Senator Kane To Give Back Portion Of Legislative Salary

Senator Rob Kane (R-32) will work without pay one day per month for the rest of this calendar year, and has formally asked the General Assembly’s Office Of Legislative Management to reduce his legislative pay accordingly. Senator Kane’s voluntary pay cut will begin April 1st.

“I was extremely disappointed when the General Assembly rejected the Republicans’ call to cut legislative pay as part of the state budget deficit mitigation plan we adopted earlier this year. If we are going to ask Connecticut citizens to sacrifice to get the state through this fiscal crisis, then we have to be willing to lead by example,” said Senator Kane, a member of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee.

Senator Kane said he realizes that the current economic crisis is forcing far too many businesses, families and individuals to make even greater sacrifices.

“We are seeing businesses close their doors and employees being required to take pay cuts and unpaid furloughs in the hopes of keeping their jobs. A lot of people are already out of work, and pretty much everyone I talk to who is still employed is worried about what is going to happen next. As the owner of a small business and a father helping to support my family, I know how they feel. But doing my job as a legislator without pay one day a month is something I can do to contribute to our efforts to get through this,” said Senator Kane.

Senator Kane noted that the unemployment rate in Connecticut is 7.4 percent, according to the February report issued by the state Department of Labor. According to the state Department of Labor, the state lost 14,300 jobs in February, bringing the loss of Connecticut jobs over the past six months to nearly 45,000.

“As noted in the state Department of Labor’s most recent jobs report, unemployment has been increasing at a slower rate in Connecticut than it is nationally. Hopefully, our economy will turn around sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, we all have to tighten our belts,” said Senator Kane.