Governor’s Statement On Union Deal

From Governor Malloy:

GOV. MALLOY ON RATIFIED AGREEMENT: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STATE AND ITS WORKFORCE SUSTAINABLE

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy released the following statement after it was announced that state employees ratified the agreement with the Malloy Administration.

“As important as it is that we’ve closed the current budget deficit in a responsible way–by avoiding thousands of layoffs and hundreds of millions of dollars in painful spending cuts–the real value of this agreement lies in the $21.5 billion it will save taxpayers over the next 20 years in the form of lower healthcare and retirement costs for state employees.

“We have achieved something the skeptics said was unachievable: we’ve made the relationship between the state and its workforce sustainable. And, unlike in most other states, we did it without going to war with public employees. We’ve shown what’s possible when management and labor work together in a respectful fashion. Sure, this agreement took a few extra months to achieve–but so what? Those extra months are a small price to pay for the billions of dollars that extra time will save taxpayers, the critical services that time will preserve, and the peace of mind that comes from understanding the state now has a sustainable relationship with its employee base. One positive byproduct of this extended debate on the budget is that we’ve identified new savings–some of them fairly significant–that we will pursue even with this ratified agreement. My Budget Director, Ben Barnes, will have more to say about those savings tomorrow.

“Make no mistake: I am committed to continuing to reduce the size, scope and cost of state government. This agreement, therefore, should not be viewed as the end of that process. Rather, along with the consolidations that are already underway, it should be viewed as the beginning of the re-making of Connecticut state government.

“Let me also be clear that we are far from being out of the woods; we still have budgetary issues we need to address, and we’re of course focused every day on turning this economy around and creating good-paying jobs for Connecticut residents. So while this is a good day, and we should all be grateful to everyone who helped make this agreement happen, we need a lot more good days before any of us can feel satisfied.”