Marc has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Western Connecticut State University. Social Security has announced that they will be granting a cost of living increase of 8.7% for 2023. 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. Osten said the raises reflect the valuable work state employees provide daily, and particularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Republicans countered Friday that the raises and bonuses far outstrip what households in the private sector are receiving. Since 1997, the State has used a formula to calculate the minimum cost of living adjustment. Why? This proposed contract is a raw deal for the working people of this state, Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) said. House Approves $1.9B State Employee Raises, Bonuses Deal Its nothing more than a handout.. In 2015, Connecticut paid $1.7 billion to 49,111 retirees, according to the Comptrollers Open Pension website. In 2015, Connecticut paid $1.7 billion to 49,111 retirees, according to the Comptroller's Open Pension website. Your email address will not be published. Good question Hope I cant find the answer either. November 3, 2021 @ 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. This deal was billed as a retention effort, said Rep. Laura Devlin, R- Fairfield, who is campaigning for lieutenant governor as the running mate of GOP gubernatorial contender Bob Stefanowski of Madison. But Osten said the agreements are essential to maintain a state workforce that is at its smallest size since the 1950s, an argument Lamont has made as well. Thats when more stringent limits on state retirement benefits, negotiated as part of a 2017 concessions deal with unions, take effect. State Employee Benefits and Resources - ct Gov. They also cover the next two fiscal years and potentially 2024-25 as well. He has been the state finances reporter at CT Mirror since it launched in 2010. Best Sales Performance Management Software Company December 30, 2021 @ Required fields are marked *. 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. Critics also balk at the cost. Though the list of reforms may be exhausting to review, it is far from exhaustive! State employee unions offered concessions in 2009, 2011 and 2017. 2023 January COLA Increase Approved - portal.ct.gov Were not attracting innovation and industry. Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees Union members have engaged in an all-out campaign of organizing and mobilizing to make our pay a priority for state leaders. Part-timers would be eligible for prorated bonuses. Critics say the deal is too generous and could lead to future tax hikes. The managers who will receive the raises include division heads at state agencies, as well as commissioners and. 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. Lamont called DAS one of the jobs where we wanted to think a little more out of the box., Like Lamont, Geballe is a graduate of the School of Management at Yale. In the prison system, there are separate classifications for supervisors of correctional industries, auto mechanics, data entry, printing, clothing, and general industries. CONNECTICUT State officials announced the tentative state employee union bargaining agreement, which calls for multiple years of raises and bonus payments. Raising minimum salary levels between 10% to 25% will give many frontline HHSC employees a reprieve from dire financial straits caused by the Texas Legislature's failure to provide across-the-board pay raises to state . Employees would also get a $2,500 bonus if they are employed as of March 31, 2022, and a $1,000 if they are employed July 1, 2022. CT Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. State unions ratify contracts granting raises and $3,500 bonuses Each year includes a 2.5% general wage increase, as well as a step hike for all but the most senior workers. The one thing we know about Ned Lamont or any Democrat, for that matter is that he will not fight the unions. McCaw said some of the prior management positions that are now unionized include the assistant attorney general, state police captains and lieutenants, supervisors with the Department of Children and Families, parole managers and deputy wardens. October 25, 2021 @ Prior to joining CT Mirror Keith was State Capitol bureau chief for The Journal Inquirer of Manchester, a reporter for the Day of New London, and a former contributing writer to The New York Times. Its members include scientists, engineers and information technology professionals. Thats a big risk, but its also an amazing opportunity to reinvent how we do things, to bring in technology to automate a lot of the manual processes that can be more efficiently done by software today.. It will slow cost-of-living adjustments for all new retirees and raise health costs for a few, primarily high earners. 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. That helps focus peoples minds and increase their willingness to change and to take risks. 