Speaker sees approval of bipartisan budget

I appreciate the coverage you have given in recent days to the tentative bipartisan budget agreement that Republican and Democratic legislative leaders jointly announced this week, and wanted to publicly thank my colleagues for their perseverance, resiliency, and most of all their courage to compromise.

Senate President Martin Looney, Senate Republican President Len Fasano, and House Minority Leader Themis Klarides all showed real leadership throughout trying and tedious negotiations. The agreement is a true compromise between Republican and Democrat proposals, which in itself represents an important step forward for the state.

Bipartisan solutions are what people want. They don’t want us to be like Washington. I’m optimistic we now have a budget that will pass and become law. I expect it will receive overwhelming bipartisan support by the full General Assembly and, hopefully, the governor will sign it. Everyone understands the impact that the lack of a state budget is having on our towns, families and businesses throughout the state.

Time is of the essence, and this budget crisis has gone on far too long. Thanks to a willingness on all sides to put their political party labels aside, we are ready to move Connecticut forward together. Joe Aresimowicz Speaker of the House, Democrat Berlin