Sen. McLachlan Says Union Agreement Sends State Down a Fiscally Destructive Path

State Senator Michael McLachlan (R-24) said the approval of a union agreement brokered by the Malloy Administration continues to send Connecticut down a financially destructive path.

“I am concerned about this agreement for many reasons,” Sen. McLachlan said. “It is clear that people are watching what the legislature here in Connecticut is doing. And these are people who are not political but who are running business every day in our state. Wall Street is paying close attention to what we are doing. All of those people are saying that Connecticut is headed in the wrong direction and this agreement is more of the same.”

Sen. McLachlan said he has heard from the businesses and residents in his district who don’t understand how the legislature could vote for an agreement that guarantees no layoffs for four years, one-time payments of $2,000 on top of pay raises, and locks the state into the agreement for the next decade.

“People on the street are saying, ‘Cut it out! You’ve got to stop what you are doing. It’s not working anymore.’ They want to see a change,” he said

Sen. McLachlan said that the people who watch the bond rating agencies have predicted another downgrade in the near future if actions are not taken to repair the state’s budget problems.

“The voters, the business people of Connecticut, our debtors, the rating agencies are all watching to see what we will do,” he said. “It’s time for Connecticut to move in a different direction. Unfortunately, this agreement doesn’t do that. It is simply more of the same.”

Sen. McLachlan represents the communities of Bethel, Danbury, New Fairfield, and Sherman.