Comptroller Kevin Lembo says unless Republicans have a better idea for how to ease pension payments through 2045, then they need to get out of the way of the deal negotiated by the Malloy administration last month.
“If not this, then what?" Lembo asked during an interview Tuesday. "Someone else needs to come up with a better idea and I haven’t seen one yet, so if you’ve got a leadership role, you have the reins of authority, you have to put your ideas on the table.”
The deal to which Lembo is referring was struck by Gov. Malloy's administration and SEBAC, the coalition of state unions that negotiates benefits.
The agreement stretches payments passed the expected "fiscal cliff" date of 2032, out to 2046. That extension reduces annual pension payments made by the state, and it avoids what is projected to be a $6 billion payment in 2032 which could amount to more than 30 percent of the state's total operating budget.
“There’s a deal on the table" Lembo said. "It’s not the deal that any of us would write in a vacuum but it gets the job done and it really preserves budgets well into the future and in doing so preserves important services that the State of Connecticut needs to provide.”
Republicans have called for a new policy that would mandate votes on all union contracts by the General Assembly. The agreement struck by the Malloy administration will go into effect automatically unless lawmakers vote "No" on the deal within thirty days.
Rep. Themis Klarides, the House Minority Leader said of a possible vote, “I don’t know of anything else that’s more important, so we’ll see what comes up.”
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Sen. Len Fasano, the incoming Republican president pro tempore, said if the vote was held tomorrow, then he would vote against it because of higher interest payments over a longer period of time.
However, Fasano did say, "I still want to see more information before any vote is taken."
Fasano would support having the deal taken up for debate during the thirty day window.
Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, the expected next Speaker of the House, anticipated that the deal would pass the House without issue.
Lembo said the state can't leave a deal like this one hanging in the balance when so much of the budget is uncertain.
"These are big numbers in a $20 billion budget so something needs to be done," Lembo said.
