The Treasure Coast RC 43 TRIF Unit, Teachers Retired In Florida, gathered in Port Saint Lucie to share gifts and holiday cheer.

In an article entitled "Ben Barnes Unplugged" from CTNewsJunkie, outgoing OPM Secretary Ben Barnes spoke candidly about State Employee Pensions at a state budget forum on 12/13/18.  Ben Barnes' view as reported in the CTNewsJunkie article:

Barnes also talked at length about the issue of state pensions. He said he felt that state workers were unfairly “scapegoated” for the problem.

He said while there are some examples of very high pensions being paid to state employees, the average state pension is about $38,000.

“Local government pensions are way better,” the OPM secretary said. He said those who work in the private sector also retire with much better pensions than the average state worker.

Besides, Barnes said, there is a moral obligation involved.

“The law of the land is that when somebody retires with a pension they have a right to that pension,” Barnes said. “We can’t renege on our deal to employees.”

He said even if there was a legal way found to tear up state pension agreements, “Why on earth would we want to do that? These are folks who are cleaning up after our elderly parents or our grandparents. The idea that we would walk away from that is reprehensible.”

Barnes said while he believes that the budget will be in good hands with Lamont in charge and the newly-elected legislature, he also said he’s worried that the 2019 budget was built with what he termed “one-time sweeps” that will create a $630 million hole that will need to be filled in next year’s budget.

Thank you, Ben...we know we are an important piece of the budget, but not the budget problem.  State Employees became the target of a heavily-funded, politically-motivated campaign.  That is why we were so adamant in turning out the vote and turning around the legislature; too many false-narratives and untruthful assessments, it was angering.  Hopefully, some in the legislature will now focus on the real roots of the problem, not the easy target.  Timely as it may be, the Comptroller's Office updated the "OpenPension" piece of the "OpenConnecticut" portal this week to incorporate up-to-date monthly pension information as opposed to the prior iteration which provided static, annual data  visit OpenPension...also, the newly created Pension Stability Commission was given an extension to complete their recommendations on ways to improve the pension liability issues...and we might as well note that on December 3, 2018, Comptroller Lembo projected a $245m surplus for FY19 (which ends June 30, 2019). 

Refreshing to see the State budget director acknowledge that state employees and our benefits are not the source nor the sole solution to the State's budget problems.  It is refreshing to see that there are better ways to improve the semi-scientific pension liability numbers in some manner other than stripping away benefits, and it is certainly refreshing to see a surplus projected in the annual budget.

We are currently pursuing a Telecommuting agreement with the State and some questions have been raised relating to certain job titles and the ability for incumbents in those titles to Telecommute.

If you hold any of the titles listed below, would you complete the brief survey so we can be prepared to speak to these titles regarding your ability to Telecommute.

Telecommuting Job Title Survey

December 5, 2018

Compiled by: Tracy Radich

(PDF Download)

The U.S. Department of Education is making changes to fix the troubled TEACH grant program. If you had your grant converted to a loan because of bureaucratic or paperwork mistakes, you have a chance to get it converted back, despite previous denials. Read this NPR article for more information.

Several state agencies have notified governor elect Lamont that large swaths of the state workforce will likely retire within the next few years. The departures could result in a drain on institutional knowledge throughout state agencies as well having an impact on state finances, according to an article published by the Associate Press.

PRESIDENT

Terrence Martin-UTR                        511

Benjamin Royal-EON/BAMN            95

VICE PRESIDENT

Lakia Wilson-UTR                            445

Glenda Booker-UTR                        413

Robin Jennings-UTR                       402

Welia Dawson-DTFE                       179

Nicole Conaway-EON/BAMN           99

Ursula Byrd-EON/BAMN                  80

Ingrid Rivers-EON/BAMN                 55

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Lisa Card-UTR                               498

Beverly Wilkerson-UTR                  485

Jason Posey-UTR                          476

Marcus Walton-UTR                       471

Marsha Lewis-UTR                         470

Sarah Niemi-UTR                           466

Darnese Wilkinson-UTR                 460

Rodney Fresh-UTR                        450

Samatha Hoskin                             445

Sean Perrin-UTR                            441

Dwan McGrady-UTR                      430

Marietta Elliott-DTFE                      178

Mary Jo Brockman-EON/BAMN     122

Michael Robertson-EON/BAMN     107

Myra Akpabio-EON/BAMN             106

TREASURER

Michelle Broughton-UTR                473

Tracy Brown-EON/BAMN               98

RECORDING SECRETARY

Elena Brantley-Phillips-UTR          478

Tracy L. Arneau-EON/BAMN        109

TRUSTEE

Angela Link-UTR                          487

Vida Bonacci-UTR                        486

Marva Needham Fletcher-UTR    482

Richard Ostrowski-EON/BAMN    122

Governor elect Ned Lamont has appointed Melissa McCaw as Office of Policy and Management (OPM) Secretary.  Ms. McCaw replaces outgoing OPM Secretary Ben Barnes.  The OPM Secretary, described by Lamont as one of the two most important positions within his administration, is responsible for overseeing the state budget.  OPM also oversees the office of labor relations (OLR) as it relates to that budget.    A&R welcomes incoming Secretary McCaw.