Malloy asserts his will

Left out of negotiations, governor offers his own budget

HARTFORD — Republicans and Democrats who have been attempting for weeks to negotiate a spending package without the governor said they it could take some time to study a new plan he offered Monday.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, warned that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal could slow the process down.

“I think it’s a distraction in regards to four caucuses that are sitting in that room, day after day and making progress toward getting a budget together, and we’re going to continue to do so,” Klarides said. “The governor will be brought into this process when we all believe that it is the most efficient time for him to be brought in, and that’s not right. I think the governor would like to muddy the waters, but we’re not going to do that.”

Malloy said his two-year, $41.25 billion proposal contains

of both previous Democratic and Republican budgets. But his would raise $150 million less in revenue over the two years than Democrats and cut spending by about the same amount from the Republican plan.

“This new proposal is bare-bones, no-frills budget,” Malloy told reporters at noon. “This new budget eliminates numerous tax increases such as cell phone surcharges, a second-home tax and ridesharing fees. It cuts spending by an additional $144 million over the biennium. It is intended to be helpful, not hurtful.”

Malloy said he is willing to compromise further with legislative leaders, who have been meeting separately over the last two weeks, attempting to reach a compromise to present to Malloy for a final round of talks before possible votes in the General Assembly next week.

“No budget is perfect and no one of us has cornered the market on good ideas,” he said. “But I cannot stress enough: time is of the eselements sence. Simply put we need to act now on behalf of our constituents if we want to avoid the most difficult cuts to towns, hospitals and non-profits.”

Legislative leaders said they need time to review the proposals. Senate President Martin M. Looney said that the negotiations on Monday included school funding formulas and the retirement system for school teachers. “It’s presenting other options, so we haven’t focused on that in any detail yet,” Looney, D-New Haven, said. “Maybe it helps accelerate the process.”

“We’re happy that the governor put some ideas — everybody should put some ideas — on the table. I think that’s helpful,” said Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano, of North Haven. “I think the ideas he has put forth have not garnered the support in the past and I suggest that they don’t. So we’re going to go through it and see what he has in there that’s new or that we can adopt or not adopt.”

Klarides said that the point of the talks among legislative leaders is to agree to a potential bipartisan deal that Malloy would sign into law. She noted that Malloy’s new budget — his forth since February — seems to have taken more ideas from a failed Democratic budget than the successful GOP plan that passed the General Assembly last month with a few Democratic votes, but which Malloy vetoed.

“I would say the governor’s new proposal is no different than previous ones,” said House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford. “We’re well aware of what priorities he cares about. Just because you have House and Senate Dems and House and Senate Republicans working together doesn’t mean you’re excluding his ideas and his concerns.”

In reaction, both the Connecticut Council of Small Towns and the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities criticized Malloy’s plan. In particular, CCM opposes the phase-in of towns and cities paying employer portions of teacher pensions for the first time.