EAST HARTFORD - Republicans and Democrats continued clashing Friday over the merits and demerits of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's four-year, no-layoff deal with the state employee unions.
Three of Malloy's top lieutenants spent two hours explaining the union deal to reporters Friday at the Rentscher Field football stadium, and Republicans immediately countered that the agreement is based on inflated estimates, mythical savings, and huge amounts of smoke and mirrors.
Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams pushed back against the Republicans, saying that Malloy had been successful in obtaining savings to balance the two-year, $40.2 billion budget.
"This is the most significant concession package that we have ever seen from a governor of either party,'' Williams said.
The Democratic-controlled legislature will vote on the deal, but no timeline has been released. The vote is necessary so that the health and pension benefits that are contained in the union deal can be extended to about another 10,000 non-union employees. The unions are expected to vote on the agreement throughout the month of June and have the votes completed by the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
But Republicans remained unconvinced, releasing a YouTube video that lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds and says the deal is filled with savings gimmicks. The video was released at the Capitol soon after reporters returned there from Rentschler Field. The video shows several clips of Malloy saying, during the campaign, that he did not want to raise taxes on the middle-class and that hiking taxes would be a last resort.
"They can cook the books any way they want - the numbers do not add up, and the efforts by the Malloy administration to sell this to the public are obviously not working,'' said House Republican leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk.
Republicans charged that about one-third of the $1.6 billion package is "phantom savings'' that cannot be achieved, including more than $200 million in various healthcare savings, $180 million in unspecified savings from the suggestions of state employees, $90 million from improvements in computers and decreasing the use of consultants.
Malloy expects to achieve savings by steering state employees into a medical and dental plan that seeks to make them healthier. The provisions include two free dental cleanings per year, physical exams, and age-appropriate tests, such as colonoscopies for employees over the age of 50. Those who refuse to join the plan would be charged an additional $100 per month, and they would have a $350 deductible each year for each family member.
"If you don't do it, you're out,'' Malloy's chief negotiator, Mark Ojakian, said of the rules, such as a colonoscopy. "I've had some interesting conversations with people who said, 'I'd rather pay the $100. I don't want anybody telling me when to go to the doctor.' ''
Another healthcare savings for the state includes charging a co-payment of $35 for emergency room visits, which would be waived if the person was admitted to the hospital or had no reasonable alternative to emergency room treatment. Currently, emergency room visits are free for state employees. By contrast, some insurance plans in the private sector require a co-payment of $100 or more.
"There's been no disincentive to go to the emergency room,'' Ojakian said. "There's already been talk of people not going to the emergency room because they don't want to pay $35.''
At the far extreme, union officials mentioned the case of a current state employee who went to the emergency room 150 times in one year - an average of three times a week. The employee has not been publicly identified, and union officials said they could not release the name because of federal privacy rules.