OLR Bill Analysis
SB 1301 (as amended by Senate "A")*
AN ACT CONCERNING THE BUDGET FOR THE BIENNIUM ENDING JUNE 30, 2013.
This bill freezes longevity payment amounts for all union and non-union state employees who are currently eligible to receive them and prohibits those who are currently ineligible for the payments from receiving them in the future. Starting July 1, 2017, the bill also removes overtime and longevity payments from the calculation that the state uses to determine an employee's base wages for pension purposes.
*Senate Amendment “A” strikes the original bill and replaces it with the provisions regarding longevity payments and pension calculations.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
§1 — NON-UNION LONGEVITY PAYMENTS
For non-union state employees currently eligible for longevity payments, the bill freezes the amount of any future payments at the level the employee is eligible to receive when the bill passes. Those employees who are not eligible to receive longevity payments at that time will not receive them in the future. The changes must be implemented for employees of the Executive Branch, the constituent units of higher education and the Board of Regents, the Judicial Department, and the Legislative Branch by August 1, 2011. The bill also applies to positions with compensation defined in statute, including Workers' Compensation Commissioners, the chief state's attorney, deputy chief state's attorneys, state's attorneys, the chief public defender, deputy chief public defenders, the Probate Court administrator, family support magistrates, and Superior, Appellate, and Supreme Court judges.
§§ 2, 3 — UNION LONGEVITY PAYMENTS
For employees eligible to receive longevity payments under a current bargaining agreement, the bill freezes the payment amount at its value on the agreement's expiration date. Employees who are ineligible to receive payments at that time are prohibited from receiving them in the future. In addition, the bill makes longevity payments an illegal subject for future collective bargaining agreements and prohibits an arbitrator from considering them as a loss of wages during an interest arbitration proceeding.
The state's collective bargaining agreement with Correctional Officers (NP-4) expires on June 30, 2011. Thirty other agreements expire on June 30, 2012. The agreement with Supervising Judicial Marshals expires on June 30, 2013.
§§ 4, 5 — PENSION BASE WAGES
Beginning July 1, 2017, the day after the state's current agreement with the State Employees' Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) expires, the bill excludes overtime, longevity pay, and other fees or payments from the definition of “salary” and thus from the base wage calculation used to determine a retiree's pension payment from the State Employees' Retirement System or Alternate Retirement Program. It additionally bans the state and unions from negotiating or arbitrating the definition of “salary” after that date.