A few weeks ago the General Assembly passed a budget which in many respects was extremely hostile to State Employees.  The budget put before the Governor included provisions severely restricting future collective bargaining rights.  In essence, that budget represented a direct assault on the future of collective bargaining in Connecticut.

Governor Malloy vetoed that budget.  We are thankful that he did.  The legislators who passed that budget should be embarrassed, for they ignored the sacrifices recently made by state employees.  State Employees, and the unions that represent them, agreed to

The AFT national office has offered to run a Student Debt Clinic at A&R on Thursday 10/12 from 6:00 - 7:30pm.  This Clinic will be open to all A&R members and their families.  There is no need to pre-register, feel free to simply stop by.  There will be a light meal served.

This is NOT a train-the-trainer event, this is the Student Debt Clinic and is open to anyone interested in learning how to avoid or lower student debt.  This is being provided by AFT because our endeavor into this type of training session is gaining national attention and momentum in addressing a major financial crisis

Although a week has gone by, there is still no agreement between Anthem and Hartford Healthcare.  Those of us covered by Anthem should have received a letter from both corporations and from the Comptroller's office explaining the situation.  There are many unanswered questions as this situation has not occured before.

As of now, those of us with Anthem POS will be charged "out-of-network" rates for Hartford Healthcare hospitals,facilities, and providers.  For Anthem POE participants, there are no out-of-network services, meaning, there is no insurance coverage at Hartford Healthcare facilities

IMPORTANT:
The contract between Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and Hartford HealthCare has lapsed.  The parties reached an impasse and have not renewed their contract.  As a result, Hartford HealthCare facilities will be treated as out-of-network by Anthem, significantly increasing the cost for services at the following facilities, among others, if you are insured by Anthem:

• Hartford Hospital
• The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain and Southington
• Midstate Medical Center in Meriden
• Backus Hospital in Norwich
• Windham Hospital in Willimantic
• Hartford HealthCare Medical Group
• Natchaug Hospital
• R

It is possible that the State House of Representatives will hold a vote on Tuesday October 3^rd in an attempt to override the Governor's veto of the budget bill which passed both chambers of the General Assembly a couple of weeks ago.  A two-thirds majority vote is needed to override the veto in the House and it doesn't appear the votes are there, but if they are holding the vote, it is certainly a risk.  If the veto over-ride is successful in the House, then the State Senate would convene and hold a veto override vote within days.  The Governor (thankfully) vetoed the budget which contains an

If you care about future beneifts, call the Governor and urge him to
VETO THE BUDGET!!!

As a reminder, the budget:

• Increases pension contributions for all employees to 7% of salary in 2027
• Lowers the Tier2, 2A, 3 pension calculation in 2027
• Ends retiree pension COLAs in 2027 for ALL retirees
• Ends OT in pension calculations starting in 2027.
• State Labor contract agreements or arbitrated agreements would be rejected if not voted on in the legislature within 30 days.  Any rejected agreement would then have to be arbitrated (or re-arbitrated) and sent back to the legislature for automatic passage.
• Limits what an arbitrator may consider for the State's "ability to pay" during negotiations.
• Allows the State to break contracts under certain circumstances.  This is not just labor contracts this is any and all contracts...it is unclear if they actually tried to deem themselves this much power and authority, but it certainly seems to violate federal contract laws.
• Limits SEBAC and union agreements to 4 years
• Requires the Comptroller to annually review the SEBAC2017 agreement to ensure that the projected savings are achieved and allows the Governor to recover any lapse if insufficient savings.