But more than that, this is a necessary contract so that we can hold on to the best and brightest.. Social Security has announced that they will be granting a cost of living increase of 8.7% for 2023. The Democrat-controlled House voted 96-52 to approve the contracts, after a four-hour debate during which Republicans insisted the compensation far outstrips what private-sector workers are receiving, or what taxpayers can afford. Sal Luciano, a former social worker who is the president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said many state agencies are understaffed. /. Ned Lamont's administration and a coalition of . Inevitably, it will be highly unpopular, so the announcement will be buried as deeply as possible and spun like a top by Lamonts spokespeople. 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 state of Connecticut is in the best financial condition that I can recall, being up here 10 years, said Rep. Michael DAgostino, D-Hamden, who led the debate in favor of the raises. The package was previously approved by the House. The agreements, which unions ratified earlier this spring, are retroactive to the start of this fiscal year, which began last July 1. And Lamont reported this week that the current fiscal years budget is projected to close on June 30 with an unprecedented $3.95 billion surplus, equal to nearly 20% of entire General Fund. 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. The non-unionized managers will receive a one-time bonus of $2,000 and 7.5% in wage increases, including a 3.5% cost-of-living increase and up to 4% annual increments. "Today is Tax Day People want to know where their tax dollars are going, said Kim Healy, a GOP Wilton selectman running for the Connecticut House of Representatives. SEBAC employees who are employed before March . The contracts allow workers to accept the $2,500 extra payment and still retire before July 1. By 2020, the state paid $2.2 billion to 55,348 retirees. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. 2:19 pm. By, Corporate Support: Advertising & Sponsorship, 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. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Here are five things to know about the deal: Employees covered by the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition would get a 2.5 percent wage increase and step increases retroactive to July 1, 2021. "I've got to recruit and keep them in order to keep our government going, he said. But Gov. Gov. Employees who retire after that date will get less lucrative retirement benefits. He is one of the mid-career, private-sector executives to join the administration of Gov. 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 . Part-timers would be eligible for prorated bonuses. font size, Human Resources Business Rules and Regulations. But two union leaders say they see the states expectations of a significant retirement wave as well-founded. 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. Your pension is subject to an annual Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). "I'm very concerned this is unsustainable, opponent Kevin Maloney told lawmakers at a public hearing Monday. Access all Premium Content and the E-Edition for 1 day. Its also done with the best financial interests of the state at heart.. This is a carousel. The minimum 2 percent COLA also means that during years in which inflation was low, they still got a boost over the inflation rate. It is tone deaf and appears to even regular folks like me to be pandering to special interests in an election year.". This proposed contract is a raw deal for the working people of this state, said Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, who noted state workers, on average, would receive more than $10,000 in total added compensation over four years. 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. Not this weeks data release showing that the median American household saw its income fall 2.9 percent last year while Connecticut state employees got a 5.5 percent wage increase. Those employed on July 15, 2022 would get a $1,000 bonus if the agreement is approved. 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. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. Part of the 2017 SEBAC Agreement between the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition and Gov. And that was before surging state income and business tax receipts pushed this fiscal years surplus from $2.7 billion to $4 billion. Photos: Iconic Landmarks To Visit Across CT. What will our elected officials be working on to improve policy outcomes for Connecticut residents? The $2 billion agreement also includes special lump-sum payments of $2,500 for active employees who've . This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members The study also found that Connecticut state employees are compensated 33 percent more than a similar private sector employee when pension, healthcare and other fringe benefits are taken into account. The contract is not a done deal. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. The CREATES report noted that 8,000 employees are eligible for retirement before July 2022 and identified 200 opportunities totaling $600 to $900 million of potential value., **Ken Girardin contributed to this article**, So of you retire prior to October 2021 and receive Your Cola 9 monthe later in July 2022 , will you receive above the normal 2 percent since inflation Is hIgh. Anniversary Date (AI Date) Change for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2271), Changes Anniversary Date from July 1 to January 1 for employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, DAS General Letter 193 - Anniversary Date (AI Date) for Classes Covered by Collective Bargaining, Procedures for establishing anniversary dates for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements, Salary Increase - Cost of Living (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2090), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2014 to employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ-EX & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) & Annual Increase (AI) for Associate Attorney Generals (E-Item 2002), Authorizes a 3% Cost of Living Increase and a 3% Annual Increment not to exceed the maximum of the salary grade for Associate Attorney Generals, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 1935), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2013 to employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ-EX & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 1942), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2013 to specific titles assigned to the EX pay plan, Salary Increase - Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2091), Authorizes 3% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2014 for certain employees assigned to the EX pay plan, Salary Increase and Pay Plan Adjustments for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2147), Authorizes a Certain Percentage salary adjustment based upon most recent pay increase for certain employees assigned to the EX pay plan, adjusts the EX pay plan and effective January 1, 2016 pay increases for EX mirrors MP, Salary Increase Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non Represented Employees E Item 2664, Authorizes 3.5% Cost of Living Increase effective July 1, 2019 to employees assigned to the MP, MD, SE, DM, CJ-EX & VR, Labor units 02 & 03 pay plans, Salary Increase Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non-Represented Employees (E-Item 2665), Authorizes 3.5% Cost of Living Adjustment to certain employees who are assigned to Bargaining Unit 01 effective July 1, 2019, More than 3,400 state employees have retired or have filed written intention to retire this year, but that number is expected to increase before July 1. Ned Lamont previously touted the agreement as a way to retain state employees amid a wave of potential retirements. Creative Commons. DAS is the states landlord and construction manager, its hiring hall and purchasing agent, and, perhaps most vitally in the digital age, its information technology office. The contracts allow workers to accept the $2,500 extra payment and still retire before July 1. 