Republicans ready to attack budget crisis

The GOP's fiscal framework protects funding for social safety net services for the disabled, those with mental health needs, children, the elderly and those in poverty.

A few weeks ago the legislature’s Appropriations Committee passed a budget that fell far short of dealing with a projected upcoming budget deficit of $933 million. Instead of dealing with the full impact of years of underfunding, massive state overspending and unsustainable fiscal practices, the committee whose majority is from the Democratic Party moved a plan forward that was $373 million short and severely penalized the Town of Groton, its taxpayers, schools and military children. Unfortunately Groton wasn’t alone; many towns in the region, mostly controlled by Republicans — including Stonington, Clinton, Waterford, Old Lyme and Old Saybrook — were severely penalized, too.

In an effort to plug the massive state budget and in response to the Appropriations Committee’s lack of will, Gov. Malloy took an unusual step and released a second budget proposal. His proposal would still be a major hit to local education budgets, but the most important fact is that these cuts come after years of fiscal mismanagement by majority party Democrats and Malloy.

Regardless of the spin the governor and many Democrats are using to try and control the message, the facts are clear and Connecticut needs serious structural changes to the budget process now. Numbers don’t lie and the “new economic reality” the governor talks about has been business as usual for years.

So, where do we go and how do we fix this mess?

First, we believe there needs to be a full accounting of the problem and agreement on just how big the deficit is, and what future deficits are projected to be. Only with agreement on the actual size and scope of the problem can we work together to make the changes necessary to move forward.

In order to truly grapple with such a massive problem, the House Republican caucus has created a fiveyear draft plan titled the “Pathway to Sustainability” that fundamentally changes how Connecticut creates budgets. If implemented, our plan will create a surplus of more than $600 million by 2021, according to the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA).

Its framework protects funding for social safety net services for the disabled, those with mental health needs, children, the elderly and those in poverty, and eliminates new pro- posed budget cuts to direct services. It restores hospital funding and Medicaid reimbursements, and restores educational cost-sharing grants that were slashed in the Democratic budget and the governor’s proposal.

We also propose a 10 percent cut in legislators’ pay, an elimination of unsolicited legislative mail and we fully fund the “Prioritize Progress” transportation plan to improve Connecticut’s bridges and roads without resorting to tolls or tax increases.

In fact, far from the usual tax and spend policies, our framework preserves funding at 100 percent for car tax capping and implements a municipal mandate relief package that maintains funding for the next five years. Additionally, we propose a cap on foolish state bonding to reduce the amount of debt our state pushes off to future years, and implements long-term structural changes to the state budget that include mandatory voting by the legislature on labor contracts, along with overtime accountability protocols, among others.

With our ever-changing revenues and the potential for unexpected expenses, the framework presented today may not cover every conceivable issue; however, one thing remains clear: tax increases are not the answer.

Regardless of whether those increases are statewide — or on local taxpayers who have to foot massive bills because the legislature refused to impose fiscal restraint — continually shifting the burden onto the backs of municipal budgets is a recipe for sustained disaster, commonly referenced as a “perpetual fiscal crisis.”