[your comment section will not enable me to type this in lower case] stop with the money illusion. The package was previously approved by the House. Lastly, you have likely worked enough years to be eligible for normal retirement if you find yourself in Tier 1 as the requirements are age 55 with 25 years of service or 65 with 10 years of service. The Charter provides commonsense reforms to make Connecticuts government work for its residents. You can listen to my podcast Avoid Overpaying for Medicare in 2021 and Beyond to get a more detailed explanation of IRMAA and strategies to potentially avoid it. Read More Kay Ivey, a Republican, has called for upping state employee and teacher pay by 4%. The deal is now final since the state Senate and House approved it. They would then get the same increase on July 1, 2022 and again on July 1, 2023. . The Office of the State Comptroller reports that state government found a way to spend $47.11 billion in 2022 and, if trends continue, we can expect that number to grow even more going forward. The state is also hoping the increases will also attract more people to state-level management positions. 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. But the votes followed a robust, three-hour public hearing during which state employees argued the raises would help reverse a staffing crisis and also were overdue, given the many concessions unions granted over the past 12 years. Behind him to the left is Sal Luciano, president of the state AFL-CIO. Gov. CT DOT faces criticism following overnight tree-cutting, Haar: Payouts at fading CT trash agency offer lessons in a crisis, State nursing homes could face fine due to too many empty beds, CT legislators revive debate over firefighters' cancer benefits. Most state employees would get a $4,500 raise in the first year of the budget. Selling your home? November 3, 2021 @ This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. March 17, 2022 Veterans Pay Raise Hiring The Veterans Affairs Department is seeking more authority to boost pay for its employees and hire new ones faster, while also vowing to offer. Though the list of reforms may be exhausting to review, it is far from exhaustive! The announcement Thursday from the governors office of the 7.5% raises comes as union workers ramp up their fight for wage increases in their new contracts, which they are currently negotiating with the state. A salary increase of a specific dollar amount distributed across pay periods. Alabama Gov. By 2020, the state paid $2.2 billion to 55,348 retirees. Many ancient pipes in CT aren't up to the task of draining storm water, yet officials just seem to shrug. Its also imperative that we do so. Part of the 2017 SEBAC Agreement between the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition and Gov. Marc can be reached at, Connecticut saw a 1,600 decrease in nonfarm industry positions in December, while November private sector gains (3,300) were revised down [], Eviction cases in Hartford and Bridgeport have remained far below historical averages since the Supreme Court overturned the federal eviction []. . The long session, as non-election years are called in Hartford, will be centered around the biennial budget. . 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. Published April 21, 2022 Updated on April 21, 2022 at 2:04 pm. Besides, all three of these difficult and only marginally helpful alternatives share one huge liability: The SEBAC unions will fight them tooth and nail, because all three reduce the number of unionized state employees paying dues to the union. The $2 billion agreement also includes special lump-sum payments of $2,500 for active employees whove been on the job since March 31 and $1,000 for those employed as of July 15, 2022. Theres a pro-rated bonus for part-time employees. 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. If you worked in CT and then decided to retire elsewhere, then the number of plans you can choose from will be more limited. The Democrat-controlled Appropriations Committee approved the contracts in two votes, both largely along party lines, with almost no debate. What elements of the cost of living adjustment are changing? Ned Lamont asking union employees to forgo the raise amid record high unemployment and a. Salary Increase Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Certain Non Represented Employees E Item 2664. 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. HARTFORD Connecticut Republicans questioned bonuses of $3,500 for some state employees Thursday in a pay-increase package that requires legislative approval in the coming two months. Retirement reduces your benefit by 5/9 of a percent for each month before the normal retirement age up to 36 months. We promise to never sell your information or overload you with emails. Changes to state employee retirement benefits will go into effect in July of 2022 If you are married, then you can choose between the joint payment options that would either leave your spouse 100% or 50% survivor benefit, or an alternative would be a period certain option. In an effort to mitigate the potential loss of thousands of state employees, Gov. Why? Spring & Summer at Mt. The raise was negotiated as part of a 2017 agreement between the state and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. Our services start by completing a free 20-minute introductory call to ensure we are a good match. While the bonuses weren't expected until early 2022, they are now expected to be paid before the end of December, Menghini said, with raises coming next year, once the University receives further guidance from the UNC System . We dont have to continue to overtax our citizens because we took federal money, Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) said. 