

Sigman, Eugene

210,482.82

2013

Dibenedetto, Anthony T

209,701.86

2013

Raye, John R

205,612.26

2013

Cutler, Leslie S

203,275.92

2013

Menichetti, Lynne

196,094.76

2013

Moses, Emily

195,466.83

2013

Anderson, Gregory J

190,423.32

2013

Surapaneni, Bujji B

187,487.52

2013

Renzulli, Joseph S

186,560.70

2013

Carter, David G

178,228.08

2013

Kochanek, Richard F

175,128.90

2013

Goyal, Rama

174,412.62

2013

Herzog, Marc S

174,352.50

2013

Chouhan, Md S

171,690.54

2013

Johnston, Kevin P

171,052.32

2013

Panoor, Leela A

168,288.42

2013

Detora, Bruce A

166,779.37

2013

Macgill, Hugh C

164,720.34

2013

Brown, Richard D

164,076.18

2013

Anderson, John F

162,298.80

2013

Anderson, Theresa A

160,896.50

2013

Hinz, Carl

159,155.58

2013

Belke-morrill, Barbara A

158,842.44

2013

Hudd, Robert S

157,506.40

2013

Stone, A S

156,951.60

2013

Wolfson, Nicholas

156,298.50

2013

Wiggins, Carol A

156,246.00

2013

Mcevily, Arthur

155,912.04

2013

Williams, Dianne E

155,351.22

2013

Sheckley, Barry G

154,561.28

2013

Yanouzas, John N

154,123.38

2013

Taylor, Ronald L

153,870.42

2013

Stenberg, Betty

153,524.56

2013

Jain, Subhash C

153,100.00

2013

Weiss, Robert A

152,954.64

2013

Aronson, Lorraine M

152,938.08

2013

Carlson, Bruce W

152,823.66

2013

Rothfield, Naomi

151,586.70

2013

Scanlon, Patricia

149,938.14

2013

Czarnecki, Joseph J

148,502.28

2013

Demarco, Joseph

148,113.48

2013

Kollar, Edward J

147,068.16

2013

Babcock, Patricia

147,034.50

2013

Iwanicki, Edward F

146,865.54

 

 

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Legislative Deadlines Fast Approaching

by Christine Stuart | Mar 24, 2014 5:30am
Posted to: State Budget | Taxes | State Capitol

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 Lawrence Cafero 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

 

 

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