Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

We commend Senate Democrats Joan V. Hartley of Waterbury, Edward Meyer of Guilford and Gayle Slossberg of Milford� in opposing the budget as did the 15 fiscally conservative Democrats led by State Rep. Linda Schofield of Simsbury and Representatives Mary Fritz of Wallingford, Claire Janowski of Vernon, Ed Jutila of Niantic, Frank Nicastro of Bristol, Kim Fawcett of Fairfield and Steve Mikutel of Griswold.� We also commend the State Republicans for their efforts in proposing a fiscally responsible budget.��

http://ctmirror.com/story/12442/senate-poised-approve-malloys-first-budget

http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/2011/05/house-of-representatives-debat.html

List of 2011 State Pensions

Upon Review 411 Retirees Receive Pensions From $100,000 to $266,295; 2,592 receive $75,000 to $100,000; and 6,181 receive $50,000 to $75,000

http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\20112.xls

Mayor says Danbury pensions are 'unsustainable'�� Dirk Perrefort, Staff Writer� May 3, 2011 DANBURY -- Within the next eight years, the city would have to contribute at least $16 million annually to its pension funds -- an amount Mayor Mark Boughton said is not sustainable. While the city is in negotiations with its six bargaining units, Boughton said he's made no secret about the need for change.

"We are really concerned about the long-term financing of our pension system," he said. In the coming year, the amount the city must pay to keep the pension plan solvent will jump from some $5.3 million to $7.7 million. Read complete article at
http://www.newstimes.com/default/article/Mayor-says-Danbury-pensions-are-unsustainable-1363140.php

As the Mayor of Danbury declares that Danbury pensions are unsustainable, the Federation is calling upon the governor to empanel a Blue Ribbon Commission to assess the ability of the State and towns to continue to sustain public sector pensions.� We look for solutions to� lessen the burden on state and municipal taxpayers,� such as eliminating overtime from being factored into pensions. �

The Federation believes the State Budget as approved is flawed as we had noted within our April 28, 2011 Letter to Governor Malloy which can be accessed at http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\LtrtoMalloy.htm.�

In our letter, we asked the Governor to cancel the April 29, 2011 Bond Commission Vote, to place a moratorium on future bonding, to give state employee unions a 48 hour notice to return to the bargaining table and to allow the public access to those negotiations.� Our letter concluded that if the unions failed to cooperate with Governor Malloy that he begin the process to end Collective Bargaining which has put unions in control of our state and town budgets resulting Connecticut's State and Local Tax Burden being the Third-Highest in the Nation according to the Tax Foundation.� http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/445.html .� The introduction to our Letter to Governor Malloy read �.

�

Please Cancel the April 29, 2011 Bond Commission Hearing,

Put a One Year Moratorium on Bonding, and

Walk Away from the Unions, and Assume Control of our State!

Begin by removing the negotiations table from behind the

closed doors of secrecy and placing it in the light of public debate.

If unions refuse, work to end Collective Bargaining!

Read our Letter at http://www.ctact.org\upload\home\LtrtoMalloy.htm.

Senate Passes Budget 19-17 by Christine Stuart, CTNewsJunkie.com, May 3, 2011 3:12am, There wasn�t much Senate Republicans could do in order to change the destiny of the two year, $40.11 billion budget adopted by the Senate Tuesday morning. But they tried offering 18 amendments, 17 of which were defeated along party lines and one which was ruled out of order. �.. The budget passed by the Senate Tuesday morning also doesn�t include the $2 billion Malloy plans on getting in labor union concessions. Language requiring the General Assembly to return if the Malloy isn�t successful in those negotiations was debated at length Monday and Tuesday by Senators. Continued at �. http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/senate_passes_budget_19-17/#more

Faulty Public Pension Accounting: A Problem too Big to Ignore by Ivan Osorio on April 28, 2011� One reason the ongoing� debate over collective bargaining for government employees has been so loud is that the stakes are so high � for unionized government employees on one side and for taxpayers on the other. Read more at �.� http://www.openmarket.org/2011/04/28/faulty-public-pension-accounting-a-problem-too-big-to-ignore/

Robert Reich | The Oil Company Gusher� Robert Reich, Robert Reich's Blog: "Exxon-Mobil's first quarter earnings of $10.7 billion are up 69 percent from last year. That's the most profit the company has earned since the third quarter of 2008 - perhaps not coincidentally, around the time when gas prices last reached the lofty $4 a gallon. This gusher is an embarrassment for an industry seeking to keep its $4 billion annual tax subsidy from the US government, at a time when we're cutting social programs to reduce the budget deficit. It's especially embarrassing when Americans are paying through their noses at the pump." http://robertreich.org/post/5021907727

