Osten said the raises reflect the valuable work state employees provide daily, and particularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The state and unions have the option of continuing the same level of raises for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, or they can negotiate different compensation levels. Greenwich resident Red Jahncke is president of The Townsend Group International, a business consultancy in Connecticut, and a freelance columnist published in national and Connecticut newspapers. DAgostino said he believes arbitrators would have awarded unions annual cost-of-living raises of 3% or 3.5% given the state governments enhanced ability to pay. Thats because state governments coffers are flush with cash as never before. While we wait to see the thousands of individual and committee bills that while dominate the myriad policy debates this year, Yankee Institute is hard at work promoting free-market solutions to the problems we face from Stamford to Putnam and Mystic to Salisbury. The managers who will receive the raises include division heads at state agencies, as well as commissioners and. Ned Lamont contracted with the Boston Consulting Group for a report of how to increase state government efficiency. Last March, in a report that received relatively little media coverage, Boston Consulting Group documented that 27 percent of the state workforce is eligible to retire before June 30, 2022, and. The coalition, which represents most state employee unions excluding the state police, added that, It is a critical step in resolving the current staffing crisis that is the consequence of decades of disinvestment and austerity., Lamont spokeswoman Lora Rae Anderson said, Were happy the House has passed the SEBAC agreement, and we are hopeful the Senate will do the same.. Beginning after the July 1, 2022 cut off, the State has relinquished their obligation to adjust pension payments at least 2% (current minimum) for inflation. CONNECTICUT State officials announced the tentative state employee union bargaining agreement, which calls for multiple years of raises and bonus payments. The managers who will receive the raises include division heads at state agencies, as well as commissioners and deputy commissioners. In addition, full-time workers would receive a $2,500 bonus in mid-May and another $1,000 bonus in mid-July. There are nine classifications for custodians, 12 for assistant attorneys general, and a whopping 221 for program directors. Corporate Support: Advertising & Sponsorship, saves the state about $150 million over the next decade. The study also found that Connecticut state employees are compensated 33 percent more than a similar private sector employee when pension, healthcare and other fringe benefits are taken into account. Your pension is subject to an annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). This proposed contract is a raw deal for the working people of this state, said Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, who noted state workers, on average, would receive more than $10,000 in total added compensation over four years. "Today is Tax Day People want to know where their tax dollars are going, said Kim Healy, a GOP Wilton selectman running for the Connecticut House of Representatives. Ideal timing for the announcement would be between Christmas and the New Year. (His mother, Shelley, a lawyer and professor of public health at Yale, is a founding board member of the nonprofit Connecticut News Project Inc., operator of CTMirror.org.). Opinion: Gov. As we go into a time period where we expect a significant number of retirements, we want to make sure that we can attract and retain top talent across all of our agencies whether in management or non-management positions, McCaw said. Union members have engaged in an all-out campaign of organizing and mobilizing to make our pay a priority for state leaders. Its nothing more than a handout.. Let us be clear. You cannot be supportive of state workers and the services they provide without being supportive of the necessary funding to ensure that these positions are properly staffed, SEBAC wrote in a statement after the vote. The proposed contract is generous. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are Were losing some of our best and brightest as they seek other parts of the country where its easier to make a living. So, it is a safe bet that Lamont will sign a juicy new wage contract with SEBAC. A proposal to give every full-time employee a $10,000 raise next year is causing some division among leaders in the town of Ellettsville. Negotiators will meet again to determine raises after the time period. I dont believe, fundamentally, that this agreement is fair at all.. Michelle Lee. Ned Lamont believes it will keep critical state workers on the job. 1 Killed, Child Critically Injured In Major Highway Crash: CT News, Meteorologist Leaves TV News To Take Over Family Business: CT News, 3 Soldiers Killed After 2 U.S. Army Helicopters Crash In Alaska. The package was previously approved by the House. Hartford lawyer Daniel Livingston, chief negotiator for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, or SEBAC, estimated that going with one-time bonuses and a smaller 2.5% annual cost-of-living raise saves the state about $150 million over the next decade. DAS says the process was cheaper, nearly paperless, and attracted a diverse pool of applicants with a third more women and minorities and a 105-percent increase in veterans. 