Posts published in “TV/Radio”

Lee Elci: All right, so I have a question for you. You were mentioned at the Yankee Institute for adding to the massive body of evidence of favoritism by Connecticut Democrats toward government employees and unions. Could you elaborate on some key pieces of evidence from that body that you found most compelling?

Red Jahncke: Well, I think what you're referring to is noteworthy. A couple of weeks ago, this issue of state employee compensation and how extraordinarily generous it is broke into the news cycle. I'm happy that last week, Hearst newspapers ran two editorials of their own suggesting that state employee compensation should be reviewed and a wage freeze considered.

To answer your specific question, this began back in the 1930s and '40s when Franklin Delano Roosevelt went on the record saying that unions had no place in government. The function of a union is to negotiate across the table from an employer, which works in the private sector but not in the public sector, where both sides are on the same side of the table.

Lee Elci: All right. Red Jahncke is with us, and we're chatting again. He's been a major driving force behind conversations about employee wages, Governor Lamont, and everything associated with that. So let me ask you this. One of the editorials in Hearst was about Governor Lamont’s decision to offer special treatment to employees affected by DOGE reductions. What's your take on this?

The Cost of State Employee Compensation

Lee Elci: What’s the simplest answer as to why Governor Lamont has rewarded state employees with six consecutive annual wage increases?

Red Jahncke: I think he doesn’t care. He sees it as a distant problem. If he even pays attention, he has this wonderful little mantra: “I have to pay our state employees these wages and benefits so I can hire the best and the brightest.” Well, does that mean the other 49 states are hiring only dim bulbs and deadbeats?

The real issue is that state employee compensation is by far the largest component of the budget—over $10 billion a year. You can have an enormous impact simply by holding the line on state employee pay. If you institute a two-year wage freeze, you free up money that the governor claims he doesn’t have.

This isn’t just an accounting problem—it’s a political one. The administration is making a deliberate choice to prioritize public-sector raises over fiscal responsibility.

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.

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…

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.

Lee Elci: Alright! I want to ask you before we get into some of the things I'm sure you want to get into. I wanted to quickly ask you, we have a guest coming up who's done extensive research again. But the idea is this, 30 million dollars forgiveness of medical debt. What's your thoughts on that here by the governor.

Red Jahncke: This a function of the combination of immigration non-enforcement, and the national policy, that, if someone appears in the emergency room, you can't deny them if they can't pay. This is what's called non-compensated care. It piles up at the hospitals. Hospitals have to eat it. It sits on their books. They load that debt onto all their other charges in order to recover it. So, the governor is transferring that to a nonprofit [Undue Medical Debt, aka Medical Debt Resolution Inc.] that will officially forgive the debt. It's $30 million that's leaving the books of the hospitals. But what the hospitals are actually getting for that. Maybe you know the figure, but it's nowhere near 30 million. In essence, we [Connecticut citizens] are going to pay for that. People who have medical insurance, are responsible enough to have some kind of coverage. Our bills are going to go up. The nonprofit involved here is not taking on this debt dollar-for-dollar. It's $30 million face amount. They're probably giving the hospitals $2 million [actually, the norm is 1 cent on the dollar].

Lee Elci: Okay? Alright! Yeah. I'll find that number out when we come back. Switching from that, Red, to interest rates. They're going to drop the interest rates again here, thoughts on the drop of our interest rates.

Lee Elci: A lot of glad-handing and patting each other on the back the other day up in Hartford, right?

Red Jahncke: Yeah, it was quite a session—making a mountain out of a molehill.

Lee Elci: All right.

Red Jahncke: They had the Governor, the Comptroller, and the Treasurer all patting themselves on the back for the improvement in the State Employee Pension Fund, which inched up from 52% funded to 55% funded. Only in Connecticut do you pop the corks on the champagne bottles to celebrate a 3% improvement.