Lawmaker Attempts to Hide From Angry Taxpayers Resorts to a drastic measure so he won't be recognized in public.� Apr 27, 2011� A Connecticut legislator has taken a drastic measure to avoid people on the street complaining to him about increased taxes. By LeAnne Gendreau� How much are legislators feeling the pressure of voting on a budget that raises taxes during an economic crisis? Rep. Zeke Zalaski, a Democrat from Southington, has taken the legislative plates off his car because of complaints he gets about taxes when he fills up with gas, he told NBC Connecticut Wednesday.� Read complete article at �� http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Lawmaker-Attempts-to-Hide-From-Angry-Taxpayers-120807769.html

Powell: Political patronage gets immigration law waived...

Check out Page 1 to 8 How Washington F@#$%! the budget Since 2001, lawmakers time and again have cut taxes or increased spending without finding ways to pay for their decisions. Both parties share the blame. Read at� http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/news/economy/1104/gallery.budget_spending/index.html

As economic downturn lingers, help runs out for the unemployedBy Jacqueline Rabe http://ctmirror.org/story/12437/economic-downturn-lingers-help-runs-out-unemployed

Banks Play Shell Game with Taxpayer Dollars April 26, 2011�� A study requested by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) found numerous instances during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 when banks took near zero-interest funds from the Federal Reserve and then loaned money back to the federal government on sweetheart terms for the banks.The banks pocketed interest on government securities that paid rates up to 12 times greater than the Fed's rock bottom interest charges, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis conducted for Sanders. http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=bf584e1c-ff74-4ded-9049-eb4aef4bdf92

Public Pensions, Once Off Limits, Face Budget Cuts Michael Cooper and Mary Williams Walsh, When an arbitrator ruled this month that Detroit could reduce the pensions being earned by its police sergeants and lieutenants, it put the struggling city at the forefront of a growing national debate over whether the pensions of current public workers can or should be reduced. Conventional wisdom and the laws and constitutions of many states have long held that the pensions being earned by current government workers are untouchable. But as the fiscal crisis has lingered, officials in strapped states from California to Illinois have begun to take a second look, to see whether there might be loopholes allowing them to cut the pension benefits of current employees. Now the move in Detroit - made possible, lawyers said, because Michigan's constitutional protections are weaker - could spur other places to try to follow suit." http://www.theledger.com/article/20110426/ZNYT02/104263010/1005/news02?Title=Public-Pensions-Once-Off-Limits-Face-Budget-Cuts

Unions in Familiar Fight With New FoeA5 ��Wall St. Journal Massachusetts Democrats lead effort to curb health-benefits negotiations. April 30, 2011, Wall St Journal By KRIS MAHER and AMY MERRICK �Unions are facing off against an unlikely foe over a now-familiar issue, as Democrats in Massachusetts move to limit municipal workers' power to negotiate their health benefits. The effort is the latest by lawmakers in a budget jam to roll back public-union rights. In a state where Democrats control the House and the Senate as well as the governor's office, it shows how the pressures of skyrocketing health care costs on state and local budgets are undermining labor's political clout even in traditional union strongholds.� Complete article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703567404576293360097309874.html

A State Manager Takes Over and Cuts What a City Can�t� BENTON HARBOR, Mich. � Every first and third Monday of the month for as long as anyone can remember, this city�s elected commissioners have gathered in their musty second-floor chambers to contend with issues large and small � reports of gaping potholes, proposals to sell city land, an annual budget plan. But as of this month, they are literally powerless, and hold no authority to make any decisions. Not even on potholes. The city is now run by Joseph L. Harris, an accountant and auditor from miles away, one of a small cadre of �emergency managers� dispatched like firefighters by the state to put out financial blazes in Michigan�s most troubled cities. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/us/27michigan.html

State Pensions and Retiree Health Benefits: The Trillion Dollar Gap $1 trillion. That�s the gap at the end of fiscal year 2008 between the $2.35 trillion states had set aside to pay for employees� retirement benefits and the $3.35 trillion price tag of those promises. Why does it matter? Because every dollar spent to reduce the unfunded retirement liability cannot be used for education, public safety and other needs. Ultimately, taxpayers could face higher taxes or cuts in essential public services. http://www.pewcenteronthestates.org/report_detail.aspx?id=56695

U.S. Corporations Pay $100 Billion in Taxes on Foreign Profits http://taxfoundation.org/news/show/27238.html

