Legislators Respond To Gov Rell’s Budget Proposals

By John Voket

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, Newtown’s freshman State Representative Christopher Lyddy, and Representative DebraLee Hovey reacted on Wednesday to Governor M. Jodi Rell proposed two-year, $38.4 billion budget. While Rep Lyddy suggested that it is too soon to make definitive statements about the full impact of proposed cuts on Connecticut’s towns and cities, including his own hometown, Ms Hovey said in a prepared statement that she is in “complete agreement” with the proposed measures.

Sen McKinney said he, too, believes the governor’s proposals go far to protect Connecticut’s property taxpayers, while creating “one of the greatest mandate relief packages ever.”

According to the Associated Press, the governor’s budget avoids tax increases but cuts hundreds of state jobs and numerous commissions and agencies to help cover the state’s growing deficit. Gov Rell’s budget office predicts a $6 billion deficit over the next two fiscal years while the Office of Fiscal Analysis says it is $8.6 billion.

The proposed state budget would eliminate or consolidate 23 commissions and agencies, and would eliminate 400 jobs through possible layoffs, attrition, or reorganization. It also eliminates nearly 450 other vacant jobs, with additional job cuts likely in higher education.

Gov Rell wants to eliminate commissions such as the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, the Asian-Pacific Affairs Commission, the African-American Affairs Commission, and the Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. The governor is also asking for $275 million in concessions from state unions.

Her budget also raises most license fees and imposes new license surcharges for bad drivers and people convicted of serious motor vehicle crimes.

While Gov Rell’s budget chief said the proposal covers the deficits projected for the two fiscal years starting July 1, her administration’s estimates differ from the legislature’s deficit projections — which could pose challenges as the Republican governor and the Democratic-led General Assembly spend the next several months trying to reach a budget compromise.

This point was not lost on Rep Lyddy.

“I appreciate the governor’s work to make government more efficient, but the budget she presented is still billions of dollars out of balance,” Rep Lyddy said in an email to The Newtown Bee. “Since the deficit continues to grow, it’s premature to speculate on the full impact to Newtown. I look forward to working with the governor and my colleagues in the legislature to close the current budget gap while maintaining core services.”

No Sugar Coating

Rep Hovey, who serves as a member of the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee, said she is in complete agreement with the major points in the governor’s proposal.

“For months, I’ve been telling constituents and officials in Monroe and Newtown that state government has to cut back itself before trying to pass on the impact of the fiscal crisis to towns and local taxpayers,” said Rep. Hovey. “I’m thrilled that governor’s proposal is in line with that position.”

The spending plan postpones several state mandates on towns and cities, including the school suspension law scheduled to take effect in July. In addition, the governor’s proposal would delay implementation of the program to treat 16- and 17-year-old offenders as juveniles to save an estimated $95 million for towns and cities.

“There is no way to sugarcoat the state’s financial problems,” Rep Hovey said. “The downturn in the economy that has hit families extremely hard has also devastated state finances. This would be the worst time possible to raise taxes and maintain funding for towns, while retaining critical services is an excellent step toward preventing any tax hike.”

Sen McKinney told The Bee that Gov Rell’s proposal “struck a good tone” in the face of the largest budget deficit in state history, and following the state’s loss of more than 25,000 jobs in just over a year.

“The governor recognizes that we have to reduce the size of government and consequently spend less money,” he said. “We have to ask ourselves if every dollar is being spent to take the best care of the people of Connecticut. If not, we can’t afford to spend it in these times.”

Mandate For Accountability

The state senator said he was particularly happy to hear of a proposal to create a new state office of accountability that would “root out waste and fraud.”

While the measure does not match Sen McKinney’s earlier proposal for creating a state Inspector General’s post, he admitted that Gov Rell’s proposal could be enacted more quickly, and less expensively.

Conversely, Sen McKinney was not pleased to hear about overly aggressive plans to shrink the state probate court system. Hailing Newtown’s Probate Court as a “perfect example of how to effectively manage” such a small town agency, the senator said consolidating 117 courts down to 36 for consolidation’s sake is a mistake.

Gov Rell, addressing the General Assembly, said her budget shrinks state government, which grew too much during the good fiscal times.

“Yes, there is pain, there is sacrifice, and there is some long overdue trimming,” Gov Rell said of her tax-and-spending plan. “Simply put: the bloat of bureaucracy is no longer affordable.”

The budget must be approved by the General Assembly, which has enough members in both the House and Senate to override vetoes. Democratic leaders have already questioned whether it is possible to avoid tax increases with such a large deficit.

Gov Rell does plan to propose some new spending — $7.5 million to create the new Connecticut Civilian Conservation Corps for the state’s growing unemployed, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The new program would be mirrored after one created during the Great Depression to help young men find work. Connecticut’s unemployment rate is about 7 percent.

Eligible men and women would earn wages while working on state and local public works projects such as clearing trails and cleaning parks, beaches, and polluted properties. Some could work on projects funded by the expected federal stimulus money the state will receive.

Gov Rell also hopes the state will get $2 billion in federal stimulus money over three years. Congressional analysts estimate Connecticut would get an extra $1.8 billion in federal grants from the economic stimulus package now being debated in Congress.

An analysis by the House Appropriations Committee says the money would include $1.16 billion for infrastructure improvements including highway, bridge, and sewer construction, and $403 million for school renovations, Pell grants, and other education programs.

(Associated Press reports contributed to this story.)