November 15 -
17, 2008 - Budget Suggestions Include Proposed Revisions to BINDING ARBITRATION
STATUTES
Implement an early
retirement program.
Stop accruals for
employees on paid administrative leave unless they return to work in good
standing.
Go back to 35-hour
work weeks.
Close state offices
on Fridays – similar to what some towns have done – and ask employees if
they want to voluntarily reduce their schedules.
Explore potential
give-backs from state employees in terms of benefits and perks. They
should be part of the solution and help prevent their own job losses.
Cut payroll:
increase health insurance premiums paid by state employees; outsource
services to non-unionized businesses; limit travel with state vehicles;
cut services to those who make a living by getting support from the
government; and extend sales taxes to organizations that currently do not
pay them.
Encourage state
agencies to better utilize the state’s central printing services versus
having them purchase services outside of CT.
Eliminate overlap of
duties between state agencies – combine functions when possible.
Cut the state fleet
by 60% - a tremendous amount of abuse and waste by state employees when it
comes to the use of state vehicles.
Evaluate the need to
buy single-family housing for the STAR program – the cost of the property,
expenses for caretaking and busing, etc. are very high.
Address the illegal
alien situation in our state and in our municipalities.
Cut budgets for fire
and police services – sell their expensive vehicles.
Cut salaries for all
state workers by 20%.
Cut property taxes
by 50%.
Change the
constitution to require a balanced budget.
Reduce the size of
state government.
Enforce laws
intended to protect the rights of handicapped citizens such as illegal use
of parking spots for the handicapped.
Do away with the
personal property tax and charge a flat rate based on the vehicle type –
keeping the value the same over the lifetime of the car.
Increase state
employee medical visit co-pays from $10 to $20 and increase prescription
co-pays from $6 to $10.
Furlough state
employees (3-5) days and employees at all levels should be included.
Reconsider any
memorials – now is not the time, no matter the cause.
Increase taxes on
cigarettes and alcohol.
Charge motorists for
the use of CT roads.
Eliminate the
Governor’s Horse Guard.
Eliminate any
unnecessary signage, flags and other exterior markings informing the
public of the availability of state services, unless absolutely necessary.
Utilize prisoners,
in any way possible, for providing infrastructure improvements, cleaning
services, etc.
Collect delinquent
taxes.
Stop giving prisoners college-level training while families are
struggling to provide for their children’s education.
Install solar power
equipment on the roofs of all state-owned buildings.
Convert some state
holidays – Lincoln’s
birthday, Columbus Day, etc. – to personal leave days. This step
would help to reduce overtime expenditures charged by staff working these
holidays.
Close state offices
the day after Thanksgiving and around Christmas.
Offer state
employees the option of 2 weeks unpaid vacation in 2009.
Increase all state
fees – DMV, licenses – small increases can amount to significant revenues.
Write more speeding
tickets and enforce the collection of fines.
Negotiate special
rates with the power companies for powering state facilities.
Reduce the budget of
the Department of Children and Families by 30% and put all children on one
health plan.
Stop transporting
children across the state to go to home district schools.
Cut out visitations
for parents on weekends.
Stop serving
McDonalds to the children every time a social or case worker picks up a
child for a visit.
Increase the hours state employees work from 35 to 40-per week –
allowing positions to be eliminated (for every 8 employees one position
could be eliminated.)
Put a moratorium on
all grants of all kinds to municipalities for a year.
Reduce the personal
property tax across the board by 20% and raise the sales tax by 3%.
Have tips included
on the price of the food so that the server is paid the wage owed and
taxed correctly on the tip.
Make public
transportation more user-friendly and reduce traffic on the interstates.
Reinstate a higher
tax rate (15%) on capital gains, interest and dividends.
Stop the
pensions: all new hires should start paying into Social Security
like everyone else.
Put tolls on the
major highways – 95, 91, 84, 395, 2, and 8.
Have state employees
accept reduced wages or face layoffs – their wages are near the highest in
the country.
Demand that all
agencies reduce overtime expenses.
End binding
arbitration and end the overly generous compensation and benefits received
by state employees.
Have all state and
local government employees give back 5% of their salary if their income is
over $60,000.
Make it mandatory
for all welfare and aid recipients to be drug tested.
Have welfare recipients work for their benefits or do volunteer
work.
Audit Section 8
housing to see who is getting housing with tax dollars.
Eliminate chief of
staff positions at the agencies and in the Governor’s office.
Do not take away the
unclaimed deposits from bottlers – doing so imposes a hidden tax on
consumers and will result in people losing their jobs.
Reduce the state
workforce through early retirements or layoffs. The state system
would be better off with more employees at the lower end of the pay scale.
Re-establish the
toll booths.
Move forward on a
comprehensive, affordable health care plan for everyone.
Stop wasteful
spending such as expensive contractors and excessive salaries.
Adjust the school
week from 5 days to a longer 4-day week. It would save on
transportation, utilities, weather-related costs, food, support staff,
etc.
Look to eliminate
wasteful programs at DCF.
Eliminate sanctuary
cities.
Have boat
registrations occur less frequently – currently renewed every year.
Reduce employee
wages and benefits and stop spending on social programs to the level the
state currently does.
Lower the heat in state
office buildings during working hours.
Do not extend or
expand hours for the sale of liquor.
Allow Sunday hunting
from 12 p.m. to sunset and require hunters to purchase a special tag just
for hunting on Sundays.
Provide state
employees with the option of taking time off without pay.
Distribute pays
checks and other paper-based documentation in an electronic format to save
on paper and postage.
Eliminate Charter
Oak – there are people that can work but choose not to that have enrolled
in this program.
Save electricity by
having every other street light turn off periodically throughout the
night.
Re-examine all state
contracts with private sector vendors – some are renewed every year, some
have been in place for a decade without going out for bid.
Turn off all air
conditioners in state buildings by October 1st and implement a
four-day work week.
Turn off computers
and other electrical devices at the end of the workday.
Implement a
mandatory retirement age of 70.
Reduce benefits for
state employees – these packages have become a huge tax burden.
Impose higher co-pays, higher employee contributions, higher
premiums and raise the retirement age to 65.
Review all state and
municipal jobs as part of a restructuring effort – just like any private
company that is faced with difficult times.
Examine what
services might need to be cut.
Consider
layoffs. You cannot tax people any more to close the gaps – you need
to close the gaps like a private company would that answers to
shareholders.
Cut state employee
hours to 37.5 hours per week.
Observations:
property tax killers – unfunded mandates, special education, binding
arbitration; jobs/business killers – over 50% of a small business owner’s
profit goes to paying federal income taxes, state income taxes, FICA,
business entity taxes, property taxes, utilities – plus, your personal
income gets taxed; college costs are obscene with no controls in place for
schools; cut the budget and reduce taxes.
Have retirees pay
for their own insurance if they retire early.
Eliminate ESL
programs – should be English only in schools.
Stop creating
unfunded mandates and eliminate binding arbitration.
Shift state
employees to a 4-day work week and save on heat, water and electricity.
Lower taxes to
attract businesses and increase employment.
Have state agencies
take advantage of “rewards” programs offered by chains such as Staples
when purchasing goods. In addition, state employees could collect or
“pool” rewards received from a chain such as Big Y and use them to assist
state education programs or a head start-types of
programs.