New Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy was about to wrap-up his first budget town hall tonight when Maria Vereb, a state worker, asked to squeeze in a final question.
The social worker from Stratford drove to Bridgeport to ask Malloy to reconsider his position that public employees like herself must agree to $2 billion worth of concessions to help erase the $3.2 billion deficit.
Malloy, Stamford’s former mayor, narrowly won his race against Republican Tom Foley last November with substantial support from state unions. And now they’re feeling a little bit betrayed.
Vereb told Malloy she feels that his budget will hit her twice – in cuts to her salary/benefits and by hiking her middle class taxes.
She called it the “double whammy” and noted the unions already agreed to concessions two years ago.
Malloy rose to the occasion, criticizing the $700 million in concessions predecessor Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell got in 2009 and asking Vereb, rhetorically, where else he is supposed to turn to balance Connecticut’s books. He can’t solve the problem with tax hikes alone and refuses to shred the social services “safety net” for Connecticut’s poorest.
I’m not sure whether it’s fair to say Malloy appeared eager to take on a state employee’s criticisms in public, but he certainly did not seem uncomfortable.
These exchanges between the governor and the people who helped put him in office are likely to increase in the coming weeks as Malloy tries to sell his first budget at 16 other town halls across the state.
I asked Vereb afterward if she voted for Malloy in November because she thought he would defend state workers.
“I thought the other person (Foley) would scr** us over ten times. I didn’t expect him (Malloy) to scr** us over two times,” Vereb, who has worked for the state for 30 years, said. “I don’t think what we have now we don’t deserve.”
Vereb did not want to share her salary and what she pays for health benefits with me, but correctly noted that it is public information I can track down from the appropriate agencies.
Here’s a photo of Vereb, answering reporters’ questions.
I have been a Registered Nurse since the 1990s. In 1998, I had many choices in front of me. I could have continued in the U.S. Armed Forces toward a twenty year pension, worked at various hospitals with other health care professionals, or entered a hazardous duty position as a Correctional Nurse. Although it was not my lifelong ambition to care for felons, I ultimately decided to go inside the confines of a correctional setting day after day because working in this hazardous duty environment would afford me the opportunity to retire in twenty years (2018).
I understand the State of Connecticut is in a fiscal crisis. And although I am willing to sacrifice longevity and pay as private sector employees have, I am NOT willing to sacrifice or compromise on the 20 year deal I made in good faith in 1998 with the State of Connecticut. Had I known the the rules of the game would change in the middle of the game, I would have chosen a different path.
Vote No…Please.
If these public unions care so much for the state taxpayer, then why do they move out of state when they retire? They are hardly stupid.
I also have over 30 yrs working for the state.As a young man,my first check was for $250 for 2 wks.Many of my young male co-workers left the state for the “green pastures” of private industry.Better pay, and bonuses,they said.The said I should go too.They left for Sikorsky,Mobil Chemical among others.I stayed.Now years later,private industry is mostly gone here in CT.And politicians want us to give back what we’ve worked for these many years.The benefits are what kept me here.Now we are scapegoats for the budget mess created by politicians
I read the articles in the CT Post today about last night’s Town Hall meeting in BPT. with the governor. I was very surprised that no one thought to ask the governor to publish (in the newspapers)an itemized listing of CT’s $300 Million Dollar payments by expense type actually due. How much is due now (w/in a year) and how much is due in the long term? I would like to determine myself if any of the requested tax increases will actually translate into job creation or just paying off old debt. I would also like to determine if any so-called excesses will help local businesses create jobs. I would like to also determine how it will impact job creation on the state level too.
Freedom of Information Act requires it!
This shows how out of touch the looter class is with the realities of the producer class. It is time that people who produce quit Connecticut and move somewhere that they are appreciated. Let the state collapse under the weight of the consumers that put the looters in power.