Will Conn. get 'responsible conclusion' to budget crisis?
Decisions that will be made in the next few days will determine whether Connecticut gets a state budget that contains the tough measures necessary to address its continuing fiscal crisis or one that simply pushes the problems aside to get through the November election.
Both Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the legislature’s Republican minority party have produced budget proposals that contain serious measures to stabilize the state’s finances without resorting to yet more increases in taxes.
Both proposals contain difficult spending and service cuts, many that this newspaper does not like. But you can’t close a projected $930 million gap in a roughly $20 billion budget without making painful choices. Raising taxes to avoid tough choices would prove self-defeating by slowing the economy, driving out more businesses and reducing tax revenues in a downward spiral.
A budget announced Thursday by the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate tends more toward the way things have too often been done in Hartford. While it includes painful cuts as well, it is also too dependent on one-time revenue sources that do nothing to fix the long-term fiscal problems and envisions savings that do not appear realistic.
It is an attempt to bide time, cobbling together a budget that gets the party past the November election, after which tax increases may be back on the table when there is no longer a looming election to face.
The governor will have the greatest influence on how this plays out.
Malloy began the session by imploring lawmakers to adjust to a “new economic reality” by making “our budget more predictable, more sustainable, and more transparent.”
The governor demanded “a real effort, one that is seen through to a responsible conclusion” and that “must be honest about the challenges we face.”
If Malloy is unable to negotiate with his fellow Democrats a budget that meets the standards he set, he should stand firm. That may take vetoing a budget that reaches his desk, calling a special session that extends legislative business beyond Wednesday’s scheduled closing, and potentially working with a coalition of Republicans and willing Democrats to reach “a responsible conclusion.”
Connecticut is watching.
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