As we head towards FY17, there are several major issues confronting us: budget cuts, personnel reductions, contract expiration, contract negotiations, and State General Assembly elections. They are all connected and they are all a pivotal part of state employment.
The Governor's Office recently sent a memo to all agencies reminding them that there is no money for FY17. The memo spoke of "painful choices" and headcount reductions and promised it will garner public support (Malloy has the lowest approval rating since he issued layoffs in 2011 which was the lowest approval rating since Rowland issued layoffs in 2003, but these layoffs will garner public support).
...and then the memo brought more pleasantry as it further reminded Commissioners that FY18 is even more foreboding than FY17. He, again, speaks of the fiscal cliff (remember, the fiscal cliff is Malloy's own plan, it doesn't really exist, the Comptroller countered the Governor with a long-term spending plan that doesn't require a fiscal disaster in each of the next 16 years culminating with a "fiscal cliff" in 2032, this is a "Malloy mess", not a Connecticut economic reality).
At the same time, the Governor's office wants to beat down our employment contracts. We know he expects no wage increases but for some reason he also feels compelled to meddle with our work hours and slaughter our working conditions (this is his 3rd-world approach to employment rights). Wage increases do have an obvious impact on the budget, the rest of what he seeks is de minimus and simply unwarranted.
Of course there is a way to separate the Governor from his mess, we can do him the favor he doesn’t realize he needs. We hear constantly that two really rich people moved out of State and this should scare us, but our state population has plunged by much more than two people during his tenure. We need to acknowledge that accountants, paralegals, and all of the A&R professionals are just as transportable as the super rich (actually even more portable than the super-rich). So rather than have Malloy crash the middle class and begin a race to the bottom, we can support General Assembly candidates that understand the middle class is the economic engine of a state. Having the highest unemployment numbers is not a path to success, not in the short term, not in the long-run. The AFL-CIO watched this legislative session and ranked all of the State’s Reps and Senators. The AFL-CIO then took the career voting record of our legislators and made endorsements for this year’s elections. These endorsements are important, we can leave the Governor on a path to infamy or can help him and ourselves. The Governor will change if our legislators correct him, but these candidates must be in office to force the change.