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. After July 1, 2022, these amounts will be increasing to 3% for hazardous duty retirees and 5% for non-hazardous duty retirees. How are my health insurance premiums changing? Intro. Over the next decade, he added, going with one-time bonuses and a smaller inflationary increase saves the state about $150 million. As introduced before the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday, the 2022-23 State Employee Pay Plan would keep base salary wages for most state employees stagnant through fiscal year 2022, which runs from July 2021 to June 2022, and then provide a 55-cent-per-hour raise in fiscal year 2023. More than 40,000 unionized state employees would receive $3,500 each in . Retired Connecticut state employees will see a substantial bump to their pension payments as a result of increasing economic inflation. Please stop trying to buy votes from the state workers and recognise you have much broader responsibilities, James Solberg, a financial services executive from Darien, testified Monday. That includes Gov. The bonuses, the GOP argued, are hardly the key to retaining workers, as the governor and other Democrats claim. Gross wages.The median household income is $80,958 (2022). Delaying these raises for state employees can mean someone else who works at a nonprofit can go back to work and provide needed care for someone who is physically, mentally, or emotionally struggling.. 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. Labor agreed to a 2.5% cost of living increase only because lump sum bonuses were offered, he said. Those who were previously part of Tier 1 and 2, left their job, and then were rehired after July 1, 2011, would also find themselves within the Tier 3 plan. All Rights Reserved. Inevitably, it will be highly unpopular, so the announcement will be buried as deeply as possible and spun like a top by Lamonts spokespeople. The governor's spending plan would add the $5,000 raises for full-time employees to the 2022 budget and make a permanent $5,000 cost-of-living adjustment in fiscal year 2023, which starts July 1. There is ample evidence that this is a fair contract, a reasonable contract, an affordable contract, she said of Connecticuts wage hikes. $3.1 billion rainy day fund$3.95 billion in black ink this fiscal yearA grand total of slightly more than $7 billion. The. Get CT Mirror briefings with enterprise reporting, investigations and more in your inbox daily. The easiest way out of the crisis is to keep employees on board by offering them generous pay and benefit incentives. Therefore, if you do not qualify for normal retirement then it may not be the best idea to take an early retirement and receive a reduced pension benefit. Tier 2 is a non-contributory defined benefit retirement plan (for most members), and those employees that were hired between July 2, 1984 and June 30, 1997, while Tier 2a is a contributory defined benefit retirement plan for those hired between July 1, 1997 and June 30, 2011. The Senate version would spend about $2.2 billion on 5% pay raises in each year for state and state-supported local employees, including teachers, plus $1,000 one-time bonuses. A wave of state employee retirements is expected in the coming months, resulting in an "unprecedented" loss of knowledge and skills, some officials say. 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 one thing we know about Ned Lamont or any Democrat, for that matter is that he will not fight the unions. 3 Connecticut . 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. Missouri Gov. How will schools be implementing to curriculum requirements? December 30, 2021 @ 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. Livingston said the unions were prepared to seek a general wage increase of 3% or more and that an arbitrator already had approved a 3% bump for the current fiscal year. State Rep. Matt Ritter, the Democratic speaker of the House, says for Republicans to propose tax cuts without some legal guidance and clarity is irresponsible. Lamont joined others to announce the deployment FEMAs new COVID-19 mobile vaccination unit, which is set up and running this week in the zoos parking lot. Under the plan approved Tuesday, full-time state workers would receive a raise ranging from 2.3% to 9% depending on their pay grade, with the lowest grades receiving higher raises. The deal thats been presented to you is going to radically diminish the General Assembly and this committees discretion over spending for years to come, warned Ken Girardin, Yankees research director, who predicted it would eventually strip funding from social services, municipal aid and the states ability to offer tax cuts to Connecticut households. and 75% of the increase above 6%, with a minimum COLA of 2%, and a maximum of 7.5%. Collective bargaining units would receive raises according to whatever they have negotiated. Ned Lamont defended raises and bonuses Tuesday that could boost state . 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