Fasano: State Must do More to Reduce Overtime Costs

Hartford – Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement regarding the state’s $32 million reduction in overtime expenses as reported by the Office of Fiscal Analysis. Through the 11th month of Fiscal Year 2016, the state has spent $204.7 million on overtime expenditures.

“This reduction of overtime is good news and something Republicans have pushed for, and Democrats have ignored, for years. However, this is barely a beginning to tackling the problem of restructuring the budget. One can only imagine how much more overtime the state could save if the Democrats accepted the Republican proposal to implement an overtime accountability board as part of the Office of Fiscal Analysis, never mind how much we could have saved over the last several years if, instead of one party rule, Democrats actually accepted more Republican ideas and listened to our calls for change and action.

“Sen. Looney once said, ‘structural reforms, such as…an overtime accountability department, as suggested by Fasano, won’t produce immediate savings, but [Democrats] are willing to discuss these things if it means the Republicans will engage in a bipartisan budget deal.’

“Overtime accountability does produce savings. I fundamentally believe that if someone is paying attention and asking questions and pushing back on the utilization of overtime, then those expenditures will naturally reduce. The more we do to monitor and raise questions, the more we can naturally reduce overtime costs, which is why Republicans will continue to push for an overtime accountability board. We hope Democrats will join us in our call for more oversight.”