Looking to Senate for state budget deal
At least the developments on the Senate side provide some reason for hopefulness, which has been in short supply when it comes to budget politics in Connecticut.
I f the Connecticut General Assembly is to do its job and present a spending plan to the governor, it will be the Senate taking the lead. A budget plan needs to allocate about $39 billion over two years. In the process, lawmakers must close an estimated $5 billion gap between projected spending and revenues.
When it comes to putting together a budget, the Senate is making progress while the House of Representatives appears in disarray.
On the Democratic side, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz is displaying no control over his caucus, which met for an hour in closed session Thursday and emerged empty handed. That does not suggest a serious attempt to come up with a state budget.
Aresimowicz told reporters there was insufficient support to consider installing tolls as a revenue source. Hopefully, the caucus did not waste much time on that debate. It is unlikely tolls could be built and generating revenue in the next two years, even if there was support. The speaker did say there was some backing for raising the sales tax from 6.35 percent to 6.99 percent to help close the budget gap, likely a non-starter for Republicans, and for us.
But as for any comprehensive tax and spending plan from the House Democratic majority? Forget about it.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Themis Klarides seems to have made the calculation there is no good reason for her and the Republican caucus to extend its political neck by pushing an alternative budget sure to contain unpopular cuts and, by necessity, some means of generating new revenues. Klarides has expressed an interest in running for governor, likely contributing to her tendency to play it safe.
Democrats hold a 79-72 edge in the House.
It is the Senate, split 18-18, that holds out the potential for a compromise budget proposal as the end of the fiscal year, June 30, quickly approaches. Democratic Senate Leader Martin Looney of New Haven and Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano of North Haven need to do all they can to find compromise.
Senate Democrats caucused for several hours this past week. Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, said extensive work is completed on a budget proposal that includes the difficult cuts and some modest revenue generators.
“It’s vital for Connecticut to move forward,” Osten said of passing a budget.
Fasano, meanwhile, has been pushing his Republican caucus for weeks to pursue its own budgetary plans. Its proposal includes reductions in state educational aid for some of the state’s wealthier and traditionally Republican communities.
Senate Republicans have agreed with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on eliminating the $200 property tax credit used to offset the state income tax, though they would retain it for young families and the elderly. While Fasano said his caucus could not accept fixing the deficit through tax increases — a sentiment shared by Malloy and by us — he said he would be willing to consider some additional and limited taxation as part of an effort to find compromise with his Democratic colleagues.
Some Republicans feel Fasano is making the wrong political choice. Indeed, the state GOP could find itself in a better position politically for the 2018 legislative and gubernatorial election by letting the Democrats alone solve the problem and suffer the political consequences.
To his credit, Fasano rejects that approach, calling it “cowardly.”
“I’m not motivated by politics. I’m motivated by trying to do the right thing for the state of Connecticut. I’m going to push for my solutions that I think are right,” he said. “People elected us to say, ‘Here’s new ideas. Here’s a new direction.’”
The two sides differ on labor savings, with the Democratic leadership counting on the $1.5 billion in savings tied to the tentative concession deal Malloy negotiated with state labor unions and Fasano and the Republicans seeking $2.2 billion in savings, including reduced overtime (replaced with compensation time off) and higher employee pension contributions than Malloy has sought.
More meetings are set for next week, but achieving a deal by July 1, the start of the fiscal year, appears unlikely. The governor alone will dictate spending at that point. But the legislature could reassert its role by getting a budget to Malloy’s desk in early July.
Fasano placed the chance of that happening at “50-50, and I may be overly optimistic.” He probably is. But at least the developments on the Senate side provide some reason for hopefulness, which has been in short supply when it comes to budget politics in Connecticut.