Its nothing more than a handout.. The raises would cost the town about a half . CONNECTICUT The state Senate gave final approval to the raise and bonus package for state employees. 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. All Rights Reserved. Those who challenge government actions for the right reasons could be forever barred from political office unjustly by this law. That helps focus peoples minds and increase their willingness to change and to take risks. DAS says the process was cheaper, nearly paperless, and attracted a diverse pool of applicants with a third more women and minorities and a 105-percent increase in veterans. Inevitably, it will be highly unpopular, so the announcement will be buried as deeply as possible and spun like a top by Lamonts spokespeople. Some reflected frustrations by the public in dealing with state agencies, as well as employees knowing what is happening elsewhere in government. One lump sum payment retroactive to 2021 with full-time employees receiving $2,500 and part-time employees receiving a prorated amount $1,000 lump sum payment effective fiscal 2023 and prorated for part-time employees Concerns over energy prices, inflation, and general cost of living continue to dominate the headlines and the threat of a recession hovers over economic forecasts. The Lamont administration, labor leaders and other supporters of the increases have said they believe unions could have gotten even larger raises had they rejected the states offer and gone to arbitration. There is ample evidence that this is a fair contract, a reasonable contract, an affordable contract, she said of Connecticuts wage hikes. It will slow cost-of-living adjustments for all new retirees and raise health costs for a few, primarily high earners. Thermo Fisher Scientific bought the company the same year. Part of the 2017 SEBAC Agreement between the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition and Gov. The deal works out to about $40,000 in raises per state employee over four years, Fazio said, which works out to about $1,300 per Connecticut household. As we noted in a report andCT Mirrorop-ed last year, the debate over whether were in a national recession really misses the point for Connecticut residents. 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, The House, where Democrats also hold a majority, approved the package 96-52 on Thursday. During that time Connecticuts average pension payment increased 15 percent from $34.589 in 2015 to $39,887 in 2020. Tier II is a non-contributory defined benefit retirement plan for most members. According to the Office of Legislative Research in their analysis of a potential retirement wave, COLAs for new retirees will match the CPI-W during years it is 2 percent or less. 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. 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. Thats a big risk, but its also an amazing opportunity to reinvent how we do things, to bring in technology to automate a lot of the manual processes that can be more efficiently done by software today.. 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. But Gov. With only 41 weeks remaining to replace retiring employees, the Lamont administration is fast approaching a severe manpower crisis. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the states workforce. There is ample evidence that this is a fair contract, a reasonable contract, an affordable contract, she said of Connecticuts wage hikes. Geballe said the administration has a vision of where to go with technology, primarily by offering consumers and businesses a digital portal to state government. A third of the state workforce is going to retire in the next three years, Geballe said. The minimum 2 percent COLA also means that during years in which inflation was low, they still got a boost over the inflation rate. The bonuses, the GOP argued, are hardly the key to retaining workers, as the governor and other Democrats claim. It is tone deaf and appears to even regular folks like me to be pandering to special interests in an election year.". As a Ned Lamont speaks at a news conference at Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo, in Bridgeport, Conn. March 29, 2021. 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. Ned Lamont says are essential to help stem a surge in state employee retirements, are expected to be ratified Friday by the Senate, where Democrats also hold a majority. Geballe said the new administrations job is to support, broaden and accelerate those changes. Ned Lamont's administration and a coalition of . There are also new bonuses: $2,500 next month and an extra $1,000 in mid-July. DARRELL HACKETT CONNECTICUT State officials announced the tentative state employee union bargaining agreement, which calls for multiple years of raises and bonus payments. He is one of the mid-career, private-sector executives to join the administration of Gov. BCG documented that the sclerotic state bureaucracy takes an average of 33 weeks to hire a new employee. Geballe said he just renewed his registration on-line. For retirees who receive their COLAs in January, the trend was more in their favor with three years of inflation increases topping 2 percent. Access all Premium Content and the E-Edition for 1 day. The deal is now final since the state Senate and House approved it. Today were living in a post-COVID world, where employees and not employers are ruling the job market, said Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee. I think all of the stakeholders lament it, but then find the excuses for why we cant change it. Those employed on July 15, 2022 would get a $1,000 bonus if the agreement is approved. The contracts allow workers to accept the $2,500 extra payment and still retire before July 1. 