ACTION ALERT
Call,
write, email or walk into your State Representatives’ office and tell them:
·
To Freeze
Wages for State and Local Government Employees,
·
Reject the
Contract for the Department of Corrections Employees with wage increases up to
6.5%, which will cost Connecticut
taxpayers $86 million,
·
Reform State Binding Arbitration Laws thereby giving
municipal leaders the tools they need to manage their budgets. Remind them, that approximately 85% of local
property taxes pay for Town and Board of Education personnel costs.
FIND YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES BY DISTRICT
http://www.cga.ct.gov/maps/Townlist.asp
**************
Senate and House Leadership
House Democrats
Christopher Donovan: Speaker of the House
Legislative Office Building,
Room 4106
Hartford, CT
06106-1591
(860) 240-8500, 1-800-842-1902
Christopher.Donovan@cga.ct.gov
Denise Merrill: Majority Leader
Legislative Office Building,
Room 2704
Hartford, CT
06106-1591
(860) 240-0394
1-800-842-8267
Denise.Merrill@cga.ct.gov
House Republicans
Larry F. Cafero:
Minority Leader
Legislative Office Building,
Room 4200
Hartford, CT
06106-1591
(860) 240-8700
1-800-842-1423
lawrence.cafero@housegop.ct.gov
Senate Democrats
Donald E. Williams, Jr., President Pro Tempore
Legislative Office Building,
Room 3300
Hartford, CT
06106-1591
(860) 240-8600,
1-800-842-1420
Williams@senatedems.ct.gov
Martin Looney, Majority Leader
Legislative Office Building,
Room 3300
Hartford, CT
06106-1591
(860) 240-8600,
1-800-842-1420
Looney@senatedems.ct.gov
Senate Republicans
John McKinney, Minority Leader
Legislative Office Building,
Hartford, CT 06106-1591
(860) 240-8805,
1-800-842-1421
John.McKinney@cga.ct.gov
VISIT THE WEBSITE OF SENATE REPUBLICANS
AND WATCH OUR DEFICIT GROW
http://www.senaterepublicans.ct.gov/
A Message from The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations:
Our country and state are in crisis. Americans are losing their jobs, homes and
savings. Few, if any, public employees
are standing in the unemployment line with the millions who have lost their
jobs in the private sector. Nationally, 2 million private sector jobs were
lost for the year, half a million in November, 2008, and 700,000 in December,
2008, representing the largest monthly losses in 34 years. Connecticut
is expected to lose another 40,000 to 80,000 jobs within the next year or two. The
Governor has announced a growing deficit of $343 million for this fiscal year, to be followed by $6
billion for the two years beginning July 1, 2009.
While Connecticut at-will
employees aren’t looking for wage increases but simply trying to keep their
jobs, some government employees will be receiving wage increases as high as 6%
due to a recent arbitration award which will cost Connecticut taxpayers over $80 million. This
arbitration award can impact all future state and municipal contracts. Taxpayers
of Connecticut
cannot afford these wage increases which are paid for through our taxes. Unless the State Legislature acts on this
arbitration award within the next 20 days, it will go into effect. The following are letters the Federation has
directed to Governor Rell. Our January
6, 2009 letter suggests …. IT’S TIME TO REVOLUTIONIZE CONNECTICUT’S
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, TO CAP LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES, AND TO REFORM STATE
BINDING ARBITRATION LAWS. FCTO’s January 7, 2008 letter asks the Governor to PLEASE TAKE THE LEAD TO REJECT THE RECENT
ARBITRATION AWARD FOR STATE EMPLOYEES
Subsequent
to our January 7, 2008 letter, headlines today read … Rell Says Connecticut Can't Afford Prison Guards' Pay Raises.
Governor
Rell has also repeatedly asked the State Legislature pass
legislation to Cap Local Property Taxes.
We commend
Governor Rell for her efforts on our behalf.
We must now work to convince the State Legislature to do what is right
by the taxpayers of Connecticut.
Please read
the two letters by FCTO which are provided below, and contact your state
representatives today. Ask your State
Representatives to
·
Bring the recent $86 million arbitration award before the
Legislature for a vote
·
To reject the award
·
To Reform
State Binding Arbitration
Laws.
