From: The Federation of
Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
BREAKING NEWS…..
TAX TALK FEBRUARY 18, 2010
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Pew Study
Finds States Face $2.73 Trillion Bill for Retiree Benefits Washington, D.C. - 12/18/2007 - View the Full Report and the individual state and national fact sheets.
States have promised at least $2.73 trillion in pension, health care and other
retirement benefits for public employees over the next three decades, according
to a report released today by The Pew Charitable Trusts’ Center on the States.
Promises with a Price, the first 50-state analysis of its kind, finds that
states have saved enough to cover about 85 percent of their long-term pension costs,
but only 3 percent of the funds needed for promised retiree health care and
other non-pension benefits. All told, states already have set aside about $2
trillion to meet their long-term obligations. But they still need to come up
with about $731 billion—a conservative figure that does not include all costs
for teachers and local government employees.
Continued at …. http://www.pewtrusts.org/news_room_detail.aspx?id=32368
FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF CT STATE RETIREE AND TEACHER PENSIONS: Email
fctopresident@aol.com
CT Ranks 5th Worst In National Pension Report; Only 62
Percent Funded; Some Pensions Over $180,000 Per Year By
Christopher Keating,
February 18, 2010, Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant
Concerned about the state's growing problems, Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced on the opening day of the legislative
session that she is creating the "Post-Employment Benefits Commission''
that will make recommendations on short-term and long-term solutions for the
pension system that is underfunded by $9.3 billion.
In addition, the state is on the hook for future health insurance and other
retiree benefits of $24.6 billion. Continued at .,. http://blogs.courant.com/capitol_watch/
ALSO VISIT THE FOLLOWING
WEBSITE…. Pension Tsunami
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RELL REELS IN BONDING
State government is expected to spend
approximately $1.3 billion out of an $18.64 billion total budget this fiscal
year to hire private, nonprofit agencies to provide the majority of
state-funded social services. Refer to Article Below
Captioned Cutting it all, from beach sand to opera
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Today’s Tax Talk also
includes:
Ø U.S.
National Debt Clock
Ø Third-Party Candidate Could Win Presidency
Ø No dip in earmarks despite White House push for transparency
Ø State’s Bonded Hit
List includes these targeted projects
Ø Connecticut to participate in early high school graduation
pilot
Ø On March 1 Public
Invited to hear Yankee Institute's Fergus Cullen
Ø Hartford Courant
Praises Yankee Institute Sunlight Project www.ctsunlight.org,
Ø Obama signed bill lifting the cap
on the amount of money the U.S.
can borrow by $1.9 trillion — to a total of $14.3 trillion.
Ø Census workers collected checks for excessive travel and
training, wasting millions
Ø Institute of Justice Secures Victory in Arizona School
Choice Case
Ø SHOW ME THE
SPENDING
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No dip in earmarks despite White House push for transparency, Walter Alarkon – The Hill,
02/17/10, Transparency requirements
pushed for by the Obama administration have not
changed the total spending on earmarks for 2010, according to a study by a
group critical of the practice. The amount of money directed by lawmakers in 2010 to specific
projects back in their districts adds up to $15.9 billion, according to the analysis by Taxpayers for Common
Sense. Continued at … http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/81771-no-dip-in-earmarks-despite-white-house-push-for-transparency
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By Keith
M. Phaneuf - Connecticut News Project,
Inc. - Feb 17, 2010
The Hit List targeted projects
Excerpt from article - The
reason for developing this fiscal hit list, the administration says, is driven
by the numbers. The governor's budget office estimates that total bonding -
including projects that have received funding and those only given preliminary
approval - would surpass state government's allowable limit next fiscal year by
$242 million. That limit, set by law, reduces the state's capacity to borrow as
tax revenues shrink. And both Rell's budget staff and the legislature's nonpartisan
Office of Fiscal Analysis have downgraded their expectations for tax receipts in 2010-11 by more than $340
million. Read the full article at the following web link: http://www.ctmirror.org/story/cutting-it-all-beach-sand-opera
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Connecticut to participate in early high school graduation
pilot
By Robert
A. Frahm, Feb 17, 2010 Connecticut is among eight
states that will pilot test a rigorous examination that could dramatically
alter the notion of traditional high school education and allow students to
graduate after their sophomore year, officials announced today. Continued at …. http://www.ctmirror.org/story/connecticut-participate-early-high-school-graduation-pilot
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A Message from Concerned Taxpayers of East
Granby, Inc. (CTEG)
http://www.egtaxpayers.org/
Yankee
Institute's Fergus Cullen to speak at CTEG Anniversary Meeting, March 1st, 7 PM, East Granby Senior/Community Center
Mr. Cullen will discuss Connecticut's economy,
state budget and taxes and the Institute’s CT Sunlight Project, which puts
large portions of the state's check register online, including Payroll,
Pensions, and Checks to Businesses and People, and may be accessed here. The event is Free and attendance by both
members and the general public is encouraged. For more information, call
860-658-0268 or
email info@egtaxpayers.org.
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The following is an excellent
editorial by the Harford Courant on the Yankee Institute Sunlight Project: Website Makes
State Salaries Public Knowledge http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-state-salries-database.art.artfeb18,0,5723733.story
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Obama signed bill
lifting cap on the amount of money the U.S. can borrow
by $1.9 trillion — to a total of $14.3 trillion. The ceiling was lifted from
$12.4 trillion to keep the U.S.
from going into default. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/02/14/news/a10--obama_138577.txt
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Audit: Census workers collected checks for excessive travel
and training, wasting millions HOPE YEN ,Associated Press Writer, Feb 16, 2010 ….
http://www.courant.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-census-spending-waste,0,1283588.story
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Institute of Justice Secures Victory
in Arizona School Choice Case
By Tim Keller Feb 10, 2010
Arguing a case in front of a state supreme
court is a thrilling moment for a constitutional lawyer. It can be
just as thrilling, however, to secure a supreme court
victory without ever having to step foot in the courtroom. IJ secured
just such a victory on October 27, 2009, when the Arizona
Supreme Court declined to review the March 2009 decision in Green v. Garriott upholding Arizona’s
Corporate Tuition Tax Credit Program. The Supreme Court’s decision puts an end
to a three-year-old legal challenge to a program that funds scholarships for
low- and middle-income children who transfer from public to private
schools. he nearly 3,000 parents who rely on the
scholarship program to send their children to private schools can now breathe a
sigh of relief and be fully assured that their tax-credit-funded scholarships
are constitutional. Continued at the
following web link…
http://ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3073&Itemid=165
For
More News from the Institute of Justice Click here.
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SHOW ME THE SPENDING
http://sunshinereview.org/index.php/Portal:Show_Me_The_Spending
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