SEBAC, 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.
"A disaster has been averted, we're on solid ground to go forward," said a SEBAC representative at the 12:30 p.m. press conference.
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."
Details to come