**********************
Rell Says Connecticut Can't Afford Prison Guards' Pay Raises,
Hartford Courant, Christopher Keating
Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell called Thursday
for the Democrat-controlled legislature to overturn an arbitration award for unionized prison guards that she says is unaffordable. Continued at … http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-arbitration0109.artjan09,0,2043438.story
**********************
Recent Letters
written to Governor Rell by the Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
January 7, 2009
To: Governor Jodi Rell
State of Connecticut
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
210 Capitol
Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Email: Governor.Rell@po.state.ct.us,
Governor.Rell@ct.gov
(860) 566-4840
From: The Federation
of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website:
http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@ctact.org
(860) 841-8032
Dear
Governor Rell:
PLEASE TAKE THE LEAD TO REJECT
THE RECENT ARBITRATION AWARD
FOR STATE EMPLOYEES
In December, 2008, President-elect Obama
warned that the worst is still to come for the economy as he reflected on 2
million jobs lost for the year. Half a
million of those jobs were lost in November, 2008, representing the largest
monthly loss in 34 years.
State Labor Economist John Tirinzonie
predicts that Connecticut
will lose between 40,000 and 80,000 jobs over the next year or two.
Today, in your annual address, you painted a bleak picture
for Connecticut,
with a focus on an estimated state deficit of $343 million for this fiscal
year, to be followed by $6 billion for the two years beginning July 1,
2009.
To your credit, today you emphasized to the state
legislature that
Government
must shrink because taxpayers are seeing their budgets shrink. As families struggle to pay their monthly
bills, so will we. As they cut back on expenses and
forgo new purchases, so must we.
Governor Rell, you continue to assume the difficult task of
attempting to bring our state in line with the deteriorating economic climate
of today.
As such, The
Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations turns to you to take the lead in calling upon the State
Legislature to vote to reject the recent arbitration award for 5,200 state
employees working for the Department of Corrections. This three year contract provides for first
year raises up to 5.5% for the majority of state employees affected.
More
importantly, it sets precedent for state employee contracts currently being
negotiated, to be negotiated, or which are in arbitration. It will also impact employee contracts on a
municipal level. The cost of this
settlement could also affect the allocation of state money to
municipalities.
This
contract should not be allowed to go into effect without a vote by the state
legislature within 30 days of the arbitration award. The vote of every legislator deserves scrutiny by the taxpayers
they represent.
In previous
requests to you, The Federation of Connecticut
Taxpayer Organizations has asked that you encourage the State legislature to
reform state binding arbitration laws.
We continue to make this plea, as the 169 towns dedicate approximately
85% of their local budgets to employee salaries and benefits. These costs are passed on to the taxpayers of
the 169 towns. If taxpayers cannot
afford to pay their taxes, they will lose their homes to tax lien sales.
Binding
Arbitration reform should include a three year wage freeze for municipal and
state employees.
Further,
wages should be frozen for all state and local administrators, to include
Superintendents of schools. They should
be asked to forego any wage increases which have been awarded within the past
six months.
Your constitutes working in the private sector are not looking
for wage increases. Instead, they are
living on the edge fearful that they could become part of Connecticut’s growing unemployment line
where they lose their jobs and health benefits. An unemployment line, in which few, if any,
state or municipal employees are standing.
Your retired
constituents, living on fixed incomes, are becoming desperate as they witness
their assets deteriorate in value.
We are in a
crisis in this country and in our state.
State and municipal employees should be thankful for the jobs and health
benefits they have. They should not be
looking for more. Certainly, they should
not be asking their friends and neighbors, who are losing their jobs in the
private sector, to give them more.
The 30 day
time frame in which the contract can be voted on is a window in time which should
not be allowed to expire. Every taxpayer
in this State – every voter in this state – deserves to hear from their State
legislator on this contract. They
deserve to know what their legislators are willing to do on the issue of
Binding Arbitration which will affect state and local budgets now and in the
future.
In summary,
with approximately 85% of municipal budgets paying for government sector
employees, it is not difficult to do the math to ultimately find a
solution. The only solution is to do what
is right by your constituents. Call upon
the State legislature to reject the aforementioned contract, call for a freeze
on wage increases for all local and state employees, and reform binding
arbitration laws which today are having a deleterious effect on homeowners,
businesses, and in general, the economic climate of our State.
Thank you
for your consideration of our request.
We await your response.
*****************************
January 6, 2009
To:
Governor Jodi Rell
State of Connecticut
Office of the Governor
State Capitol
210 Capitol
Avenue
Hartford, Connecticut 06106
Email: Governor.Rell@po.state.ct.us
(860) 566-4840
From: The Federation
of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website:
http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
(860) 841-8032
Dear
Governor Rell:
It’s Time to
Revolutionize Connecticut’s
Educational System,
To Cap Local
Property Taxes, and
Reform State Binding Arbitration Laws
The Federation continues to commend and support your call to
CAP LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES. With the
decline in the economy and jobs lost, the next tsunami to strike Connecticut homeowners
will be the loss of their homes through Tax Lien Sales unless our property
taxes are brought under control.
