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Last week, Governor Dannel Malloy and union negotiators for state employees reached a deal to save $1.6 billion over the next two years. Now, as WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, the details are out.
The changes to the state budget include savings of $500 million in pension costs and nearly $400 million in health care costs.
The deal guarantees no layoffs for four years, but it includes a two-year wage freeze. Here's Mark Ojakian, Malloy's chief negotiator.
"The fact that the employees were willing to give up two years of hard wage freezes, which in the first year is $169 million and in the second year is $309 million, and then there's savings from not having to put that money into the pension fund, that was a huge amount of money."
The deal doesn't include a retirement incentive program. Ojakian says that employees who were hoping for one might now choose to retire.
"Even though the governor said originally there would be no early retirement program or no retirement incentive program, I think people thought that when push came to shove, we would have to do something to cross the finish line. And that did not happen."
The agreement will also mean changes to the state's health care plan that mandates various wellness checks. Failure to comply with the checks comes with a cost of $100 a month. The idea is that healthier employees make for less costly health care.
Finally, the agreement will also raise the retirement age by three years come 2022.
But doesn't fill the entire $2 billion hole in the next two-year state budget. Malloy has until May 31 to tell the legislature how he plans to bridge that gap.
Meanwhile, the state's 15 unions have begun the process of ratifying the deal.
Again, Ojakian.
"I think when folks understand the full impact of the agreement, and they also understand what it would mean not to have this agreement, I'm very hopeful that this agreement will be ratified."
In a statement, union negotiators said that this deal provides stability for public workers and public services.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
