State Union Coalition Responds to Budget Package Passed by the State Legislature
by Matt O'Connor on September 1stLeo Canty, 2nd Vice-President of AFT Connecticut, made the following statement today in response to the 2010-2011 budget package passed by the State Legislature late last evening. His comments reflect the view of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), where he serves as a representative:
“Our coalition of state public service workers long ago recognized Connecticut’s economic crisis required bold, progressive solutions. Our members did their part by agreeing to provide more than $700 million in savings.
“But for over seven months, the Governor has held up the budget process by steadfastly refusing to ask Connecticut’s most wealthy citizens and corporations to be part of the solution. Even when she belatedly embraced a millionaires’ tax, she tied it to eliminating the millionaires’ inheritance tax. Again and again, she has called for cuts to services; services for our children, for our students, for our seniors, for our state’s most vulnerable citizens.
“In an effort to move forward, last night Democratic legislators cut over 1.8 billion dollars in spending while trying to protect public services and keep our economy from crumbling.
“Still, the Governor maintains that working class and middle class families should sacrifice even more. We do not agree. The deeps cuts in this budget already inflict far too much pain on those who can least afford it, and sap far too many resources from programs and services all of us need.
“Every time the governor demands still more cuts, it’s the people of this state who bleed. We’ve all bled enough.”
AFT Connecticut is one of thirteen unions in the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), which serves to unite approximately 50,000 Connecticut State Employees to address issues of common concern. To learn more about the coalition’s campaign for a fair budget and a livable state with great public services visit www.InThisTogetherCT.org.
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