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. Those who challenge government actions for the right reasons could be forever barred from political office unjustly by this law. Were still largely in a world by the way, very similar to most every other state where there are numerous processes which are still paper based, which are still highly manual, which rely on very old custom software, Geballe said. Connecticut State Department of Administrative Services CT.gov Home Department of Administrative Services Human Resources Business Rules and Regulations Compensation Salary Increase Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ) Salary Increase Non-Represented Employees Expense Reimbursement/Meal Allowance Pay Differential Longevity Recruitment Pay This final increase may pose concerns for small businesses and non-profit organizations operating in the state. Republicans countered Friday that the raises and bonuses far outstrip what households in the private sector are receiving. 0:04. CONNECTICUT The state Senate gave final approval to the raise and bonus package for state employees. By 2020, the state paid $2.2 billion to 55,348 retirees. This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Publics Members What will our elected officials be working on to improve policy outcomes for Connecticut residents? 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. It includes 2.5% raises for four straight years that would be retroactive to July 1, 2021. The BCG study was supposed to facilitate a third approach. ThanKs Vin, Lyle Scruggs 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. I would say that largely we havent seen that partnership happen, but we continue to have the door wide open, Glidden said. Thats when more stringent limits on state retirement benefits, negotiated as part of a 2017 concessions deal with unions, take effect. Some Republicans have said the hefty bonuses are only an election-year stunt from Lamont, a Democrat, to shore up his standing with his labor base. Going forward, these employees will be entitled to receive wage and benefit provisions that their union counterparts will receive, per language the governors office included in the 837-page budget implementer bill passed this legislative session, McCaw said. December 30, 2021 @ Attracting people to fill managerial roles will become even more important as the state prepares for a coming wave of employees retiring next year. The $2,000 payment will only be available to employees who were hired or appointed before June 30, 2018. The state and unions have the option of continuing the same level of raises for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, or they can negotiate different compensation levels. Because of the high rate of inflation, the July COLAs are calculated based on 60 percent of CPI-W, which translates to a bump of 3.6 percent as of July 2021. . Changes to state employee retirement benefits will go into effect in July of 2022 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. Ideal timing for the announcement would be between Christmas and the New Year. Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "ad6f3785a83847b97c7976185623d348" );document.getElementById("h4d5fc382f").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); 216 Main StreetHartford, CT 06106[emailprotected], 2021 Yankee Institute for Public Policy. A proposal to give every full-time employee a $10,000 raise next year is causing some division among leaders in the town of Ellettsville. I think were at a time where change is coming, whether people like it or not. On top of that, most workers would "step" into a higher pay grade, adding an extra 2% to most raises. Were losing some of our best and brightest as they seek other parts of the country where its easier to make a living. 90% of our revenue is contributed. Union members have engaged in an all-out campaign of organizing and mobilizing to make our pay a priority for state leaders. 2:19 pm. Keith is a graduate of and a former journalism instructor at the University of Connecticut. Gov. The long session, as non-election years are called in Hartford, will be centered around the biennial budget. Lamont hopes the extra money will slow a wave of retirements before July 1, when pension benefits drop as part of previous union concessions. But that surge followed a nearly decade-long stretch in which state tax receipts from the same source badly underperformed. 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. Topics you care about, straight to your inbox, More than 46,000 Connecticut state employees could soon get a significant raise -- and bonuses thanks to a new union. 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 state usually experiences 2,000 to 2,500 annual state employee retirements, according to the CT Mirror. font size, Human Resources Business Rules and Regulations. The raises do not apply to employees in the legislative and judicial branches or higher education. 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. Ned Lamont believes it will keep critical state workers on the job. In 2015, Connecticut paid $1.7 billion to 49,111 retirees, according to the Comptrollers Open Pension website. Several Republican lawmakers decried the deal and said it would exacerbate Connecticuts fiscal woes. To be prepared to comply with this change, all employers should do the following prior to June 1: . The agreements, which unions ratified earlier this spring, are retroactive to the start of this fiscal year, which began last July 1. The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. building a betterand more civilConnecticut to live, work, and play. Each of the 3.6 million residents in Connecticut rely on the critical public services state workers provide whether you are standing in line at the DMV, attending a technical school, community college or state university, getting treatment at UConn Health, driving on our roads and bridges, enjoying a state park or beach, or any of the other ubiquitous public services you will be uplifted by these fair and honorable contracts, the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition wrote in a statement after the Senate vote. 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. 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. 