2K views, 27 likes, 7 loves, 18 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Dbstvstlucia: DBS MORNING SHOW & OBITUARIES 25TH APRIL 2023 APRIL 2023 No. The only Tier II members who are required to make retirement contributions are: Individuals serving in hazardous duty positions; and Individuals who elected to pay an additional contribution to maintain the current normal retirement age. Some changes already have come, pushed by Nicholas Hermes, a West Point grad who is the statewide human resources director at DAS, hired in 2016. Democratic governors in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia are temporarily suspending raises for state employees or freezing pay until they can better understand the fiscal impact of the pandemic, but, thus far, Connecticut state employees are still scheduled to receive a second pay increase, projected to cost taxpayers $353 million. The new raises are intended to give greater confidence to these managers that they will have consistent treatment with the union employees. As many as 13,000 state employees will be eligible for retirement by July 2022, according to the state Comptroller's office. In the past 10 years, the number of management-level state employees has dropped from 2,000 to 1,400, with nearly all of them choosing to leave their posts to join bargaining units and another 60 petitions currently pending, McCaw said. 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. Ned Lamont speaks at a news conference at Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo, in Bridgeport, Conn. March 29, 2021. The raises provided to state managers mirror what the state provided to union workers over the past four years under the 2017 agreement with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. An arbitrator had already awarded some unions a 3% general wage hike for 2021-22 before Lamont and labor negotiators settled on a smaller cost-of-living bump and bonuses. Weve seen clerical workers go from a high of almost 9,000 to 4,000.. Your email address will not be published. Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. With only 41 weeks remaining to replace retiring employees, the Lamont administration is fast approaching a severe manpower crisis. Thats when more stringent limits on state retirement benefits, negotiated as part of a 2017 concessions deal with unions, take effect. If you value the story you just read please consider making a donation. 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. Though the list of reforms may be exhausting to review, it is far from exhaustive! Thermo Fisher Scientific bought the company the same year. Changes to state employee retirement benefits will go into effect in July of 2022 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 . Connecticut lawmakers this year will consider a bill from a veteran legislator to raise the $28,000 salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than 20 years. (Sorry for the caps, wont let me shift), Hope McKiernan While we wait to see the thousands of individual and committee bills that while dominate the myriad policy debates this year, Yankee Institute is hard at work promoting free-market solutions to the problems we face from Stamford to Putnam and Mystic to Salisbury. Since 1997, the State has used a formula to calculate the minimum cost of living adjustment. So, more outsourcing would compound the squeeze on the nonprofits, either rendering their condition even more precarious or necessitating a significant increase in their reimbursement rates. 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. in its annual Fiscal Accountability Report. Lamonts predecessor, Dannel Malloy, once boasted to a union gathering, I am your servant. Lamont is also in public (union) service, willingly or not. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Whoops! Geballe is commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, the blandly named agency at the heart of the state bureaucracy. Currently, the only way to advance in most agencies is for someone to retire, leaving a specific job open. The best long-run thing for the state pension system is to have inflation just at or above 2%. During that time Connecticuts average pension payment increased 15 percent from $34.589 in 2015 to $39,887 in 2020. 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. 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. Were working really hard to digitize everything we do.. 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. 13 Weeks . Ideal timing for the announcement would be between Christmas and the New Year. The Lamont administration and SEBAC argue the deal is actually good for taxpayers, because an arbitrator would likely award workers even bigger raises. will call the "2022 Changes") go into effect as of July 1, 2022(the "Effective Date"). Hazard or pandemic pay wasnt part of the negotiations, but will be resolved as part of another agreement, Lamont said. With the benefit of five and a half months, Im increasingly confident that is true.. On top of that, most workers would "step" into a higher pay grade, adding an extra 2% to most raises. The state is so intractable about its longterm bureaucratic practices. The House, where Democrats also hold a majority, approved the package 96-52 on Thursday. As we go into a time period where we expect a significant number of retirements, we want to make sure that we can attract and retain top talent across all of our agencies whether in management or non-management positions, McCaw said. The states robust, short-term fiscal position is a sugar high that will pass when the federal stimulus money goes away, ODea said. The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition represents 35 different bargaining units and more than 40,000 state employees. Ned Lamont in Hartford on May 3. Lamont said the state has to live within its means, but state employees did extraordinary work during the worst of the pandemic and inflation has increased costs. The BCG study was supposed to facilitate a third approach. Beginning after the July 1, 2022 cut off, the State has relinquished their obligation to adjust pension payments at least 2% (current minimum) for inflation. 4.28.23 We are LIVE with our 11 am/CT. That includes Gov. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut. CT Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. All Rights Reserved. "Often they work in dorms where there are one or two officers to keep peace among 100 of more inmates, said Sean Howard, a corrections officer at Cheshire Correctional Institution. Fazio said it reflects the pull unions have on state government, and that taxpayers will end up footing the bill. Amazon and others in the private sector have made it very easy to envision what that future could look like, if you think about online shopping or online bank services, Geballe said. Negotiators will meet again to determine raises after the time period. Tier II is a non-contributory defined benefit retirement plan for most members. Nothing stands in the way of the ever-increasing generosity of state employee compensation. Youll notice when you look around here, there is no paper. 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%. Josh Geballe, the commissioner of administrative services. 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. Thats when more stringent limits on state retirement benefits, negotiated as part of a 2017 concessions deal with unions, take effect. They would then get the same increase on July 1, 2022 and again on July 1, 2023. Julia Bergman is a former reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group. The agreement would cost the state nearly $1.9 billion over four fiscal years, according to nonpartisan fiscal analysts. ALERT: Tell lawmakers to vote NO on the TCI Gas Tax Loophole that forces CT residents to pay unlimited energy taxes! The deal is now final since the state Senate and House approved it. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the state's workforce.