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%. Management-level CT state employees to get 7.5 percent raises 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 The formula used took 60% of the increase in the Consumer Price Index ( CPI-W) up to 6% and . Marc E. Fitch is the author of several books and novels including Shmexperts: How Power Politics and Ideology are Disguised as Science and Paranormal Nation: Why America Needs Ghosts, UFOs and Bigfoot. The new deal will bring Microsoft 365 software to all state agencies. Florida lawmakers start hammering out budget details After leaving IBM, he became chief executive officer of Core Informatics, a software startup that Hartford Business Journal included in its 2017 list of best places to work in Connecticut. The year over year increases drive up the amount paid out by Connecticut's severely underfunded State Employee Retirement System. By 2020, the state paid $2.2 billion to 55,348 retirees. The Office of Fiscal Analysis estimates the package will cost the state $1.87 billion over four years. Senate approves raises, bonuses for Conn. state workers - WTNH.com The long session, as non-election years are called in Hartford, will be centered around the biennial budget. 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 . As a 0:36. We were trying to get people not to retire well, thats not what this agreement does, said Sen. Craig Miner of Litchfield, ranking GOP senator on the Appropriations Committee. Hazard or pandemic pay wasnt part of the negotiations, but will be resolved as part of another agreement, Lamont said. Connecticut state employees on track for $353 million raise as other Fazio said that it reflects the pull unions have on state government and that taxpayers will end up footing the bill. Josh Geballe, the commissioner of administrative services. 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. Ned Lamont believes it will keep critical state workers on the job. Glidden said the Malloy administration made overtures about a labor-management review of state government in concession talks in 2011 and again in 2017. CT Gov. Connecticut State Employees Retirement System Tier II/IIa Workshop Theres no way to take on the legacy of mass incarceration other than to undo it, one step at a time. Jessica Hill / Associated Press More than 40,000 unionized state employees would receive $3,500 each in special bonuses by mid-July under tentative contract agreements reached this week with. "I come out of the private sector. state of ct employee step increase 2022 - greeninginc.com Ned Lamont previously touted the agreement as a way to retain state employees amid a wave of potential retirements. Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. He could outsource functions, but the state already pays outside providers an enormous amount about $1.4 billion annually to nonprofits. GOP minority says taxpayers got a raw deal, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). The announcement Thursday from the governors office of the 7.5% raises comes as union workers ramp up their fight for wage increases in their new contracts, which they are currently negotiating with the state. 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. 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. Critics say the deal is too generous and could lead to future tax hikes. Privacy Policy. We share the concern about whats going to happen in 2022, said Dave Glidden, the executive director of CSEA SEIU Local 2001, which represents 5,000 state employees. But the journey to get from here to there, and the ordering of initiatives, is very complex to think about.. 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. This final increase may pose concerns for small businesses and non-profit organizations operating in the state. The board has voted to approve the following cost of living increase for January 2023. Does not automatically renew. Memo - 2022 Retirement Changes for CT State Employees [your comment section will not enable me to type this in lower case] stop with the money illusion. Concerns over energy prices, inflation, and general cost of living continue to dominate the headlines and the threat of a recession hovers over economic forecasts. Pay raise for 46,000 state workers clears key hurdle - News 12 Networks "But this is also a unique situation where state employees did extraordinary work during a paradigm-altering pandemic, inflation has concurrently increased, and the state workforce could potentially undergo significant changes due to retirements and uncompetitive wages.". Thirty percent intend to leave the state upon retirement. Its, Well, thats the way weve always done it. . The legislature's Appropriations Committee endorsed significant raises and $3,500 in bonuses Monday for about 46,000 unionized state employees. 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: Some of the features on CT.gov will not function properly with out javascript enabled. Watch Live at 7:00 PM: The U.S. and the Holocaust, a film by Ken Burns | Screening & Panel Discussion . The changes will only affect those who retire after July of 2022, but according to the OLR report, historically such changes have resulted in a larger number of employees retiring before the cut-off date. Connecticut State Employees Retirement System Tier I Benefit Calculation Connecticuts pension COLAs, however, are set for a change one year from now prompting concerns over a potential surge in state employee retirements. Senate gives final approval to raises, bonuses for CT state employees There will be no guaranteed minimum for those who retire after July 1, 2022, and their first potential COLA would come in 30 months, not 12. Likely, the governors spinmeisters will follow the lead of union leaders in referring to all state employees as frontline workers, although many agencies were closed to the public during most of the pandemic. His predecessor, Robert J. Rinker, co-chaired a labor-management committee that addressed