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. They are our people, who we count on each day to make us safe, she said. 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. Josh Geballe, the commissioner of administrative services. 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%. This is a carousel. Connecticut is facing pressure from the private sector, municipalities and other states for its workers, Osten said, adding that the pandemic has made many state jobs less attractive. Breaking from the status quo is very hard I think for people generally, but particularly in government, where you dont have competition the same way you do in the private sector, where if you dont change, if you dont innovate, if you dont find new ways to add value, eventually you go out of business and everybody loses their job. "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. The board has voted to approve the following cost of living increase for January 2023. Marc has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Western Connecticut State University. 0:36. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are So, it is a safe bet that Lamont will sign a juicy new wage contract with SEBAC. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Dannel Malloy included a provision to change the COLAs for state employees who retire after July 1, 2022. Thats because state governments coffers are flush with cash as never before. That marked a 9 percent increase from the previous year, which was the largest yearover-year change since at least 2014-2015, according to a CT Insider analysis of data from the . People know not to bring paper in here, said Josh Geballe, a former IBM executive and tech entrepreneur. It is unsustainable and, more plainly, unjust. Connecticut Property Taxes In Every Town: Who Pays The Most? That will be followed by 2.5 percent raises on July 1, 2022 and July 1, 2023. But Gov. The state is so intractable about its longterm bureaucratic practices. It is cloud-based, lessening the states reliance on servers, improving security and taking a step toward the ultimate goal of easing the sharing of data and documents among agencies. But most House Republicans who spoke in Thursdays debate predicted taxpayers wouldnt be as happy as state employee unions are. Dannel P. Malloy takes effect. 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. 2016 CT.gov | Connecticut's Official State Website, regular 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. Lamont says the bonuses are crucial to retain state employees, who are retiring in larger-than-normal numbers this spring. Not the fact that Connecticut has had a big contraction in its workforce during the pandemic of about 6 percent and a top 10 unemployment rate, currently exceeding 7 percent, versus a national average nearing 5 percent. April 23, 2023 . Critics also balk at the cost. Likely, the governors spinmeisters will follow the lead of union leaders in referring to all state employees as frontline workers, although many agencies were closed to the public during most of the pandemic. There is also a large group if tier 1s who receive 3% guaranteed, no inflation adjustments. Based on the statutes governing Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for CTRB members, the Connecticut Teachers' Retirement Board will be granting COLA as follows. The agreement would cost the state nearly $1.9 billion over four fiscal years, according to nonpartisan fiscal analysts. The changes will only affect those who retire after July of 2022, but according to the OLR report, historically such changes have resulted in a larger number of employees retiring before the cut-off date. state of ct employee step increase 2022; state of ct employee step increase 2022. Some Republicans have said the hefty bonuses are only an election-year stunt from Lamont, a Democrat, to shore up his standing with his labor base. In addition, full-time workers would receive a $2,500 bonus in mid-May and another $1,000 bonus in mid-July. Glidden is now engaged with the administration on the possibility of some state government professionals teleworking. The agreement calls for 2.5 percent general wage increases and step increases retroactive to July 1, 2022. 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. 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's administration and already ratified by the 35 . EVENT: Mark Pazniokas will sit down with Gov. But we have a bonus that starts after July 1. Sal Luciano, a former social worker who is the president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, said many state agencies are understaffed. 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. Republicans argue the SEBAC package will lead to big deficits in a few years -- and tax hikes. For some of Connecticuts highest paid pensioners like Jack Blechner, a former UConn Health Center physician who received $342,325.14 in 2020, the COLA amounts to an additional $12,323.70 per year. As many as 13,000 state employees will be eligible for retirement by July 2022, according to the state Comptroller's office. 1 Week Subscription - $2.99 / 7 Days. We had more people employed in the private sector in 2007 than we do today. Connecticuts pension COLAs, however, are set for a change one year from now prompting concerns over a potential surge in state employee retirements. Paper versus electronic records is just one of so many, Glidden said. It was covered recently in goals and ideas tossed around in a brainstorming exercise, then numbered as priorities. Ned Lamont administration to attract more people to stay and move into these jobs, and to make their salaries more in line with unionized workers. The Connecticut State Legislature will begin its 2023 session on January 4thand will adjourn on June 7th. State retirees receive minimum 2 percent COLAs per year regardless of the inflation rate and a maximum of 6 percent or 7.5 percent, depending on their retirement tier.

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