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Connecticut Transparency Website
Senate plan would deport illegal
immigrants entering U.S. after 2011
Clash Over Who Pays Their Fair Share
A report released Friday by New Haven-based Connecticut Voices For Children says that the poor
and the middle class in Connecticut pay a higher percentage of their income in
state and local taxes than the rich….. But the conservative-leaning Yankee
Institute for Public Policy says that the rich are putting the most money and
the largest share into state coffers. http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-tax-report-0413-20130412-1,0,5591103.story
April 13, 2013
From: The Federation of
Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep,
President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Check
out Below: Blumenthal Criticized for
Using Sandy Hook Victims to Raise Campaign Cash, Donovan Campaign Manager
Pleads Guilty, Comptroller Lembo Provides
Transparency, Some Mass and CT State Employee Pensions are Exorbitant, See for
Yourself, Many State Changes to Municipal Revenue Collection Laws, Gun
Manufacturer Leaving CT, Obama Budget Good and Bad for CT, Senate Plan would Deport Illegals Entering US after 2011, Obama
Pays 18.4% Fed Inc Taxes, Donates Big to Charity, The Pension Rate-of-Return
Fantasy
EDITORIAL: Blumenthal uses Sandy Hook
to raise campaign cash
The Register Citizen April 11, 2013
We’re glad that U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and Gov. Dannel Malloy are talking in detail about the victims of
Sandy Hook as part of a push for federal gun control legislation……The issue took a disgusting political
turn on Thursday, though, when U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal,
D-Conn., used Sandy Hook to raise money. The money is not for one of the relief funds set up to help
victims’ families, or to fund mental health services, or to support autism
research. “In the wake of the horror of
the December 14, 2012, massacre of 20 beautiful children and 6 dedicated
educators,” Blumenthal is asking supporters to send money to his 2016
re-election campaign! “As your senator,
I will continue fighting for the rights of all the people, not the special
interests. But I need your help,” Blumenthal wrote in an email to supporters
Thursday morning. “Please contribute $5 now as the Senate debate continues on
common-sense gun reform legislation this week.” There are lots of ways and lots of time for Sen. Blumenthal to raise
money for his re-election campaign before 2016. Using the “horror” of the
“massacre of 20 beautiful children” at a time when critical legislation honoring
their memory is at stake to beg for $5 for your next political campaign is as
tasteless as it gets. Read this complete article at
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2013/04/11/opinion/doc516725387b85b464375924.txt?viewmode=fullstory
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The Federation
Applauds State
Comptroller Kevin Lembo for Providing Greater
Transparency for CT Residents as noted below…..
COMPTROLLER LEMBO APPLAUDS FINANCE
COMMITTEE VOTE TO ADVANCE TRANSPARENCY IN ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE
Comptroller Kevin Lembo commended
the General Assembly’s Finance Committee for voting today in favor of his
proposed legislation that will establish greater transparency surrounding the hundreds of millions in
dollars invested every year in economic assistance programs. Lembo said this
action follows several weeks of negotiations with representatives from both within and outside of government,
particularly representatives of the business community, in an effort to find
common ground on this initiative. House
Bill 6566, An Act Concerning Transparency in Economic
Assistance Programs, would establish a publicly accessible online database for
information on state tax credit and economic assistance programs, and
lay the framework for the state to plan to conduct tax
incidence analysis reports
to determine the impact of the state’s tax policies throughout
Connecticut……
Specifically,
this bill will create a searchable database where the public can simply and
easily perform searches to answer the questions:
Ø W hat industries
are receiving economic incentives?
Ø How much they are receiving ?
Ø What are the
conditions of the
assistance ?
Ø What are the
results of the state’s investment in terms of jobs, economic impact and state revenue ?
Read the article in its entirety at http://www.osc.ct.gov/public/pressrl/2013/FinanceCommitteeApprovesTransparency.pdf
COMPTROLLER LEMBO LAUNCHES “OPEN
CONNECTICUT,” ONLINE HUB FOR STATE FINANCIAL DATA AND TRANSPARENCY
Comptroller Kevin Lembo today
launched a new website called “Open Connecticut”
that centralizes state financial data and simplifies access to important information about
the state budget and its financial future.
Open
Connecticut
is accessible at www.osc.ct.gov/openct “It’s your money, and
you have a right to know,” Lembo said. “That’s the
simple message behind
Open Connecticut. “Pockets of state financial information have
long been available, but scattered across state agencies. Those who actually
have the time to locate information often discover the next difficult step – understanding the
information. Continue reading Mr. Lembo’s comments at http://www.osc.ct.gov/public/pressrl/2013/Open%20Connecticut.pdf
*********************
The following is not isolated to Massachusetts.
Check out Connecticut State
Pensions Below!
Under 50 and grabbing state pensions Boston Herald - April 10, 2013 By: Erin Smith , Chris Cassidy Hundreds
of lucky state employees are opting to jump into retirement before they hit age
50 thanks to loopholes in the law, a Herald review of the latest pension report
shows. In the past three years, there have been 475 state workers who retired
before age 50 — going into their golden years with full pensions for some and
partial payouts for others, a Herald review found. New reforms went into effect
for state workers hired after April 2, 2012. Those reforms included increasing
the retirement age for new hires and an “anti-spiking” clause preventing future
retirees from padding the salary their pension is based on in their final few
years of employment. Continue reading
at …… http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/04/under_50_and_grabbing_state_pensions
Massachusetts State Pensions: Click here for the complete pension
database in the Herald's "Your Tax Dollars at
Work" report
Connecticut State Pensions: Click Pensions In 2012,
payments were made to 46,124 retirees or beneficiaries totaling over $1.47
billion.
