Please note that if you wish to receive FCTOs
emails,
please write to fctopresident@aol.com.
Here are the
Top 10 ANNUAL Pensions being Paid
to Connecticut State Retirees:
$433,892; $305,054; $304,151; $205,188; $233,624; $230,000;
$229,963; $229,146; $221,422; $218,906.
Want to view all state retiree pensions paid?
Click on Pensions - Transparency Connecticut - CT.gov. Next click on
Search. Then go to the last Column headed Total, and click twice.
You should see the highest to the lowest pensions paid. To travel to the next
page, click on the arrow at the top of the Column captioned Total.
************
March
23, 2017
From:
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayers
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
CONNECTICUTS DEBT HAS REACHED
$74.3 BILLION!!!
The Majority of
this Debt is What we Owe State
Retirees for their Pensions and Healthcare Costs.
In addition, 13 State
Labor Union Contracts are Up for Negotiations. Historically, negotiations are kept secret, behind closed
doors. The finalized Contracts then lay dormant for 30 days after which
time they become law with no public knowledge or input. And the most disturbingis that State Legislators do not cast a vote
on one of the States largest expenses, State Employee Wages, Benefits and Pensions.
This an Insult to the
Taxpayers who Pay for these Multi-Million
Dollar State
Employee and Retiree Union Contracts! The Secrecy Must End! State
Legislators Must Come Out of Hiding, Hold a Public Hearing on all State Labor
Union Contracts, and then Publicly Cast Their Votes!
***********
The
following is a list of proposed State Legislation which, if passed, will
provide greater transparency of union contracts and help to constrain
associated labor costs.
WILL YOU LEND YOUR HELP TO GETTING SOME CONSTRUCTIVE
LEGISLATION PASSED AND IN TURN LOWERING STATE COSTS?
Tomorrow, March 23, 2017, the State Appropriations Committee
will hold a public hearing at 10:30 AM on the following list of subjects as
provided by the Yankee Institute.
If you wish to be heard, you can submit your testimony
by email to apptestimony@cga.ct.gov.
You may
wish to take some time over the weekend to review the following and then draft
an email to the Appropriations Committee at apptestimony@cga.ct.gov.
Also consider contacting your state representatives, remind them they work for
you and ask that they take the lead for the following proposed reforms. Ask
them to also consider Freezing state employee wages
for a minimum of two years. If you have any questions, I would be
delighted to hear from you. Susan Kniep
860-841-8032 or fctopresident@aol.com.
Do not hesitate to contact me to discuss further.
Please
review the following:
- Require a legislative vote on collective bargaining
agreements. Right now, if lawmakers fail to vote on those agreements
within a month, they automatically pass.
- Limit the length of collective bargaining
agreements. No more 20-year-long union agreements – that is unheard of in
other states.
- Exclude overtime and mileage payments from pension calculations.
- Place all new hires into a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan,
like the private sector receives.
- Increase state employee pension contributions.
- Increase state employee co-pays for their healthcare.
- Set state employee cost of living adjustments to match the social security
adjustment rate.
You can find a full
list here of the bills on the
agenda for Friday.
***************
Please
also take the time to review the following:
A
Legacy of Debt
|
A Five Part Series on the State of our State by
CTMirror.org and Much More News
CTMirror.org - Keith Phaneuf - Feb 3, 2017
|
***************
Governor Malloy
would bill towns for teachers pensions, cut
middle-class tax credit!
***************
Hartford Courant
With OT And Pensions Like This, No Wonder CT's
In A Hole
The
case of a state police sergeant who has been
paid more than $289,000 this yearillustrates
the extent of the state's fiscal mess, and its unwillingness to deal with it.Sgt. Stephanie Miller, who works at the state police
barracks in Bethany, has been on the job for 22 years, making her eligible for
retirement, and so far this year, she has been paid an eye-watering $185,000 in
overtime. That makes her the highest-paid member of the state police union this
year. Last year, she was paid more than $151,000 in overtime, part of a total
compensation of about $257,000.But she is far from alone, she is
among 117 state police officers who have received more than $50,000 in
overtime this year. Continue reading at http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-police-overtime-1215-20161214-story.html
***************