(Audio) Sen. Boucher, the highest ranking Republican on the state legislature’s transportation committee, talks about the State DOT’s plan to change exit numbers on Connecticut’s highways.

Article and audio as it appeared on CTTalking.com

Connecticut state Sen. Toni Boucher, R-Wilton, says in light of the state’s budget problems, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy should reopen contract negotiations with the state’s public employee unions.

“You have to (reopen talks), Boucher told me, during an interview. “There is no way around that. That is the sacred cow. That is the protected class. In fact, the taxpayers are increasingly burdened due to the fact we have some of the most generous benefits in the country.”

Malloy and the unions negotiated a deal in 2011, that lasts through 2022.
A Bloomberg News story was headlined “Connecticut teetering,” attributing part of the state’s fiscal woes to pension commitments promised to state public employee unions that are woefully underfunded. The Malloy administration disputes the dire straits claimed by Bloomberg and others.

Meanwhile, Boucher, the highest ranking Republican on the state legislature’s transportation committee, talks about the State DOT’s plan to change exit numbers on Connecticut’s highways. We also get into the subject of tolls, the gasoline tax and more.

At the start of the podcast I weigh in on the latest job venture forSen. Toni Boucher former Connecticut Speaker of the House Chris Donovan.