Zawistowski Opposes Contract Over Resident Trooper Concern
HARTFORD — State Rep. Tami Zawistowski on Tuesday voted against a new contract for Connecticut State Police because it increases costs for municipalities that already face the specter of picking up the entire bill for their resident state troopers.
The three-year salary deal was approved during a meeting of the Appropriations Committee even though there’s no agreed-upon framework for the next two-year state budget.
“This has the potential to make an already big problem faced by many of Connecticut’s small town even bigger,” said Zawistowski, referencing the Gov. Malloy’s budget plan.
Communities that have resident state troopers currently pay 70 percent of the cost, leaving state government to pick up the rest. Malloy wants municipalities to pay 100 percent.
Zawistowski said that change in state budget policy amounts to a reduction of state aide to municipalities, something that could force local officials to increase taxes to fill the gap.
“The crux of this issue isn’t whether the men and women who serve in the Connecticut State Police deserve salary increases, but rather figuring out how the state, and towns, will pay for it,” said Zawistowski, among the legislators who suggested postponing the vote until after a same-day hearing on the current position of state finances. “Creating and managing a small town budget is a tough job, one that’s greatly impacted by the decisions we make here in Hartford. Approving this contact before we can tell them what their final share of the resident trooper program will be is simply irresponsible. We can, and should, do better than this.”
While a union contract could receive sign off from the legislature’s entire membership, that step isn’t required and recent history hasn’t seen majority party legislators call for that wider vote.
Within an hour after the contract vote, legislators on the Appropriations Committee learned that part of the current fiscal year deficit of $178 million includes a $5 million Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection deficiency driven in part by greater than expected overtime expenses within the division of state police.