Rell Forgets She’ll Be Gone But Not Forgotten in January; Offers Pension Reforms
September 7, 2010 at 2:35 pm
by Ken Dixon
Asked to comment a couple weeks ago on the issue of the state’s massive unfunded pension and health-care liabilitite, Gov. M. Jodi Rell declined. Today, however, she just released “more than a dozen bold, innovative ideas for addressing the state’s $34 billion in unfunded pension and health care liabilities,” which the next governor will choose to ignore or not when they take office in early January, around the time she’s heading back to Brookfield in her own car for a change.
The suggests include establishing a so-called defined contribution plan for new state workers and capping pensions at $100,000 per year.
“Governments all over the country and at every level – federal, state and local – are struggling with this issue,” Rell said in a statement. “Nationwide, it is a $1 trillion problem. The problem in Connecticut has accumulated over decades, to the point where we have about $25 billion in unfunded liabilities for retiree health benefits and about $9 billion for retiree pensions. She would also establish a “Rule of 80,” so that health benefits for former state employees do not start at the time of their retirement, unless their combined age and years of service total 80 years.”
Here’s the rest of her news release:
- Establish a rule that in years where there are negative earnings in investments there would be no Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for that year
- Increase the early retirement to age 60 and increase the penalty for early retirement
- Increase the normal retirement age to 65
- Increase the premium share for retiree health insurance to active rates for the former employee and a higher amount for dependents
- Seek to reduce long-term health cost trends through service delivery changes such as higher co-pays for emergency room and specialist visits
- Move final average salary computation from 3 years to 5 years for pension purposes
- Reduce timeframe for buying back military and other service
- Invest a sizable portion of any savings in the annual Actuarially Required Contribution from these changes towards reducing unfunded liability
September 8th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
My friends, several of whom will be retiring next year as a state employee, have a consensus opinion, that the soon to be ex-governor, will be entering the comedy field. Once again, blaming the state employees on something that wasn’t their fault, is clearly an act of cowardice. The simple fact remains, that the state employees, also have expenses, and pay taxes just like the rest of us do. All these hot shots, simply forget that. Close all the state services down for a couple of weeks, especially during a snowstorm, and see what happens. I’ll bet the tune changes, quicker than making a selection on a digital jukebox. No employee of any kind, should have a target on his or her back. The targets in reality, are those who are paid handsomely, that didn’t have the foresight, to see this coming. Where are all these rocket science economists and number crunchers anyway? Are they too busy filling their pie holes with junk food? Good God.