0:04. As we noted in a report andCT Mirrorop-ed last year, the debate over whether were in a national recession really misses the point for Connecticut residents. (Sorry for the caps, wont let me shift), Hope McKiernan The [nonprofit] industry pegs the inflationary loss its taking on these payments at $460 million per year, according to the CT Mirror. All Rights Reserved. Based on the statutes governing Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for CTRB members, the Connecticut Teachers' Retirement Board will be granting COLA as follows. The deal works out to about $40,000 in raises per state employee over four years, Fazio said, which works out to about $1,300 per Connecticut household. In a bill drafted . Those employed on July 15, 2022 would get a $1,000 bonus if the agreement is approved. It could be because it is not supported, or that JavaScript is intentionally disabled. My hypothesis coming in was that there are going to be more similarities to how we solve some of the challenges we have than differences, private to public, Geballe said. . BCG documented that the sclerotic state bureaucracy takes an average of 33 weeks to hire a new employee. Marc was a 2014 Robert Novak Journalism Fellow and his work has appeared in The Federalist, American Thinker, The Skeptical Inquirer, World Net Daily and Real Clear Policy. To be prepared to comply with this change, all employers should do the following prior to June 1: . Why? The agreements, which unions ratified earlier this spring, are retroactive to the start of this fiscal year, which began last July 1. "I'm very concerned this is unsustainable, opponent Kevin Maloney told lawmakers at a public hearing Monday. Thirty percent intend to leave the state upon retirement. This proposed contract is a raw deal for the working people of this state, said Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, who noted state workers, on average, would receive more than $10,000 in total added compensation over four years. Now shes asking for help herself, One musician remembers what it was like to tour the world with singer and activist Harry Belafonte, Connecticut COVID data: Your town's infection rate, hospitalizations & vaccinations, Tracking health threats, one sewage sample at a time, COVID during pregnancy may alter brain development in boys. And Lamont reported this week that the current fiscal years budget is projected to close on June 30 with an unprecedented $3.95 billion surplus, equal to nearly 20% of entire General Fund. Lamont joined others to announce the deployment FEMAs new COVID-19 mobile vaccination unit, which is set up and running this week in the zoos parking lot. The state is also hoping the increases will also attract more people to state-level management positions. Thats when more stringent limits on state retirement benefits, negotiated as part of a 2017 concessions deal with unions, take effect. functions now spread across agencies, just as Raymond recently struck a five-year deal with Microsoft that replaces a dozen separate agency agreements. Nothing stands in the way of the ever-increasing generosity of state employee compensation. Administrations come and go, taking with them their priorities. Union leaders say the workforce is ready, if wary. The minimum 2 percent COLA also means that during years in which inflation was low, they still got a boost over the inflation rate. Some Republicans have said the hefty bonuses are only an election-year stunt from Lamont, a Democrat, to shore up his standing with his labor base. The new raises are intended to give greater confidence to these managers that they will have consistent treatment with the union employees. The virtually inevitable pay hikes and favorable benefit modifications will then be classified as hardship pay to reward for employees for their phantom frontline service.. Lamont, who said that in June 2020 when asked about the pay raise to take effect just days later on July 1. Currently, the only way to advance in most agencies is for someone to retire, leaving a specific job open. In an effort to mitigate the potential loss of thousands of state employees, Gov. With the benefit of five and a half months, Im increasingly confident that is true.. listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the states workforce. On top of that, most workers would "step" into a higher pay grade, adding an extra 2% to most raises. DARRELL HACKETT That's an incentive to keep people working after that retirement date.". The. Weve seen clerical workers go from a high of almost 9,000 to 4,000.. Ned Lamont believes it will keep critical state workers on the job. Bonuses are prorated for part-time employees. Connecticut State Department of Administrative Services CT.gov Home Department of Administrative Services Human Resources Business Rules and Regulations Compensation Salary Increase Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Salary Increase Non-Represented Employees Expense Reimbursement/Meal Allowance Pay Differential Longevity Recruitment Pay The Democrat-controlled House voted 96-52 to approve the contracts, after a four-hour debate during which Republicans insisted the compensation far outstrips what private-sector workers are receiving, or what taxpayers can afford. If inflation were 1% Then the absolute COLA would be low, but the burden on the state budget and taxpayers would be growing, because inflation under 2% leads to a real pension burden increase. The House, where Democrats also hold a majority, approved the package 96-52 on Thursday. 