Connecticut’s nursing home and other health care workers will remind state officials Tuesday that federal aid cuts ordered by President Donald J. Trump aren’t the only things they need to address. More than 6,000 nursing home staff spread among more than 60 facilities are working with expire d contracts after watching four years of inflation consume their last round of raises — and more. And another 3,500 health care workers, most assisting clients with disabilities in group homes, are similarly due for wage hikes. And though no specific work stoppage date has been announced, SEIU District 1199 New England — the state’s largest health care workers union — will announce at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Capitol that a preliminary-yet-necessary procedural step toward a strike was taken this week. A petition drive, which won’t order a work stoppage, has begun among members and will continue for about two weeks. That effort will decide whether union officials have the authority to call a strike formal strike vote later this spring, if negotiations aren’t progressing. In other words, the clock is ticking. “I think we’re trying to figure out how we make progress before the end of the legislative session,” 1199NE President Rob Baril said, referring to the constitutional June 4 adjournment deadline for the General Assembly’s regular 2025 proceedings. State lawmakers in 2021 ratified a four-year deal between the union and Gov. Ned Lamont that gradually elevated the wages of most nursing home workers, who were earning between $12 and $15 hourly at the time, above $20. But Baril says inflation, which rose to a 40-year-high at 9.1% in June 2022, has left most health care workers here worse off than they were in 2021. Some members report working three and four jobs, sometimes working 100-hour weeks to cover bills, he said.  Baril did not disclose the wage or benefit levels the union is seeking in the latest round of negotiations. “Many workers who are not state employees, but who are dependent on public funding, are really trapped in poverty,” Baril added. Though wage and benefit negotiations technically are between private-sector nursing homes and their staff, the state often plays a role in resolving labor-management disputes in this industry. That’s because, on average, more than 80% of nursing home revenues involve patients whose care is covered by federal and state Medicaid dollars.  Connecticut’s nearly 200 nursing homes were hit hard financially in 2020 and 2021 during the first two years of the coronavirus pandemic. But the industry had been undercut fiscally long before that. Though state law technically requires specific Medicaid rate hikes that reflect inflation, legislators and governors have offered no or lesser increases for decades. Lamont’s $55.2 billion biennial state budget proposal would eliminate $111.4 million in inflationary increases over the next two fiscal years combined. Lamont’s budget spokesman, Chris Collibee, said a recent Department of Social Services analysis of Medicaid rates show Connecticut’s funding levels compare favorably with states of comparable size and income levels.  “There must be a significant and ongoing state investment to address the workforce and the operational needs in the skilled nursing facility sector,” said Matthew Barrett, president and CEO of the Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, which represents three-quarters of Connecticut’s nursing homes. “There’s been significant financial instability in the sector since the COVID-19 public health emergency.” Fifteen nursing homes have closed in Connecticut since 2021, he said. Some nursing home staffers have begun buying soap and ibuprofen to care for residents because facility supplies are sparse, Baril added. The co-chair of the legislature’s Appropriations Committee, Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said Monday that “I don’t think [Lamont’s budget proposal] gets us where 1199 wants.” But Osten’s committee, which must recommend its own spending plan for the next two fiscal years by April 25, faces many pressing needs besides nursing homes and health care workers. Lawmakers are scrambling to find more resources for child care, K-12 school districts in general and special education in particular, as well as for social services. All major state employee unions are due for raises next fiscal year as well. On paper, Connecticut has plenty of resources to cover those needs. A complex series of budget caps is expected to leave state government with $1.75 billion unspent when the fiscal year closes on June 30, a huge cushion equal to about 8% of the General Fund. And nonpartisan analysts project one savings program alone will capture close to $1.3 billion in each of the next two fiscal years. Lamont, a fiscally moderate Democrat, has been reluctant to weaken these caps, which generated more than $12 billion in surpluses since 2017, funds used to build state reserves and whittle down pension debt. But the governor’s fellow Democrats in the legislature’s majority have been pushing for reform, saying Connecticut can afford to invest more in core programs and still balance its budget while paying down pension debt. Support for budget cap reform has only grown since Trump and the GOP-led Congress have announced plans to dramatically curtail federal spending, including aid to states. And while Congress has eyed cuts to Medicaid that officials here speculate will cost Connecticut hundreds of millions of dollars annually, Trump has used executive orders to begin canceling aid already awarded to states. The president unilaterally recalled $155 million in grants for public health programs here last week. And he also froze about $14 million in education grants to help K-12 students with remedial learning. Given the new trend in federal aid, Baril said, legislators and the governor should look not only to reform budget controls and save less, but also to increase revenue. Lamont, who has avoided any significant tax hikes since his first year in office in 2019, when he inherited a large deficit, has said repeatedly that Connecticut should avoid raising taxes whenever possible to build its taxpayer base and remain economically competitive with neighboring states. ...read more read less