Current Actions

• Contact Senator Looney Today

  SB 54: An Act Concerning a Retirement Savings Plan for Low-Income Private Sector Workers, was introduced by State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and passed by the Joint Committee on Labor and Public Employees. The legislation would bring piece of mind to the hundreds of thousands of Connecticut workers that currently have no retirement savings plans available through their employer. Using the resources the state already has, SB 54 would create a Public Retirement Plan to allow Connecticut workers to deduct a portion of their wages in to a trust invested by the State Treasurer. When they are ready to retire, their savings along with accrued interest would be paid out over the course of their retirement.

  It is now awaiting a vote by the full State Senate, however, we the clock is ticking before the legislative session ends.

  Email Senator Looney today to ask him to make sure we move this important legislation forward.

• Include Revenues in the Budget

  The Governor’s new budget calls for substantial cuts in services for the state’s poorest residents – those who can least afford to sacrifice any further.  Instead of forcing low-income families out of HUSKY-A health coverage and cutting back on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a fair budget would ask more from those most able to afford it.

  Join Better Choices for Connecticut in calling upon the Governor and legislators to consider raising taxes on residents earning more than $1 million per year and closing corporate tax loopholes.

  Raising tax rates on incomes over $1 million (to a level just below New York’s rates) would yield $400 million per year in additional revenue.  Requiring multi-state corporations to pay taxes on profits earned in CT would yield another $90 million per year.  Those two changes alone are worth more than 8 times what the Governor wants to cut from HUSKY-A.

  You can modify the sample text below to send a message to House and Senate leadership and all the members of the Finance Committee.

• Support the Public Retirement Plan

  Take action now to support the public retirement plan by sending an email to your legislators to ask them to support SB 54: An Act Concerning a Retirement Savings Plan for Low-Income Private Sector Workers.

  Nearly a million workers in Connecticut between the ages of 25 and 64 have no access to a retirement plan through their employer. The long term result is a growing population of senior citizens living in poverty.

  SB 54 would provide these workers piece of mind by giving them a low-cost, secure way to save money for retirement without being subject to the ups and downs of the stock market. When they are ready to retire, their savings along with accrued interest would be paid out over the course of their retirement.

• Support Collective Bargaining Rights for Probate Workers

  Please contact the members of the General Asssembly's Labor Committee to support proposed legislation that would give officers and clerks in the state probate court employees the right to organize and form a union -- a right currently denied them under state law.
  

• Raise Revenue, Don't Cut Services

  Tell state lawmakers it's time to restore taxes on the wealthy and close corporate tax loopholes

• Campaign for the Middle Class

  
  

  Connecticut is falling behind.  Our economic problems have been building for years as corporations have been prioritized over working families and small businesses.  The result has been outsourcing and privatizing of quality jobs and a downward spiral of wages and benefits.  That’s why Council 4 AFSCME is launching the Campaign for the Middle Class, our fight to restore the American Dream for working families.

  Thank you for your support.