0:36. Connecticut Property Taxes In Every Town: Who Pays The Most? The year over year increases drive up the amount paid out by Connecticut's severely underfunded State Employee Retirement System. Gov. Critics say the deal is too generous and could lead to future tax hikes. December 30, 2021 @ What tax reform proposals will there be? The Office of Fiscal Analysis estimates the package will cost the state $1.87 billion over four years. That includes Gov. He is one of the mid-career, private-sector executives to join the administration of Gov. Because the state is facing a massive retirement wave, which, if mishandled, could cripple state government. Government bureaucracies are notoriously resistant to change, layered with the accretion of rules, processes, union contracts, all contributing to a workplace culture. People know not to bring paper in here, said Josh Geballe, a former IBM executive and tech entrepreneur. By the latest estimates of the comptroller's office, 14,764 state employees a quarter of the workforce will be eligible to retire on July 1, 2022, when a concession deal negotiated in . Critics say the deal is too generous and could lead to future tax hikes. The $2,000 payment will only be available to employees who were hired or appointed before June 30, 2018. Dannel P. Malloy takes effect. Its also done with the best financial interests of the state at heart.. Not the fact that Connecticut has had a big contraction in its workforce during the pandemic of about 6 percent and a top 10 unemployment rate, currently exceeding 7 percent, versus a national average nearing 5 percent. CT Gov. As a 2K views, 27 likes, 7 loves, 18 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Dbstvstlucia: DBS MORNING SHOW & OBITUARIES 25TH APRIL 2023 APRIL 2023 No. About 1,700 management-level state employees will receive pay raises, an effort by Gov. Outside his 15th-floor office in a downtown Hartford complex is a big empty space once occupied by file cabinets. Gov. Glidden is now engaged with the administration on the possibility of some state government professionals teleworking. Its members include scientists, engineers and information technology professionals. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the state's workforce. The Malloy administration hired a customer-service expert to improve service at the much-maligned Department of Motor Vehicles, and Lamont won passage of legislation reducing the need for residents to go to the DMV: Drivers licenses now are good for eight years, not six; and renewals of vehicle registrations come every three years, not two. If youre going to get a bonus, youve got to stick around with us for a while, said Rep. Jay Case, R-Winsted. Theres no way to take on the legacy of mass incarceration other than to undo it, one step at a time. For the average pensioner, receiving $39,887 per year, the COLA increase would amount to an annual increase of $1,435.92. State and union officials are expected to meet again in the fourth year to negotiate wages. Connecticuts pension COLAs, however, are set for a change one year from now prompting concerns over a potential surge in state employee retirements. The BCG study was supposed to facilitate a third approach. The bonuses, the GOP argued, are hardly the key to retaining workers, as Lamont has claimed. CT Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. We have three years to plan for that, Geballe said. Register to attend in-person | Register to attend virtually. By the latest estimates of the comptrollers office, 14,764 state employees a quarter of the workforce will be eligible to retire on July 1, 2022, when a concession deal negotiated in 2017 by the administration of Gov. They also cover the next two fiscal years and potentially 2024-25 as well. Negotiators will meet again to determine raises after the time period. 1 Killed, Child Critically Injured In Major Highway Crash: CT News, Meteorologist Leaves TV News To Take Over Family Business: CT News, 3 Soldiers Killed After 2 U.S. Army Helicopters Crash In Alaska. Connecticut holds $3.1 billion in its rainy day fund, equal to 15% of annual operating costs the maximum allowed by law. Keith has spent most of his 31 years as a reporter specializing in state government finances, analyzing such topics as income tax equity, waste in government and the complex funding systems behind Connecticuts transportation and social services networks. The raises will cost the state $13.3 million and the bonuses $2 million. SEBAC employees who are employed before March 31, 2022 would also get a $2,500 bonus. EVENT: Mark Pazniokas will sit down with Gov. Republicans also said they appreciate the hard work of state employees, particularly during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, but the issue isnt as simple as some believe. She noted that West Virginia recently granted state employees a 5% raise, while Arizona bumped pay for its correction officers by 20% and for workers in many other departments by 10%. state