Connecticut Wages and Benefits: Click Employee Compensation Note: Above the Seach
Button Click Advanced Search to access more information.
And
Research Much More at the Connecticut Transparency Website
*********************
From the State of Connecticut’s Office of Legislative Research
PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE BILLS
REFERRED TO THE FINANCE, REVENUE AND BONDING COMMITTEE
Includes
the following:
SB 965 – AN ACT CONCERNING CHANGES TO MUNICIPAL REVENUE
COLLECTION STATUTES
12. allows municipalities and district health departments to
withhold or revoke a business license or permit if the business owes taxes on
any property, not just personal property, it owns or uses (§ 24);
13. allows a tax collector or his or her agent to sell a
taxpayer's real or personal property without making a personal or written
demand for the payment if the tax assessor, after making reasonable efforts, is
unable to identify the owner or person responsible for the delinquent taxes or
charges (§ 29); Read more at
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2013/rpt/2013-R-0208.htm
*********************
Statement From Gun
Manufacturer, PTR Industries: Leaving ... Connecticut
Citing New Gun Laws By Susan Duclos April 10, 2013 Recently two companies, Magpul, which manufactures guns and HiViz
Shooting Systems, which makes
sights, recoil pads and other accessories, announced they were leaving the
state of Colorado. Both citing the passage of new gun control
laws. Both taking jobs, revenue and money out of the Colorado economy and bringing them to a
state without restrictive gun control laws.
States like Wyoming
are opening their arms and inviting these companies to move to a more gun
friendly state. "Move to the Cowboy
State," says Wyoming
lawmakers. Another gun manufacturer
is now following their example, this one in Connecticut, and is citing
the same reasons. PTR Industries
announces, via their
Facebook page as well as the PTR
Industries website, that they will
be "actively considering offers from states that are friendly to the
industry." "The rights of the
citizens of CT have been trampled upon. The safety of its children is at best
questionably improved from the day of the tragedy that triggered the events
that lead us here," said officials at PTR Industries in a statement on
their website. "Finally, due to an improperly drafted bill, manufacturing
of modern sporting rifles in the state of CT has been effectively outlawed.
With a heavy heart but a clear mind, we have been forced to decide that our
business can no longer survive in Connecticut
- the former Constitution state." PTR Industries owner Josh Fiorini also states he wants to move out before the new law
goes into place Jan. 1. Continue reading this article at http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2013/04/statement-from-gun-manufacturer-ptr-industries-leaving-connecticut-citing-new-gun-laws-2617084.html
*********************
Obama budget has good,
bad for Connecticut Wed, 04/10/2013 By Ana Radelat CTMirror.org For
Connecticut's defense contractors, the good news in President Obama's 2014 budget is it would end the sequester's
$500 billion cut to the Pentagon's budget. In his budget, Obama
has indicated new support for the F-35 Joint
Strike Fighter, whose engines are built by Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford. But the bad news for the state's defense
industry is that the president proposes another
round of base closings, which would have to be approved by Congress. Connecticut's aging
population would be affected by the president's proposal
to slow the growth in Social Security benefits by applying a
less-generous measure of inflation. Continue reading at ….. http://www.ctmirror.org/blogs/obama-budget-has-good-bad-connecticut
*********************
Obamas Pay 18.4%
Federal Income Taxes, Donate Big to Charity ... The White House has released 2012 tax information for the
President and Vice President. The
President and First Lady filed a joint return reporting adjusted gross income
of $608,611. They paid $112,214 in taxes for an effective federal income tax
rate of 18.4 percent and donated $150,034 to charity (about 24.6 percent of
their earnings). http://money-news.net/?p=14385
*********************
Andy Kessler: The
Pension Rate-of-Return Fantasy - WSJ.com Mr. Kessler, a former hedge-fund manager, is the author
most recently of "Eat People" (Portfolio, 2011). Counting on 7.5% when Treasury bonds are paying 1.74%?
That's going to cost taxpayers billions.
Wall St. Journal April 9, 2013 It has been said
that an actuary is someone who really wanted to be an accountant but didn't
have the personality for it. See who's laughing now. Things are starting to get
very interesting, actuarially-speaking. Federal bankruptcy judge Christopher Klein ruled on
April 1 that Stockton, Calif., can file for bankruptcy via Chapter
9 (Chapter 11's ugly cousin). The ruling may start the actuarial dominoes
falling across the country, because Stockton's
predicament stems from financial assumptions that are hardly restricted to one
improvident California
municipality. Stockton may expose the
little-known but biggest lie in global finance: pension funds' expected rate of
return. It turns out that the California
Public Employees' Retirement System, or Calpers, is Stockton's
largest creditor and is owed some $900 million. But in the likelihood that U.S. bankruptcy law trumps California pension law, Calpers
might not ever be fully repaid. So what? Calpers has $255 billion in assets to cover present and future
pension obligations for its 1.6 million members. Yes, but . . . in March, Calpers Chief Actuary Alan Milligan published a report
suggesting that various state employee and school pension funds are only
62%-68% funded 10 years out and only 79%-86% funded 30 years out. Mr. Milligan
then proposed—and Calpers approved—raising state
employer contributions to the pension fund by 50% over the next six years to
return to full funding. That is money these towns and school systems don't
really have. Even with the fee raise, the goal of being fully funded is wishful
thinking. Continue reading at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324100904578403213835796062.html
*********************