Fasano: Unions Confirm There’s No Agreement on Any Labor Savings with Gov. Lamont

June 20, 2019

$458 Million Budget Hole from Phantom Labor Savings Remains

Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano (R-North Haven) today issued the following statement in reaction to a letter written by the state employee unions’ top negotiator, Dan Livingston, responding to a series of questions from Sen. Fasano regarding the unions’ position on Governor Lamont’s $458 million in yet to be achieved labor savings.

“The unions have now confirmed they do not agree with any of Governor Lamont’s $458 million in phantom labor savings counted on to balance the still unsigned state budget. They don’t agree with his assertions or any of his savings unconditionally. When given the opportunity to put the issue to rest, the unions could have responded to my letter with a simple statement showing unity with the governor. Instead, Mr. Livingston went out of his way to make it clear that they are not in agreement with Governor Lamont on any issue I raised in my letter. The governor has backed himself into a corner by counting on savings to balance a budget before negotiations even began and not developing any contingency plan. For a governor who repeatedly said his top priority was a ‘balanced’ and ‘gimmick-free’ budget, he could not be more astray,” said Sen. Fasano.

On Tuesday, Sen. Fasano wrote to Mr. Livingston asserting that if the state employee unions are in agreement with Gov. Lamont’s statements concerning his anticipated labor savings, then all they need to do is confirm they will unconditionally support Gov. Lamont’s state employee retirement system reamortization plan.

In response, Attorney Livingston stated, “we have already given a public statement in response to this issue and I have nothing to add to that. You should not assume, however, that this indicates agreement with the letter’s tone, its assertions about what any party has said, or anything else about its content.”

Click to view Senator Fasano’s letter and Attorney Livingston’s response.