Lamont Asks For State Union Raise Delay, They Said No

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont said his hands are legally tied as state employees are scheduled to get a 3.5 percent pay raise come July 1; it also includes a two percent annual step increase.

“I can’t see giving everybody in state government a raise right now...I appreciate my predecessors, ‘I’ll leave you with this obligation,” he said. “I would have put it off, and I think we should be put off.”

The raises were approved during the 2017 agreement between the state under Gov. Dannel Malloy and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition. The agreement came with a wage freeze from 2016 to 2019 and layoff protection from 2019 to 2021. The agreement also made retirement benefits less generous for new state employees among other changes.

Lamont said he would prefer the general pay raise be put off and workers on the front lines of the pandemic should receive hazard pay.

Lamont has had discussions with union leadership which he classified as good, but not productive.

Connecticut is facing an estimated budget deficit of $619.9 million for fiscal year 2020, which ends June 30, according to the state Comptroller’s office. Much of that is due to the pandemic’s effect on the economy. Connecticut’s rainy day fund has more than $2.5 billion in its coffers, which will help close the deficit for this year, but state Comptroller Kevin Lembo warned that it likely wouldn't be enough to close future budget deficits.

Union members agreeing to delay their raises would send a message of solidarity with other workers.

“I think we are in an economy where you have got close to 20 percent unemployment, I think you’re in an economy where you see a lot of people on furlough, you see a lot of people taking 20 percent off their paychecks just so they can keep their jobs, and I think that would send the right signal and that's how we work together," Lamont said.

State Senate Republican leader Len Fasano wrote to union leadership and Lamont in April that the raises should be delayed and the savings should be redirected to nonprofits struggling to weather the coronavirus pandemic. The raises are estimated to cost $119 million from the General Fund and $15.3 million from the Special Transportation Fund.

“Given this situation, I ask that you consider pausing the scheduled state employee pay increases and using those funds to instead bolster Connecticut’s struggling nonprofits so they can support their workers and vulnerable clients,” Fasano said in the letter. “At a time when everyone is sacrificing so much, when jobs are disappearing around us, a small sacrifice of temporarily pausing a pay increase can go a long way.”

Overall the 2017 SEBAC agreement saved more than $1 billion for the state between fiscal years 2018 and 2021, according to OFA.

Judge Rules Gun Fingerprinting Must Resume

A federal judge ruled Connecticut must resume fingerprinting services for new gun permits by June 15.

“All in all, I can well understand why the Governor’s order and Commissioner’s actions were justified at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Meyer in his decision. “But with the passage of time it is clear that a categorical ban on the collection of fingerprints no longer bears a substantial relation to protecting public health consistent with respecting plaintiffs’ constitutional rights.”

The lawsuit was filed by The Connecticut Citizens Defense League. The group argued Lamont’s decision to suspend fingerprinting services on March 17 was unconstitutional since fingerprinting is a necessary step for obtaining a permit.

Lamont said he planned to allow the return of fingerprinting services soon even without the court decision.