of ct employee step increase 2022; state of ct employee step increase 2022. State government not only enjoys a $3.1 billion rainy day fund, equal to 15% of annual operating costs the maximum allowed by law but the current fiscal year is on pace to close an unprecedented $4 billion in the black. Since 1997, the State has used a formula to calculate the minimum cost of living adjustment. The only Tier II members who are required to make retirement contributions are: Individuals serving in hazardous duty positions; and Individuals who elected to pay an additional contribution to maintain the current normal retirement age. The state usually experiences 2,000 to 2,500 annual state employee retirements, according to the CT Mirror. Each of the 3.6 million residents in Connecticut rely on the critical public services state workers provide whether you are standing in line at the DMV, attending a technical school, community college or state university, getting treatment at UConn Health, driving on our roads and bridges, enjoying a state park or beach, or any of the other ubiquitous public services you will be uplifted by these fair and honorable contracts, the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition wrote in a statement after the Senate vote. A wave of state employee retirements is expected in the coming months, resulting in an "unprecedented" loss of knowledge and skills, some officials say. The new deal will bring Microsoft 365 software to all state agencies. His predecessor, Robert J. Rinker, co-chaired a labor-management committee that addressed some of the same issues now under review. The alternatives are suboptimal. building a betterand more civilConnecticut to live, work, and play. He could outsource functions, but the state already pays outside providers an enormous amount about $1.4 billion annually to nonprofits. Required fields are marked *. The contracts allow workers to accept the $2,500 extra payment and still retire before July 1. Despite Lamonts claims to the contrary, it is highly likely that he will award state employees significant future wage increases as well as a generous modification of cost-of-living adjustments to their pensions after their retirement. 4.28.23 We are LIVE with our 11 am/CT. The Office of the State Comptroller reports that state government found a way to spend $47.11 billion in 2022 and, if trends continue, we can expect that number to grow even more going forward. "Often they work in dorms where there are one or two officers to keep peace among 100 of more inmates, said Sean Howard, a corrections officer at Cheshire Correctional Institution. The Senate gave final approval Friday to a four-year package of raises for state employees that includes $3,500 in bonuses to help stem a surge in worker retirements. We felt one of the most efficient ways and equitable ways to make a dent in this challenge was to go back and provide those same increases to the managers that had already been given to our union employees.. Connecticut has more per capita debt than most other states, and those long-term obligations are expected to put considerable pressure on state finances for decades to come. While annual retirements usually range from 2,000 to 2,500 per calendar year, more than 3,400 state employees have either retired or filed their written intentions to do so between January and March 31, 2022, alone. Manager salaries have not kept up with union salaries so in a lot of cases you have mangers that are earning less than the employees reporting into them, said Melissa McCaw, the states budget director. Some of the features on CT.gov will not function properly with out javascript enabled. The bonuses, the GOP argued, are hardly the key to retaining workers, as the governor and other Democrats claim. Each year includes a 2.5% general wage increase, as well as a step hike for all but the most senior workers. Each year includes a 2.5% general wage increase, as well as a step hike for all but the most senior workers. Retired state employees receive a cost-of-living adjustment every year in either January or July depending on the employees retirement date based on the CPI-W for the previous 12 months. Connecticut is facing pressure from the private sector, municipalities and other states for its workers, Osten said, adding that the pandemic has made many state jobs less attractive. Ned Lamont speaks at a news conference at Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo, in Bridgeport, Conn. March 29, 2021. Connecticut lawmakers this year will consider a bill from a veteran legislator to raise the $28,000 salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than 20 years. The Senate gave final approval Friday to a four-year package of raises for state employees that includes $3,500 in bonuses to help stem a surge in worker retirements. The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition represents 35 different bargaining units and more than 40,000 state employees. 