BREAKING
NEWS!!!!
KEITH M. PHANEUF AND JACQUELINE RABE THOMAS of
CTMirror.org have just
announced that
House Democrats offer
modest town aid shift in new budget
Majority House Democrats unveiled a new budget Wednesday
that matches the town aid proposed by Gov. Dannel P.
Malloy while redistributing education funds more modestly from wealthy and
middle-income towns and into poorer communities.
But the House Democratic plan, which still features a sales
tax increase and surcharges on restaurant and hotel transactions, avoids taxing
hospitals and billing cities and towns for teacher pension costs as proposed by
the governor. Continue Reading
The House Democratic plan has 25 communities losing all ECS
aid, and another 25 school districts losing anywhere from 2 to 88 percent of
their ECS funding. Among the Alliance Districts, Waterbury
and Hartford
are the biggest winners in the House Democrats plan, each standing to gain $1.2
million, a one percent increase.
Malloys plan would have funneled $48 million more to Waterbury, and $29 million more to Hartford for education. There may be a big
caveat for that aid, however: For communities that would see ECS increases, the
administration has not decided whether to require it be spent entirely on
education or if it could help offset the cuts in other state grants. Continue Reading
********************
August 23, 2017
From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Org
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
As Connecticut and Illinois Bleed Red Ink while Controlled by
Public Sector Unions,
Wisconsin Becomes a Right to Work State
and Brings in a $10 Billion Business!!!!
And a proposed National Right to Work Law could solve the
problem for all States to include Connecticut
and Illinois!
Connecticut and Illinois
are on a collision course on their race to the bottom of the fiscal
cliff.
Illinois just passed a
state budget. Connecticut
legislators have yet to do so.
On August 18, 2017 we learned that Connecticut Gov. Malloy
would reduce school aid by 28% and dramatically redistribute what was left
leaving the majority of towns with $0000.
Three days later we learned that Republican Len Fasano asked Attorney General Jepsen
to issue an opinion on the legality of Malloys actions
as it was reported that Connecticut
state finances had already accumulated a $94 million deficit in the new fiscal
year.
The common denominator of Connecticut
and Illinois
is powerful public sector unions. The solution to their ultimate fiscal demise
is experiencing a Wisconsin Moment in the Sun.
On May 25, 2017 headlines read Kevin Rennie: Malloy Cut Disastrous Deal With
Unions - Hartford Courant
The 10 year sealed deal guaranteed State employee unions
wage increases and job security while leaving a $3.5 Billion two year deficit
on the table to be paid by Connecticut
taxpayers along with a $74.3 Billion Debt.
Last week, the Governor proposed that tab be picked up by
local property owners through a cut to Education Cost Sharing and other state
grants. Read more at https://ctmirror.org/2017/08/22/poorest-districts-spared-some-ed-funding-cuts-still-to-be-hit-hard-by-others/
So what is Wisconsin doing right which Connecticut
and Illinois
are not? When Governor Scott Walker realized it was the public sector
unions crippling his State of Illinois
he did something about it. And recently a multi-billion $$$$ industry
took notice as it chose Wisconsin over Illinois.
Where the finances
of Wisconsin are bringing in business, Connecticut finances are driving them out as evidenced by
the exodus of GE and Aetna. And lets not forget UBS where its headquarters is now in Manhattan, Pfizer which closed its Groton
750,000 square foot plant, and the exodus of 20% of Connecticut residents from the age of 35 to
44.
On July 26, 2017, headlines read Foxconn officially announces new $10B LCD factory in Wisconsin.
On August 4, 2017
the Chicago Tribune wrote The next Foxconn and Illinois: Heres why Wisconsin will be the state growing more
taxpayers. Therein, they
wrote:
Heres the takeaway: Foxconn chose the
state that has stable government, healthy finances and pro-growth policies for
employers. Illinois
has none of the above.
This state is deep in debt and badly run. A 10-ton anvil
dangles overhead in the form of at least $130 billion in unfunded pension
obligations. Taxes are too high, yet Illinois
still cant pay its bills on time. Republican Gov.
Bruce Rauner recognizes that Illinois isnt
competitive. He wants to cut onerous regulations and make other reforms to
attract business investment, but hes been stymied by
House Speaker Mike Madigan, Senate President John Cullerton
and their Democrat-controlled General Assembly. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-foxconn-illinois-wisconsin-edit-0806-jm-20170804-story.html
Sound familiar Connecticut
taxpayers as we face a $74.3 Billion $$$ debt much of which is due to what we
owe state retiree in lucrative pensions and healthcare benefits?
Theres another reason Wisconsin
beat Illinois:
Our northern neighbor is now a right to work state. It does not require workers
to be part of a union or pay union dues even if they are employed at a company
operating under a collective bargaining agreement so says the Chicago Tribune in a separate article.
And yes, you remember Governor Scott Walker who took it to
the max when he went into the ring with the Wisconsin
Public Sector Unions. It was not an immediate knock out punch. No, Walker did several rounds
in the ring with the unions. And he won the fight!
On March 11, 2011 the Washington
Post headline read Wisconsin governor wins his battle with unions on collective
bargaining.
Staff writer Karen Tumulty wrote:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has won his drive to strip the states government
workers of nearly all of their collective-bargaining rights, prevailing after a
three-week standoff that brought tens of thousands of protesters to the Capitol
and transfixed the political world.
To which Lee A. Saunders, secretary-treasurer of the American
Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which is the nations largest government-worker union
replied Its not over. This may be a battle that has
been won by the governor, but we are in this for the long haul. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/10/AR2011031005940.html
On February 26, 2017 Jana Kasperkevic
wrote in the headlined article Why
unions are so worried about right-to-work laws - Marketplace
A national
right-to-work bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives, and
though previous attempts have failed, a Republican-controlled Congress and
White House means a law is a real possibility. And thats a threat to labor unions, which are dependent
on the dues that such a law would curtail.
Similar
legislation has been introduced in the past, but we believe that this year, the
legislation could garner more support than ever before, Leacy
Burke, a spokeswoman for South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, told
the Huffington Post. https://www.marketplace.org/2017/02/24/business/push-nationwide-right-work-law-could-weaken-unions
And as the following article By STEVEN
GREENHOUSE on FEB. 22, 2014 notes Wisconsins Legacy for Unions - The New York Times
Mr. Walkers tough stance toward public-employee
unions has steeled governors and mayors grappling with large unfunded pension
obligations. And his criticisms of pensions have been reinforced by the turmoil
in Detroit,
where the often-generous and sometimes scandal-ridden pension system played a
substantial role in the citys bankruptcy.
Youre seeing more politicians willing to stand up to
public-sector unions, said Gary Chaison, a
professor of labor relations at Clark
University. Fairly or
unfairly, public-sector unions are increasingly being seen as part of the
problem. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/business/wisconsins-legacy-for-unions.html?mcubz=1
So what is Connecticuts
solution? Lets start by changing Connecticuts
ethics laws so we dont read headlines like Voting in your employers interest? No conflict in
Connecticut | The CTmirror.org Therein
they note:
On Tuesday, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz,
D-Berlin, vouched at a press conference for a preliminary concession deal
involving his employer, the major public-sector union, AFSCME. Aresimowicz said he felt no awkwardness in speaking out or
voting on a concession deal relating to members of AFSCME Council 4, which
hired him long before he was a state legislator. https://ctmirror.org/2017/05/24/voting-in-your-employers-interest-no-conflict-in-connecticut/
Conflict? Yes!
And Connecticut
taxpayers are paying the price for that conflict!