Yesterday, at the 11th hour, the state legislature overwhelmingly passed a budget adjustment bill.  Although this budget was bipartisan, it should be noted that Senator Fasano and Representative Themis Klarides were very adamant about attaching amendments to several bills which would have eliminated collective bargaining over pension and healthcare in 2027.  Rep Candelora (North Branford, Northford, Durham) took the time to create a 13 page amendment which completely re-wrote the Collective Bargaining statutes and then attached it as an amendment to a "Minimum Wage" bill.

Credit is due to Representative Joe Aresimowicz and Senator Martin Looney who continued working with their counterparts to agree on a budget plan while also eliminating the politically volatile attachments.  The bipartisan budget now awaits review and approval by the Governor. 

It should not be lost that certain legislators continue advocating for ending collective bargaining for retirement benefits after the 2017 SEBAC contract expires June 30, 2027.  Along with elimination of negotiating retirement  benefits, their proposals include suspending cost-of-living adjustments for retirees post 2027 until the pension obligations reached 80% funding (we are at 40% now).  Representative Themis Klarides held a press conference today (5/10/18) in which she made it clear that ending collective bargaining over retirement benefits is still a high priority and will most certainly rekindle their efforts to end or severely restrict collective bargaining at their next legislative opportunity.  They continue to try and grab the authority for themselves and dictate your working conditions and benefits rather than negotiate over them.

We will remain vigilant and we cannot forget that this is real and that our retirement future is what is at stake.

Read related article at the CT Mirror

 - posted 5/10/18

DAS continues its pursuit of a time tracking system called Kronos.  While the rest of Connecticut fights for minimal financial support, employees are being asked to increase thier contributions to support their benefits, many agencies are seeing their funding dwindle, and the State budget deficit is approach $350 million, DAS continues its quest to squander millions on a time-tracking system that no one wants.  Quite simply, this waste of money should be scrapped.  In these economic times, "wants" are secondary to "needs" and this is a want, not a need.  But since it continues to move forward

The Health Insurance Open Enrollment period will run from May 7th through June 3rd of 2018.  The schedule of on-site open enrollment fairs has been released.  Remember, if you need to drop someone from your insurance, you must do it now.   The most common mistake is failure to remove a recent ex-spouse; they should be removed from coverage unless otherwise ordered by a court.  Children are covered until age 26 on medical and age 19 on dental (unless disabled).

The State Employee Healthcare plan has undergone quite a number of changes over recent years and is becoming a bit difficult to follow. 

Normally, the most recent payperiod would have included longevity payments for those who qualify.  However, in accordance with SEBAC2017, the April longevity payments are delayed until July.

This July we will start to see our paychecks return to normal in many ways: the furlough payments will cease in June, the retro-active pension withdrawals will cease in June, the April longevity will be paid in July, and members will receive the $1,000 lump payment or the $2,000 lump payment (depending on your step placement).  The October Longevity payment will be on time as will the January TopStepPayment

A&R has a proud and longstanding tradition of awarding scholarships to qualifying children of A&R or children of former A&R members who are now members of the A&R Retiree Chapter.  This year's scholarship winners:

HARRY ZILBER AWARD – 1 IN THE AMOUNT OF $2500

Jenny Hawkins
Parent: Susanne Hawkins, DAS, Contract Specialist

POST SECONDARY SCHOLARSHIPS – 5 IN THE AMOUNT OF $1500

Signe Lee
Parent: Grace Jiang, DOI, Insurance Accredited Financial Examiner

Reeya Khurana
Parent: Sanjeev Khurana, DRS, Revenue Examiner 3

Jenna Mazza
Parent: Paul Mazza, DOT, Associate Accounts Examiner

Angela Cappelli
Parent: Anne

Thursday April 26th is a day of unity, it is also the day of the A&R Convention.  we are hoping all A&R employees will join together and wear blue on Thursday 4/26/18 as a show of solidarity.