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Some Republicans have said the hefty bonuses are only an election-year stunt from Lamont, a Democrat, to shore up his standing with his labor base. Marc can be reached at, Connecticut saw a 1,600 decrease in nonfarm industry positions in December, while November private sector gains (3,300) were revised down [], Eviction cases in Hartford and Bridgeport have remained far below historical averages since the Supreme Court overturned the federal eviction []. CONNECTICUT The state Senate gave final approval to the raise and bonus package for state employees. Ned Lamont says are essential to help stem a surge in state employee retirements, are expected to be ratified Friday by the Senate, where Democrats also hold a majority. Thats because state governments coffers are flush with cash as never before. Get CT Mirror emails in your inbox daily. Attracting people to fill managerial roles will become even more important as the state prepares for a coming wave of employees retiring next year. The best long-run thing for the state pension system is to have inflation just at or above 2%. This final increase may pose concerns for small businesses and non-profit organizations operating in the state. To that end, we have produced a new edition of our Charter for Change. In the prison system, there are separate classifications for supervisors of correctional industries, auto mechanics, data entry, printing, clothing, and general industries. One lump sum payment retroactive to 2021 with full-time employees receiving $2,500 and part-time employees receiving a prorated amount $1,000 lump sum payment effective fiscal 2023 and prorated for part-time employees And that total is expected to grow considerably between now and July 1. The budget is expected to be a record high for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which will start July 1. Part-timers would be eligible for prorated bonuses. But Gov. There is ample evidence that this is a fair contract, a reasonable contract, an affordable contract, she said of Connecticuts wage hikes. Going forward, these employees will be entitled to receive wage and benefit provisions that their union counterparts will receive, per language the governors office included in the 837-page budget implementer bill passed this legislative session, McCaw said. They are our people, who we count on each day to make us safe, she said. It will slow cost-of-living adjustments for all new retirees and raise health costs for a few, primarily high earners. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ad6f3785a83847b97c7976185623d348" );document.getElementById("h4d5fc382f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); 216 Main StreetHartford, CT 06106[emailprotected], 2021 Yankee Institute for Public Policy. See Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer and commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, said state agency heads have found it difficult to promote top performers in their departments because the employees would either have to take a pay cut or worry they wont be afforded the same prospective increases as those in bargaining units. In 2015, Connecticut paid $1.7 billion to 49,111 retirees, according to the Comptrollers Open Pension website. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Workers and Clerical Workers known as the CPI-W increased 6 percent between July of 2020 and July of 2021, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the price of nearly everything increasing substantially in recent months. The Florida House and Senate are working on a budget whose bottom line for state workers is a $224 million pay raise - that's about $44 a week, ($2,300 annually) for the 97,000 employees in the . State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. "I think we're in great shape. Are more state employees retiring than usual? The House of Representatives approved a four-year package of raises Thursday that includes $3,500 in bonuses later this spring and summer for about 46,000 unionized state employees. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are Ned Lamont's administration and already ratified by the 35 . Gov. Besides, all three of these difficult and only marginally helpful alternatives share one huge liability: The SEBAC unions will fight them tooth and nail, because all three reduce the number of unionized state employees paying dues to the union. That marked a 9 percent increase from the previous year, which was the largest yearover-year change since at least 2014-2015, according to a CT Insider analysis of data from the . How will schools be implementing to curriculum requirements? In exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, the bill would cap overall 2024 spending to 2022 levels -- about a $130 billion cut -- and limit growth in spending to 1% annually over the next decade. The non-unionized managers will receive a one-time bonus of $2,000 and 7.5% in wage increases, including a 3.5% cost-of-living increase and up to 4% annual increments. This means they will apply to all Connecticut employees whose date of retirement is on or later than August 1, 2022.1 The 2022 Changes fall into three different categories: Gusty winds add new twist to brush fires in CT, officials say, What's next for the nuclear waste that's been in CT for 50 years, Building emissions are a key climate change contributor in CT, After decades in unmarked grave, CT homicide victim put to rest. With only 41 weeks remaining to replace retiring employees, the Lamont administration is fast approaching a severe manpower crisis. By 2020, the state paid $2.2 billion to 55,348 retirees. 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