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Nappier Scores Silvester on 2nd Injury Fund
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Business New Haven
6/14/99
By: BNH
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State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier has accused her predecessor, Paul J. Silvester, of "a lack of proper fiscal planning" which have led to "severe looming shortfalls" in the state's Second Injury Fund. In a letter mailed June 3 to more than 400 businesses that are assessed charges by the fund, Nappier said that a thorough staff review of the fund had uncovered annual shortfalls "apparently caused by the failure of the previous state treasurer [Silvester] to provide for the repayment of borrowing large sums of money through the bonding process to pay for the settlement of claims through so-called 'stipulated agreements.'"
Repayment of principal and interest on bonds, Nappier charged, was apparently never factored into the administrative costs of running the state-sponsored program for injured workers. Nappier said the problem was exacerbated when Silvester reduced assessment rates ("with no apparent basis") three times during 1998. The treasurer has called for an independent audit and "blue ribbon" review in an effort to forestall a potential rate increase.
More Workers, More Work
In the first quarter of 1999, Connecticut workers began returning to the labor force. After being flat or down for nearly two years, the state's labor force swelled by 18,100 - about 1.1 percent - over the 12-month period ending March 31, according to the state's Department of Labor. That figure doesn't quite keep pace with the number of new jobs - 26,100 - added over the same period. Services, especially business and health services, contributed more than half of that growth, some 14,700 jobs. The only major sector to lose jobs was manufacturing, which shed 3,400 positions. Also, unemployment in the state fell a whopping 13.4 percent, from 69,000 in the first quarter of 1998 to 59,800 one year later.
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