some of the same issues now under review. But that surge followed a nearly decade-long stretch in which state tax receipts from the same source badly underperformed. And that total is expected to grow considerably between now and July 1. Attracting people to fill managerial roles will become even more important as the state prepares for a coming wave of employees retiring next year. Ned Lamont and president of state's network of community colleges square off in showdown over state funding. The minimum 2 percent COLA also means that during years in which inflation was low, they still got a boost over the inflation rate. Because the state is facing a massive retirement wave, which, if mishandled, could cripple state government. The bonuses, the GOP argued, are hardly the key to retaining workers, as the governor and other Democrats claim. Changes to state employee retirement benefits will go into effect in July of 2022 2023 The Conneticut News Project. 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. But overall, as agency heads told Geballe as he made the rounds in January and February, the states hiring process still is cumbersome, with rarely updated job classifications that are numerous, narrowly drawn and can require their own tests. 13 Weeks . Driven by a surge in state employee retirements, Connecticut's spending on pension payments ballooned to a recordhigh $2.5 billion in 2022, state data shows. There are nine classifications for custodians, 12 for assistant attorneys general, and a whopping 221 for program directors. 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 A third of the state workforce is going to retire in the next three years, Geballe said. Negotiators will meet again to determine raises after the time period. Geballe said the new administrations job is to support, broaden and accelerate those changes. Those who challenge government actions for the right reasons could be forever barred from political office unjustly by this law. 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. Outside his 15th-floor office in a downtown Hartford complex is a big empty space once occupied by file cabinets. Creative Commons. 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. 10:27 pm, When will REtirees see the 6% in pensions im tier 2, TO vinny, you get The first increase 9 months after you retire, 60% of CPI W. As a State of Connecticut employee you may be entitled to a host of benefits that are not only attractive, but also may be portable should your career . 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. Geballe is no stranger to bureaucracies and the opportunities, challenges and necessities of wrenching change: He spent 11 years at IBM, which employs 350,000 people worldwide and preaches that the world is in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution, a convergence of new technologies powered by cloud computing. The agreement would cost the state nearly $1.9 billion over four fiscal years, according to nonpartisan fiscal analysts. Fazio cited a study by the American Enterprise Institute, which found that Connecticut state employees on average are paid 5.6 percent less in salary than a private sector employee with similar qualifications. Lawmaker Proposes Pay Raises | CT News Junkie The nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis estimates the contract will cost the state $1.87 billion over three years. 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. 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. Were working really hard to digitize everything we do.. "I'm very concerned this is unsustainable, opponent Kevin Maloney told lawmakers at a public hearing Monday. Inevitably, it will be highly unpopular, so the announcement will be buried as deeply as possible and spun like a top by Lamonts spokespeople. Lamont could rehire retired workers as independent contractors, but then he would be paying those fees as well as funding retirement benefits. See stories by Keith M. Phaneuf / CTMirror.org, Love Wins at WCSU benefit concert for saxophonists daughter lost at Sandy Hook, Week in CT News: Se'Cret Pierce killing, what's in our water, Zero interest loans are back for some home buyers in Connecticut, Erica Lafferty has been fighting since Sandy Hook. According to the Office of Legislative Research in their analysis of a potential retirement wave, COLAs for new retirees will match the CPI-W during years it is 2 percent or less. Ellettsville considering $10,000 raise for every full-time employee Lamont, who said that in June 2020 when asked about the pay raise to take effect just days later on July 1. Part-timers would be eligible for prorated bonuses. 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. The states robust, short-term fiscal position is a sugar high that will pass when the federal stimulus money goes away, ODea said. "I've got to recruit and keep them in order to keep our government going, he said. Access all Premium Content and the E-Edition for 1 day. Were hemorrhaging workers right now, DAgostino said. Watching is one of those who spoke against it, Sen. Craig Miner. More than 46,000 Connecticut state employees could soon get a significant raise -- and bonuses - thanks to a new union contract that won approval in a key legislative committee Monday. The Connecticut State Legislature will begin its 2023 session on January 4thand will adjourn on June 7th. Connecticut Property Taxes In Every Town: Who Pays The Most?
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