Connecticut Lawmakers Look At Ending Longevity Payments
HARTFORD, CT (AP / CBSNewYork) - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says Connecticut can no longer afford to make special payments to veteran state employees and believes the General Assembly should pass legislation addressing the twice-a-year longevity bonuses.
WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau: It Costs $40 Million A Year
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More than 30,000 unionized and non-unionized state employees are expected to receive one of two payments on Friday. The second is made on Oct. 1.
Senate Republican leader John McKinney, who wants the payments stopped, says it costs the state almost $40 million a year to make the special payments to workers who've been on the job for 10 years or longer. The payments increase after workers reach longer milestones on the job.
"I have no quarrel with giving state employees merit raises, for people who do their jobs and do their jobs exceptionally well and there a lot of them," McKinney told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau.
McKinney says some workers get longevity payments on top of their pension payouts.
The Democratic governor has been critical of the payments and says lawmakers should send him a bill. Legislators tabled a bill eliminating the payments last year.
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