April 28, 2011
The following explains why The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations today issued a letter, which follows, to Governor Malloy asking
him to cancel the April 29, 2011 Bond Commission Vote, to place a moratorium on
future bonding, and 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 concludes that if the unions fail
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 in our becoming the highest taxed state in the nation.
************
Today, it was announced that The
In CT, the Governor has presented a budget which is flawed
in that it is burdened with excessive taxes while it excludes any concessions
agreed to with the unions. The
Federation today submitted the following letter to Governor Malloy asking him
to give the unions a 48 hour notice to return to the bargaining table, to allow
the public access to those negotiations, and should the unions fail to
cooperate, that the Governor work toward ending collective bargaining in our
State.
The Federation commends
Also, due to the State’s excessive bonded debt, we have
asked the Governor to cancel the April 29, 2011 bond commission hearing and to impose a moratorium on bonding.
Our Letter to Governor Malloy follows…..
*************************
April 28, 2011
To Governor Malloy
State of
State Capitol,
Telephone: (860)
566-4840
(800) 406-1527, Fax: (860) 524-7395
From Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of
Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
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!
*******************
First, Governor
Malloy we ask you that cancel the Bond Commission hearing scheduled for April 29, 2011 .Further, that you
place a one year moratorium on bonding, or at minimum, place a hold on bonding
until the State has a credible budget.
Second, the state budget submitted by you is significantly
flawed in that in fails to contain any concessions from the unions, thereby
leaving the spending side of the budget in limbo. The excessive tax increases you have imposed
on your constituents could escalate even higher without those concessions.
As State employees appear unwilling to cooperate, those in
the private sector are continuing to be impacted as the State Labor Department
recently reported another
6,000 jobs lost bringing unemployment in
The silence from the Hill in
We commend Democrat Sen. Edward Meyer for his stand in
rejecting your tax proposal. By his remarks
as noted below, Senator Meyer demonstrates his insight into the problems which
besiege our State which are clearly on the spending side of state and local
budgets. Those spending issues are
driven by collective bargaining. The
unions have been given ample time to submit their concessions. You must separate yourself from the unions
to which you are aligned and cross over to the side of the taxpayers and
businesses which will be significantly impacted by the tax increases approved
to include the gasoline tax as we now pay the fourth-highest gasoline tax in
the nation at 45.2 cents per gallon.
Recently, it was reported by the press that
Ø
Hundreds of state employees who accepted a
retirement-incentive package in 2009 remain on the state's payroll. At
least 38 rehired retirees are collecting six-figure pensions in addition to a
paycheck http://articles.courant.com/2011-04-24/news/hc-retire-rehire-0424-20110424_1_highest-paid-retiree-retirement-package-state-retirees
Ø
In 2010, 380 State Retirees received pensions from $100,000
to $263,048; 1467 retirees received pensions from $75,000 to $100,000; and nearly
6,000 retirees received pensions from $50,000 to $75,000, in addition to their
healthcare benefits.
Ø
911 State employees who are collecting salaries from $62,000
TO $202,000 are union
stewards allowed to conduct business on state time.
Ø
In October of 2010,
Ø
The average state employee's annual compensation, including
salary and benefits, is $105,498, compared with $74,174 for the average worker
in the private sector, according to a December report produced by the state
Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes, a task force formed under the former
administration to streamline state government.
Ø
About 14,000 state employees make no contributions to their
pension plans, according to the benefits commission. Another 18,315 make a 2
percent contribution.
Ø
Ø The state is required to make payments exceeding $5.4 billion a year to compensate state employees and retirees, a figure that represents about 25 percent of the state's general fund budget.
Ø
Overtime can be lucrative for some state employees as a
Supervisory Nurse with a
Base Pay at $103,239 and Overtime at $231,190 receives a Total
Pay of $334,429.
Again, we appreciate the efforts of Sen. Edward Meyer who by
his comments below understands the problems of our State.
Senator Meyer’s comments as reported by the press…..
“Over the past 20 years, state spending has
increased by 280 percent at the same time that inflation has risen by only
about 90 percent.
"This budget history now requires our
focus on responsible spending before we entertain an historical package of tax
increases, particularly when we see that those tax increases are not sunsetted.''
"If we vote today for this historical
package of new taxes,'' Meyer told his colleagues early Thursday afternoon
before the committee vote, "we and our constituents will be continuing
mistakenly to support, for example, longevity bonuses, payment out of the
public pensions at age 50, lifetime health insurance for our public employees
and their spouses when they have only eight or 10 years of state service'' and
what he described as "boondoggle programs such as Riverview children's
hospital.''
Our state debt is at $72 billion, driven by state retiree
benefits.
We hope Governor Malloy that you understand that it is the
unions who will ultimately bankrupt our State unless you do what other
Governors have done to protect their constituents.
Thank you for considering our requests.