A new hope for budget

A trailer for the forthcoming “Star Wars” installment opens with some meditative instruction from a wizened Luke Skywalker, last heard from a long time ago (more precisely, 34 years).

“Breathe,” Luke whispers. “Just breathe.”

We have similar advice for legislators who finally navigated their way to the other side of Connecticut’s 116-day budget impasse at 1:30 in the morning Tuesday. Get some rest, collect your thoughts and remember your work on a bipartisan budget isn’t quite finished.

“Now, reach out. What do you see?” Luke asks his new charge.

Rey: “Light. Darkness. A balance.”

Such unprecedented cooperation between Democrats and Republicans in the Capitol almost feels like a partnership between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. For these next few days, though, we need them to resist acting like space cowboys who recognize Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as the villain. Aside from the soundbite slights (“a governor that is trying to scare everybody in this state,” huffed House Republican Leader Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby), they speak of the two-year budget deal as though it conceals stealth plans to the Death Star. Sure, it may not be ready for a public unveiling, but it’s inappropriate to shield details from the governor.

Based on pieces of the plan that have leaked, there appear to be reasonable compromises. Funding for the University of Connecticut has been rescued. Caps on spending and borrowing are in the spirit of what the Republicans sought for years. We can also get behind better oversight of the state’s pension program and a less dramatic adjustment of a state income tax credit for the working poor. An additional 45-cent tax on cigarettes is hefty, but could encourage more people to give up the toxic habit. And bailing out Hartford as it teeters on the brink of bankruptcy is in the interest of all Connecticut residents.

The fate of the ever-vexing car tax remains unclear. While most taxpayers would likely prefer they be discontinued, that seems unrealistic given the state’s grim balance sheet.

While we can can’t offer unconditional support for a budget we haven’t seen, we can express the wish that all our elected state officials try to bring dignity to the final laps of this marathon.

A Malloy should take the high road and not return fire in response to the sniping.

A Rank-and-file members of the General Assembly should resist trying to leave their own smeary thumbprints on what will probably be a thousand-word document. They need to focus on swaying their municipal leaders that there is no ground to claim by further delaying the nation’s last state budget.

A And Republican and Democratic leaders who closed the deal should contemplate the benefits of future collaborations.

“We’ve talked about a lot of things we never talked about before,” Republican Senate Leader Len Fasano, RNorth Haven, said.

So keep talking. You are all working toward a common goal.

And breathe. Just don’t inhale any cigarette smoke because that’ll cost you.