Property Tax Caps are a focus of the following Jan 5, 2009 Wall Street
article entitled Calls Grow to Cap Property Taxes http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB123111472983052521-lMyQjAxMDI5MzAxNTEwMTU0Wj.html
The Federation also believes that the time is right to REVOLUTIONIZE
PUBLIC EDUCATION in Connecticut
and to provide taxpayers with greater transparency and accountability of the
spending of our tax dollars.
We request that you empanel a Blue Ribbon Commission to
review the following initiatives with the goal of providing Connecticut students with the tools they
need to succeed upon graduation and taxpayers with the accountability and
transparency they deserve.
The State of New
Hampshire recently announced their intent to
implement an EARLY GRADUATION PROGRAM as noted within the following
article. The Federation suggests that Connecticut should
consider a similar program. http://www.districtadministration.com/newssummary.aspx?news=yes&postid=51393
A report produced by the School Finance Redesign
Project (SFRP), with funding by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
captioned FACING THE FUTURE: FINANCING PUBLIC SCHOOLS was recently released. The
report can be accessed through the link which follows and provides valuable information which suggests that we don’t need to dedicate
more money to improve our educational system but to instead use the money
already allocated more effectively for the benefit of our students. Download Full Report
A visit to the following web site http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/view/csr_pubs/251 will offer further insight into the report which proposes to
Base accountability on performance—make superintendents and
the chief of state schools responsible for judging school performance and
finding better options for children whose schools do not teach them
effectively.
Additional proposals
include:
- Drive funds to schools based on student counts—the money would be
given to principals to allocate and manage within their individual
schools. A weighting formula could be used to provide extra funds for
disadvantaged students.
- Concentrate federal funds on low-income students—direct money on
the basis of student characteristics right down to the individual
student’s school.
- Redesign states’ school finance systems for continuous
improvement—demand innovation and continuous improvement, keeping what
works and discarding what does not.
With educational costs soaring in Connecticut,
transparency is key to providing accountability for
the tax dollars spent. This
transparency can be enhanced through CHECKBOOK REGISTERS ON LINE and CITIZEN
AUDIT COMMITTEES.
The Mackinac Center
campaign captioned Show Michigan the
Money provides for check book registers on line for the benefit of the
public which finances public education and state government. http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=9398
Transparency
can be further enhanced by supporting the establishment of CITIZEN AUDIT
COMMITTEES in all Connecticut
school districts (New York
State mandated this as of
2006) to provide oversight of school spending practices. Dr. Armand A.
Fusco, a retired Connecticut school superintendent, has been instrumental in
starting such audit committees in several districts at no cost.
In September of 2008, the Federation directed a letter to
you requesting that you propose to the State legislature reforms to State Binding Arbitration laws
which would in turn give municipalities the tools necessary to manage their
budgets. They include:
- Allow towns to suspend Binding Arbitration for up to three years
due to a downturn in the economy.
- Require that local arbitration awards be ratified by a majority
vote of the local legislative body.
As in state government, if the awards are rejected, the process
must begin again.
- Prohibit arbitrators from accessing a town’s undesignated savings
account to fund union contracts.
The Federation believes that the timing
is right for our proposals to Cap Local Property Taxes, to explore
Revolutionizing Connecticut’s Educational System, and to reform State Binding
Arbitration laws in that our economy is in decline, jobs are being lost, and we
have a responsibility to use our existing resources more effectively.
.
In the majority of the 169 towns
throughout Connecticut,
more than 60% of municipal budgets are dedicated to meeting educational
demands.
Last month, James Finley, executive
director of the Connecticut
Conference of Municipalities issued a plea to the State’s Board of Education
not to rollback $237 million in school aid already dedicated to
municipalities. You can be assured that
next year a similar request will be made as public education costs increase
resulting in Connecticut taxpayers paying one
of the highest property taxes in the nation, second to New Jersey.
We are hopeful that the Teachers Unions will embrace the
forward thinking concepts as proposed by the Bill Gates Foundation and will, in
turn, work for performance based standards among its members in order to
provide a quality education for all students in Connecticut.
Again, the
full report can be accessed through the following link:
Thank you for considering our requests. We look forward to your response.