Posts published in “Columns”

Lamont’s Stealth Hiring Freeze Should Be Paired With a Wage Freeze

By Red Jahncke on March 18, 2025

Lamont’s Stealth Hiring Freeze Should Be Paired With a Wage Freeze

Governor Lamont rolled out a stealth hiring freeze last week. There was no press release. Lamont’s office declined to comment.

Lamont has been on a hiring binge. The unionized workforce has swelled by about 5% over the last two full fiscal years, according to figures in the latest pension fund valuation report as of June 30, 2024.

On top of that, of course, unionized state employees have received a 33% pay raise, That’s a double whammy.

The total payroll cost for unionized state employees has ballooned $700 million from $3.8 billion in fiscal 2022 to $4.5 billion in FY2024, or 18% in just two years? That would be an embarrassment to anyone claiming to be a fiscal moderate. Thus, Lamont’s silence.

Republicans Fight Lamont on State’s Overgenerous Pay

By Red Jahncke on March 5, 2025

Republicans Fight Lamont on State’s Overgenerous Pay

Overgenerous Connecticut state employee compensation is attracting increasing attention. After a 33% wage increase under Governor Lamont, Republicans led by Senate minority leader Stephen Harding are calling for a two-year wage freeze.

The GOP is not stopping there. Senator Rob Sampson has proposed a bill eliminating overtime from the calculation of state employee pensions, thereby preventing “overtime spiking,” a pension abuse examined in a just-released Yankee Institute study conducted by The Townsend Group which I head. Representative Tom O’Dea has entered a bill capping pensions at $150,000 per year; many overgenerous pensions result from OT spiking.

Connecticut: In Worst Financial Condition, Yet Paying State Employees Top Dollar

By Red Jahncke on March 4, 2025

Connecticut: In Worst Financial Condition, Yet Paying State Employees Top Dollar

Connecticut state employees enjoy an amazingly lucrative gravy train. They may think the drama in Washington, DC will deflect attention from their extraordinarily cushy existence in Hartford and hide the additional gravy likely to flow from “contract negotiations” between union bosses (SEBAC) and union-friendly Governor Ned Lamont.

Yet, revelations about their compensation and cushy jobs keep cropping up.

In a study just released by Nutmeg Research Initiative, Connecticut state employees are tied with California for the most generous health care benefits in retirement (also known as OPEBs, meaning “Other Post-Employment Benefits).

The News Side of the Media is Asking Lamont About a State Wage Freeze – Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

By Red Jahncke on February 26, 2025

The News Side of the Media is Asking Lamont About a State Wage Freeze – Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

Lee Elci: All right. What are you focusing on again today?

Red Jahncke: Well, I think it's noteworthy that last week, the news media—not the commentary segment, such as yours and mine, right?—the news media asked Ned Lamont about unfair wage increases for state employees. So we have punched through. We are in the news cycle. Ned can no longer ignore this issue, which has always been his preferred approach.

Lee Elci: So, and he's hiding away right now. He's MIA.

Red Jahncke: Isn't he? Yes, he is. He's M.I.A. We are not. Down here in lower Fairfield County, I understand the Greenwich RTC discussed this very issue in its meeting last night. I was invited to Kent, Connecticut, over the weekend to speak about it to the Kent RTC at their Lincoln Dinner. You had Ben Proto on Monday. Ben tells me he discussed it with you. We're beginning to raise the consciousness of the public.

Lamont Busts the Fiscal Guardrails — Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

By Red Jahncke on February 13, 2025

Lamont Busts the Fiscal Guardrails — Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

Lee Elci: All right welcome! Every Wednesday, we bring on Red Jahncke.

You ready to rock and roll today.

Red Jahncke: I'm ready to rock and roll.

Lee Elci: All right. So, Governor Lamont once called Connecticut's Fiscal Guardrail “sacrosanct.” How significant is his decision to modify the Volatility Cap! And do you think this sets a dangerous precedent.

Red Jahncke: Yes, I do. There are a couple of income tax revenue streams that are capped at a certain level, above which all revenue is redirected into the state employee pension fund. He has raised the cap. So, $300 million less is going to go into the pensions. That's the 1st violation of the fiscal guardrails.

The budget normally takes the surplus from the prior year and transfers it into the next year's budget. That's about $300 million. If he let the $300 million into the budget, plus the $300M extra from raising the level of Volatility Cap, that $600M would send spending over the Spending Cap.

So what's he doing with that year-end surplus from last year that should go into this year’s [budget]. He's intercepting it and creating an off-budget spending program. That's violation number 2.

That's just a violation of good budget practice. If you're going to have a budget, you should have everything in it. What's the point of having discipline within the budget, if every time you want to spend more money, you just go off-budget?

Once “Sacrosanct,” Fiscal Guardrails Are Not So Holy Now in Lamont World

By Red Jahncke on February 7, 2025

Once “Sacrosanct,” Fiscal Guardrails Are Not So Holy Now in Lamont World

Governor Lamont is violating the fiscal guardrails, converting them from a regime of budgetary discipline into a slush fund to pay Connecticut state employees higher wages than in 48 other states and, secondarily, to fund a few priorities of progressive Democrats.

