Study reveals disparity between US public, private sector benefits

Lewis Andrews (pictured), Yankee Institute executive director, said the study confirmed what many taxpayers in the region had long suspected: Compensation for government works in our state is seriously out of whack with the private sector. No wonder cities, towns, and the state spend so much tax revenue, he said. Written by D. Dowd Muska, Yankee Institute for Public Policy fellow, “The Two Connecticuts report found a number of large discrepancies between public and private sector employee benefits.

While DB pension plans were shrinking in the private sector, they continued to remain common in Connecticut government employment, said Muska. The cost of Connecticut's public employees is well over US$10bn - imagine how much tax revenue could be saved with even minor reforms to our government-employment policies.

The report also found that Connecticut's public-sector employees earned more than private-sector workers, sometimes by as much as much as 95%.

The report did find there were a number promising reforms to reduce the “immense cost” of the State's public employees, including privatisation and competitive contracting. These reforms had been successful elsewhere, but they required “political courage on the part of Connecticut’s elected officials,” said Muska.

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