Hartford Legislative Transportation Committee Pushes DOT Hours Through
There are some additional details that today’s Advocate article reveals that could make this palatable, sort of.
Budget director Robert Genuario of Norwalk told the Appropriations Committee that the workweek resolution is not technically a raise but an increase in pay for an increase in work.
The expanded workweek is related to a separate agreement the administration worked out with the DOT that requires the union to waive several million dollars of disputed claims for retroactive pay, he said.
DOT employees who work more than 35 hours are compensated, but that money is not eligible for reimbursement on federal projects, Genuario said. He could not say how much federal money the state has lost.
Genuario and others said the longer work week would allow the DOT — which many say does not have enough workers, particularly engineers — to attract new hires, speed up projects and provide better oversight.
Being able to tap into federal funds for reimbursement is a good thing. But not having a fact and figures report on what those federal dollars would be is wrong.
Not every Democrat was on board with the resolution.
State Sen. Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, vice chairman of the Transportation Committee, said it troubled him that Genuario did not provide a cost-benefit analysis.
“I think we should have more information before it goes into effect,” Duff said.
Right on. So who pushed this through?
After hearing testimony, Democrats and Republicans on the committee met separately to discuss the proposal. Once the committee reconvened, the co-chairman, state Rep. John Geragosian, D-New Britain, called for an adjournment, avoiding debate and a vote.
He was supported by a majority voice vote. The resolution goes to the Senate and House of Representatives, which have 30 days to act before it automatically takes effect.
“We expected to have a debate on it,” said state Sen. Dan Debicella, R-Shelton. “It’s not just a failure of leadership but of bipartisanship.”
Gov. M. Jodi Rell backs the workweek extension at the same time she is urging the legislature to reject a three-year contract for correction officers. Rell wants the arbitrated wage increases reconsidered because the state faces a budget shortfall of $1 billion this fiscal year and a possible $8 billion shortfall in the coming two years.
Some lawmakers said Thursday her positions were inconsistent.
State Senator McLachlan-R Danbury, is calling for Rell’s rescission powers to be expanded.
“To date, Governor Rell has been the only state official willing to make the difficult decisions necessary to address our budget crisis, but she has all but exhausted her statutory authority to make spending cuts,” said Senator McLachlan. “Meanwhile, the Democratic-led legislature has so far failed to take any meaningful steps to cut spending on their own. If the Democrats aren’t willing to make the difficult and sometimes unpopular decisions necessary to lead Connecticut out of its fiscal crisis, then they should give Governor Rell the power she needs to do the job on her own.”
source: Advocate, Dems OK hike in DOT work week; But GOP is irked by lack of debate on costs, By Brian Lockhart, 01/22/2009
