
HARTFORD, CT — Legislation that increases the pay to $16.25 an hour for unionized homecare workers passed the Senate 32-0 and the House 127-16.
Republican lawmakers were largely opposed to the process used that allowed these 8,500 workers to join a union back in 2012, but a majority of Republicans were able to set those feelings about labor aside and vote in favor of the contract.
House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said no one approved of the process that allowed the workers to join a union, but that wasn’t what was up for debate Wednesday.
“Look this was a difficult vote,” Klarides said. “We certainly want to help the people who do the difficult jobs of taking care of our loved ones.”
She said they didn’t agree with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s executive orders allowing this group to unionize, “but now that we’re here we had to make a decision today on whether this group of people should have more available to them.”
Most of her colleagues agreed. All 16 votes against the contract in the House were from Republicans.
“I think that this contract is very difficult for many members on this side of the aisle,” Rep. Melissa Ziobron, R-East Haddam, said. “Not because of the pay. Not because of the work these hard working men and women provide, but it’s the process.”
She said they skirted the process by separating this from the budget.
“They should be in the same document every other appropriation is in,” Ziobron said.
The funding for the wage increases and workers’ compensation is part of the Medicaid budget, which is a state and federally funded program. It will cost $7.1 million next year and $9.6 million in 2020 and that money is already accounted for in the Medicaid account.
Ziobron said there’s another group of unionized employees who work for the private, nonprofit sector and take care of intellectually and disabled individuals. That group of 2,500 employees is threatening to strike in April without an increase in wages. The state largely funds those private, nonprofits and has not increased funds for those organizations in more than a decade, which means many of the workers are making less than $13 an hour.
“We are picking winners and losers,” Ziobron said.
In the end, Ziobron voted in favor of the contract.
Malloy, who spoke in support of the homecare worker contract Tuesday, declined to comment on whether the other group of unionized employees should receive an increase in pay. There was a fear that lawmakers might confuse the two groups because they are represented by the same union, SEIU 1199.
“I came to talk about this one,” Malloy said. “We can talk about that later.”
The contract for the homecare workers approved by both chambers Wednesday will raise their wages from $13.25 an hour to $16.25 an hour. The contract also includes workers compensation coverage, which will allow the homecare workers to work beyond the 25.75 hours per week they are capped at now. That’s because working beyond 26 hours would force the client to purchase workers’ compensation, an unaffordable option for an elderly or disabled person who needs care in their home.
Many of the homecare workers work more than one job as a result and many still qualify for state assistance because they can’t cobble the money they need to support themselves and their families.
“This contract means the world to me,” Lucia Nunez, an East Hartford homecare worker, said. “Because of this contract and the vital wage increases it provides I will be one step closer to being able to make ends meet.”
Sen. Craig Miner, R-Litchfield, said he struggled with his vote as he walked through the doors Wednesday morning.
“Today I’m inclined to support this agreement. I think it’s a step in the right direction. I think it sends a message that we do care about the population they serve,” Miner said.
Even Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, a staunch opponent of unionization voted in favor of the contract Wednesday.
“I recognize that the workers involved here are performing incredibly valuable work and that they’re paid very low wages as they are right now and get little to no benefits,” Suzio said.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
As far as the union concerns, Rep. Michael D’Agostino, D-Hamden, said the only people who pay dues to this bargaining unit are the members who have agreed to join the bargaining unit. He said there’s no “forced” payment of union dues or agency fees.
He said there are about one hundred or so workers who didn’t join the union and are still doing this work and getting paid through the state.
D’Agostino, who defended the legislation in the House, was swarmed by SEIU 1199 homecare workers after the vote and thanked for his support.
More State Budget news

Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep readingMore Health Care News & Analysis
Medical Examining Board Fines Doctor $10,000
The state Medical Examining Board on Tuesday fined an Oxford doctor $10,000 for fraudulently using another doctor’s name and Drug Enforcement Agency registration number to prescribe controlled substances to a family member.
Keep reading
Clinical Trials With Immunotherapy Drugs Are Source Of Hope And Challenges In Treating Aggressive Breast Cancer
Joshalyn Mills of Branford and Nancy Witz of Kensington had the best possible results after being treated in clinical trials with immunotherapy drugs for aggressive breast cancer: Their tumors were eliminated. But while there are dramatic successes with immunotherapy drugs, there are also many failures, and researchers are trying to find out why in hopes…
Keep reading
Coalition of Health Insurers Questions Viability of Connecticut Partnership Plan
Members of Connecticut’s Health Care Future, a coalition of health insurers, hospitals, and businesses, are questioning whether Connecticut lawmakers have done enough this year to protect teachers and municipal employees from increases in health insurance premiums. “Despite repeated bailouts from taxpayers, the Connecticut Partnership Plan continues to be a fiscal Titanic that demonstrates why government-controlled health…
Keep reading
AG’s Tackle Mental Health Parity
Attorneys General in Connecticut and Rhode Island threw their support Monday behind a coalition of mental health advocacy groups asking a federal appeals court to revisit a recent ruling giving insurance companies more flexibility to deny mental health claims.
Keep reading
Budget Green Lights Psychedelic Therapies
Buried in the budget Gov. Ned Lamont signed this week is a provision that would create a pilot program to allow Connecticut to be the first-in-the-nation to study the impact of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA on patients with depression and PTSD. The budget now creates a pilot program within the Department of Mental…
Keep reading
Officials Highlight Effort To Boost Mental Health Services For Kids
At a Hartford-based community provider Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont and a handful of his agency commissioners highlighted the expected impact of more than $100 million in recently passed funding aimed at increasing behavioral health services for Connecticut children. The governor appeared at The Village for Families and Children, a recipient of new state funding included…
Keep readingMore Labor News

Lamont Inks New Employment Law Backed By Unions
In a victory for state labor unions, Gov. Ned Lamont ignored a lobbying effort by business organizations and signed a bill Tuesday prohibiting employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to potentially discourage workers from unionizing.
Keep reading
States With The Largest Unionized Workforces
Where does Connecticut stand in the list of states with the most unionized employees?
Keep reading
Business Leaders Make Push To Veto Captive Audience Bill
Connecticut business leaders are leaning on Gov. Ned Lamont to veto a bill that would restrict what employers can say in the workplace. The bill, which has been a priority of labor unions for years, is being described by business owners as an unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free…
Keep reading
‘Captive Audience’ Bill Headed To Governor’s Desk
Legislation prohibiting Connecticut employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to discourage workers from organizing received final approval in the House late Friday despite Republican arguments it was preempted by federal law. The bill passed in a 88 to 56 vote, generally along party lines. Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting against it.…
Keep reading
Senate Advances Captive Audience Bill After All-Day Debate
The state Senate debated and passed a bill Thursday that outlines what employers can and can’t tell their employees in the workplace. Dubbed the “captive audience” bill, the legislation which passed the Senate 23-11, has been a topic of discussion for years at the state Capitol. It received bipartisan support this year despite opposition from…
Keep reading
Nursing Home Workers Ready To Strike in Windsor
A strike at a Windsor nursing home accused of unfair labor practices will proceed unless a tentative agreement for raises and other benefits is crafted by 6 a.m. Friday, according to officials with the New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU 1199. The union and four other homes, Avery Heights, Bloomfield Health Care Center, the…
Keep reading