California - Bill to dissolve city of Vernon is approved by state assembly 89.3 KPCC� April 29, 2011 For over 100 years, the tiny city of Vernon, tucked away in a pocket below the 10 freeway, has served as a small, business-friendly enclave�.But in recent years, the criminal indictments of three of the city�s top officials have brought to light decades of corruption, insider dealings and lavish spending by Vernon�s ruling class. Now, in an unprecedented move, California�s state Assembly has overwhelmingly approved a bill to dissolve the city charter�. http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2011/04/29/vernon-disincorporation/

Are States' Pensions the Next Crisis?�� APRIL 28, 2011� Just as America is finally showing signs of digging out of the financial meltdown and the Great Recession of 2008, there are already warning bells being sounded for the next possible scare: government pension programs. Earlier this week, the Pew Center on the States issued the results of its �fiscal stress test� of the 50 state pension programs, and the results are troubling to say the least.� All told, the Pew center estimates that government pension funds and health care programs are underfunded by more than $1.2 trillion today, a clear sign that something must be done now to avoid a great deal of misery down the road.� Full report at �. http://pensionpulse.blogspot.com/2011/04/are-states-pensions-next-crisis.html

Democrats joining GOP on anonymous donor bandwagon By Michael Regan Apr 29, 2011 11:00am� After seeing Democratic candidates battered in 2010 by Republican groups that raised money from anonymous donors, supporters of President Barack Obama are forming similar organizations in preparation for his 2012 re-election bid, Jeanne Cummings reports at Politico. The move reflects a reversal of Obama's past rejection of outside money and criticism of anonymous donations made legal last year by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, Cummings says. http://www.ctmirror.org/blogs/editors-choice

State of Connecticut Report - Commissions on Enhancing Agency Outcomes�� http://www.cga.ct.gov/gae/CEAO/docs/2010/CEAO%20Final%20Report%20Tuesday%20Jan%203.pdf

California Prison Academy: Better Than a Harvard Degree� Prison guards can retire at the age of 55 and earn 85% of their final year's salary for the rest of their lives. They also continue to receive medical benefits.�� By ALLYSIA FINLEY� Wall St Journal� May 1, 2011� As a California prison guard, you can make six figures in overtime and bonuses alone. While Harvard-educated lawyers and consultants often have to work long hours with little recompense besides Chinese take-out, prison guards receive time-and-a-half whenever they work more than 40 hours a week. One sergeant with a base salary of $81,683 collected $114,334 in overtime and $8,648 in bonuses last year, and he's not even the highest paid.� Read complete article by Ms. Finley assistant editor of OpinionJournal.com. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704132204576285471510530398.html

Governments repeating old mistakes with pensions� 5/2/2011 2:11:50 PM by Christine Erickson� ��despite all attention to underfunded pensions, some state and local governments continue to opt to skip or short their pension payments in order to balance their budgets. When digging through places to cut, pension payments seem like they would have little immediate effect since the make-up payments are spread out over many years. However, failure to make the full payment over multiple years results in contribution levels that grow exponentially. �.According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, for fiscal year 2009, states only contributed 83% of the amount recommended by their own actuaries. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2009, the unfunded liability of these plans grew by just over $200 billion, a 46% increase, to where states now have combined unfunded liabilities of $660 billion. In the mean time, the funding level for these plans dropped from a combined 84% in 2008 to 78% in 2009. As of the time of writing, 16 states had 2010 data available and the average funding level of these states fell further to 75%. These are the states own admitted funding ratios using average discount rates of 8%. Many economists and renowned investment gurus, including Warren Buffett, believe these rates are way too aggressive. A FEN-consulted actuary believes that the true funding ratios are half (39% for 2009 declining to 37.5% in 2010) of those presented when a more conservative treasury discount rate is used. http://www.thefreeenterprisenation.org/blog/FEN-Blog/May-2011/Governments-repeating-old-mistakes-with-pensions.aspx

The State Pension Time Bomb Poor accounting rules and flagrant irresponsibility have sped up the states� day of reckoning. Veronique de Rugy from the April 2011 issue http://reason.com/archives/2011/03/08/the-state-pension-time-bomb

82,981 of 132,502 Illinois Teachers Pay Nothing or Little into Their Pensions - Illinois teachers qualify for a full 75 percent pension after working only 27 years. April 05, 2011 http://www.championnews.net/article.php?sid=3277

ORIGIN OF THE UNIFORM STATEWIDE PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT RATIO http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/rpt/2011-R-0064.htm