To Preserve the Fiscal Guardrails, Freeze State Employee Wages

By Red Jahncke on February 3, 2025

To Preserve the Fiscal Guardrails, Freeze State Employee Wages

The best way to defend Connecticut’s fiscal guardrails is to freeze state employee wages that are 33% higher today after six consecutive annual pay increases under Governor Lamont.

February 3, 2025

The guardrails are under attack by Democrats who want to increase spending. They want to lay their hands on the $6 billion in income tax revenue that the guardrails have diverted from spending and channeled into the state employee retirement fund (SERF) over the last six years.

Yet, cumulative annual dollar increases in state employee wages over the last six years total an aggregate of about $3 billion, according to data in the latest report of SERF’s actuary. In addition, since pensions are based on wages, SERF pension liabilities have increased $9 billion over those six years. That’s $12 billion that has been, or will be, spent on increased pay and benefits for state employees that could have been spent on the Democrats’ priorities.

In the simplest terms, had wage increases been limited to half the actual level, the aggregate wage increase would have been about $1.5 billion and, logically, the increase in pension liabilities only about $4.5 billion, freeing up $6 billion within the guardrails for the additional spending desired by Democrats.

A Double-Whammy: Lamont’s 33% Wage Hike for State Employees Means $1.1 Billion In Higher Annual Payroll Cost AND $9 Billion In Extra Pension Liabilities – Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

By Red Jahncke on January 15, 2025

A Double-Whammy: Lamont’s 33% Wage Hike for State Employees Means $1.1 Billion In Higher Annual Payroll Cost AND $9 Billion In Extra Pension Liabilities – Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

Lee Elci: We're doing okay. So up on your website, is your latest piece. Lamont is paying state employees a billion more than Malloy, and we talked a little bit about this last week, but you want to jump back into it again.

Red Jahncke: I want to jump right back in. I will repeat my mantra, which is Lamont has awarded state employees a 33% wage increase. That means some employee making 100,000 when he took office at his first inaugural is now making $133,000. That is unfair and unsustainable. Those wages are far in excess of what's being paid in the private sector. It is unsustainable for the State. This state is not growing. Real economic growth is less than 1%. You can't sustain that kind of pay for State employees with the anemic economy that we have.

There's this debate in Hartford, right? The nonprofits are beating the drum that they are 450 million dollars behind, because their funding has been squeezed over the last decade, and they've lost ground. Workers in the nonprofits who provide many of the social services that the State extends to the needy are vastly underpaid compared to State employees. So they want that 450 million put in the budget this year so that they can catch up. What they don't understand is: in going after the fiscal guardrails, they're going after the wrong problem.

Lee Elci: All right. Well, what's the right problem?

Red Jahncke: Well, the right problem is when you increase wages by 33%, wage costs skyrocket. When…

State Employee Raises, Not Fiscal Guardrails, Put Squeeze on Spending

By Red Jahncke on January 14, 2025

State Employee Raises, Not Fiscal Guardrails, Put Squeeze on Spending

There’s a fight brewing within the ranks of Democrats in Hartford over what changes to make in state budget policy so they can spend more money.

January 13, 2025

Progressives want to bust the “fiscal guardrails” which both limit spending and redirect billions into the state’s drastically underfunded pension funds. They want to get their hands on the money going into pensions. They want to use that money to spend beyond the guardrails, which are designed to keep spending in line with the state’s economic growth.

Progressives have misdiagnosed the problem. Lamont has caused the problem. The obstacle to more spending is not the fiscal guardrails, but rather the 33% increase in wages that Lamont has lavished on state employees.

Under Lamont, unionized state employee wages have grown $1.1 billion from $3.4 billion annually when he first took office in 2019 to $4.5 billion last fiscal year, as catalogued in the latest report of the pension fund actuary.

If progressives want to spend more money, they need to freeze state employee wages.

Lamont is Paying State Employees $1 Billion More Than Malloy – Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

By Red Jahncke on January 14, 2025

Lamont is Paying State Employees $1 Billion More Than Malloy – Talking with Lee Elci on News Now, 94.9FM

Lee Elci: Welcome back. I’ve been talking about this all day—since January 6th was on Monday. There are still reports of people being held without trial. What’s your take on this situation?

Red Jahncke: Anyone held without charges is a clear violation of the Constitution—it’s entirely unjust. They should be released immediately. As for the broader situation, I think many innocent people got caught up in something they never intended to participate in. Things just spiraled out of control. I’m sure President-elect Trump will pardon some of them. However, those who led or planned the attack on the Capitol shouldn’t be pardoned or released. That’s my stance.

Lee Elci: Fair enough. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Let’s switch gears—today marks the opening of the legislative session. I figured you’d be out there waving a flag that says, “Lower State Employee Pay.” Were you?

Red Jahncke: You know the mantra by now, right? Can you repeat it?

Lee Elci: You go ahead—give it to us.

Red Jahncke: Thirty-three percent.

Lee Elci: Oh, yes.

Red Jahncke: State employees, under Governor Ned Lamont, have received a 33% wage increase, which amounts to an additional billion dollars across the workforce. And that’s just within the executive branch—not everyone on the state payroll. To put it in perspective, state wages have risen from $3.4 billion in 2018 to $4.5 billion for fiscal year 2024. Calling this unsustainable is an understatement.