In a move that would have been unthinkable in the recent past, 57 state police troopers have received layoff notices, sources said Wednesday.
Lt. J. Paul Vance, the state police spokesman, told The Hartford Courant's Patrick Raycraft that the troopers are members of the previous graduating class - the newest members of the force. The layoffs are scheduled to take effect in six weeks on August 24.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's senior advisor, Roy Occhiogrosso, said, "I cannot confirm any of the numbers until tomorrow.''
For more than 15 years under Governors John G. Rowland and M. Jodi Rell, prison guards and troopers were seen as the two categories of workers who would be exempt from layoffs because of concerns about public safety. But Malloy said on Tuesday that no agencies would be exempt.
Both the troopers and the prison guards voted strongly against the savings and concession package that Malloy had crafted with top union leaders. Overall, 11 of 15 unions in SEBAC supported the deal, but that was not enough under the complicated union rules.
Rep. Stephen Dargan, a West Haven Democrat who has been the co-chairman of the legislature's public safety committee for 15 years, said, "The governor is in a tough spot. He says he wants to balance the budget. He's raised taxes, and people were upset with raising taxes. He's cut other programs. It's tough any time anybody gets laid off in the private or public sector. ... Hopefully, we can come to some resolution. These are state employees who probably thought this would never come to fruition.''
Under the law, the legislature established a minimum standard of 1,248 sworn troopers, which does not include civilian employees in the department.
"We haven't been at that number in a while,'' Dargan said.