State Unions Say 'Yes' to Concessions

The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, the umbrella organization for the 15 state employee unions, announced Thursday afternoon that its members had voted to approve a l that would avert massive layoffs and deep cuts to programs throughout the state and close an estimated $1.6 billion gap in the state budget over the next two years.

"A disaster has been averted, we're on solid ground to go forward," said Matt O'Connor, an SEBAC spokesman at the 12:30 p.m. press conference in Hartford. 

Gov. Dannel Malloy immediately released a statement in support of the vote:

“As important as it is that we’ve closed the current budget deficit in a responsible way – by avoiding thousands of layoffs and hundreds of millions of dollars in painful spending cuts – the real value of this agreement lies in the $21.5 billion it will save taxpayers over the next 20 years in the form of lower healthcare and retirement costs for state employees."

The Governor added that his administration would pursue other cost-cutting measures revealed in the process:

"One positive byproduct of this extended debate on the budget is that we’ve identified new savings – some of them fairly significant – that we will pursue even with this ratified agreement.  My Budget Director, Ben Barnes, will have more to say about those savings tomorrow."

Check back later for an update on the agreement and the vote...