Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Friday afternoon proposed a broad-based list of budget cuts, reducing state spending by another $243 million, in an effort to balance a state budget deficit of $415 million.
Malloy will begin private negotiations with General Assembly leaders of both parties Monday in an effort to come up with a plan that would be considered in a Dec. 19 special legislative session.
Malloy’s proposal includes line-item cuts for dozens of state agencies, but does not include any specifics. For example, the state department of education faces another $13 million reduction, on top of the $8 million in rescissions made last week, but Malloy’s office won’t say what programs may be at risk.
“This won’t be easy, and parts of it will be very difficult,” Malloy said in a press release emailed to reporters Friday afternoon. “We are very mindful of the fact that most of the cuts that will end up being part of the final package will have a real impact on people’s lives, so we want to do this as carefully as possible. But the reality is we have no other choice; spending must be cut.”
Roy Occhiogrosso, a senior aide to the governor, said Malloy intentionally was not specific on what programs various state agencies should cut. The total cut list of $412 million — the $170.5 million in rescissions Malloy can make under state law and the additional $243 million proposed Friday — roughly matches state Comptroller Kevin Lembo’s budget deficit estimate of $415 million.
“Our folks at [the Office of Policy and Management] have identified areas in the budget where we believe cuts can be made,” said Occhiogrosso. Malloy “put a framework out. He’d like all sides to sit down and come up with specific line items to get to these totals. It’s not a specific list.”
“We believe cuts can be made,” Occhiogrosso said. “We can’t negotiate this in public.”
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11 Responses to Gov. Malloy Issues ‘Road Map’ of Budget Cuts: Another $243 Million
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Start by having state employees and teachers begin sharing in the sacrifice that they have thusfar been completeley immune from.
how?
Switch to IRA from dfined benefit pensions – for new hires going forward. This will save millions down the road.
Slight increased in medical insurance contributions
Eliminate all longevity bonuses immediately.
start taxing state and federal workers the same way the feds want to tax ‘the wealthy’. These workers are not contributing their ‘fair share’ and should be treated like 1%ers. Make the taxes retro-active to the beginning of 2012 (why not, the Dems have retroactively taxed before).
Forget the ‘slight’ increase in medical insurance contributions. Increase medical contributions (insurance, copay, prescriptions, etc) to the levels that the private sector is subjected to.
Downsize the state and federal workforce aggressively. Start with ‘non-essential’ employees and move to teachers. Change teachers’ roles from baby-sitters and ‘esteem’ builders, to teachers. Then they can handle larger class sizes.
Eliminate monetary support to illegal aliens from education to health care to child support to rent subsidies.
Get rid of the free cell phone plans currently enjoyed by so many.
That’s just a start
Living within ones means never easy when not your money. And making the tough choices is not an attribute known to our so called leaders. Government to take examples from private industry, and staying within your operating income.
Early retirement incentive to the staff. Key is NOT to refill and/or refill on a delayed basis. Any new replacements will start at the bottom tier of the payscale. Immediate and long term savings.
Keep going Dannel! It seems you are keeping your word about shared sacrifice now. We bit the bullet in 2011 with those massive tax increases. Now you are making the cuts. Don’t let these activist cry babies change your mind. Find that extra $20 mil and hey, even though I am a conservative I think you’re OK. Keep your word Danny boy.
“We believe cuts can be made,” Occhiogrosso said. “We can’t negotiate this in public.”
Why not? Why can’t negotiations be made public? Fear of actually having to make tough decisions? Unreal. The way that our state, Connecticut, managed is depressing and a joke.
Can someone ask Malloy why doesn’t he cut the welfare?
Thank you
based on how Obama is acting, I seriously doubt any Democrat will negotiate with the Republicans. They only have their political party interests and not the nation’s or state’s at heart. In other words Democrats are not nice people to deal or negotiate with. However they do exploit the poor to their own advantage.
The State of Connecticut is facing its latest budget crisis. As a result, Governor Malloy has tasked state agencies with coming up with plans to cut $257 M from their budgets. He’s ask the state judiciary system to cut a paltry $5.7 M. Here is an idea which if followed, could allow the state judiciary to cut $25M, or more, overnight.
The CT Children’s Law Center was founded by a handful of divorce attorneys who realized that many low income parents could not afford Guardian ad Litems and children were not being properly represented. The state loved it, companies donated, and off they went.
The CT Children’s Law Center is headed by Doug Stevens, who is beyond amazing. Mr. Stevens has devoted 30+ years of his life working with disadvantaged young fathers to help them be engaged in their kids’ lives. Their current head is Justine Radich-Kelly, a skillful mediator.
If the Children’s Law Center is assigned to a case, they do a great job representing what’s best for the children, helping to mediate with their parents, helping parents of divorce to focus on the kids, and to keep everyone out of the court system.
They charge twenty dollars (that’s $20.00) per session.
The problem is that unless a parent knows to specifically ask for the Law Center to provide GAL or mediation services, no one in court will ever mention them. Judges will not mention them or volunteer their services. Yet in the eyes of the law, everyone is supposed to be treated equally, so every parent should have a right to ask for this service if the court has it available.
This also poses a question. Between the GAL system in the juvenile court, and the very different GAL system in the family court, and the Children’s Law Center’s services, the state actually has three different GAL systems. (Are there any more we don’t yet know about?)
No one I have spoken to yet about this, knows why. Not even members of the State Judiciary Committee knew about this or could explain it.
One big difference, is that GALs in the family court operate with no oversight or monitoring of any kind and can act and bill with impunity. They have a very powerful profit incentive to prolong a case as long as possible, as they typically charge $250-$300/hour and demand up front retainers of between $3,000-$5,000, which in today’s economy – very few parents can pay. Contrast this to GALs in the Juvenile court, who are also monitored, and have their fees capped at $500/case and $50/hour. Then look at what the CT Children’s Law Center charges.
Looking at the Children’s Law Center donor list – we see who donates money to them. The state and a lot of corporations (and thank you!), but also – almost every divorce attorney out there, and every GAL. Why? Because they want to make it seem like they support this group for political reasons, when in reality – most divorce attorneys and GALs hate them.
This is because they believe that the Children’s Law Center is taking business away from them and because the Children’s Law Center perfectly illustrates how radically cheaper the whole GAL system can be. To illustrate just how fake and despicable this “donor support” by these attorneys really is – these unethical GALs and attorneys donate all of maybe $100-$200/year to get their names to show up on Children’s Law Center’s donor list. Which reflects about 20 minutes worth of their time on a typical divorce case.
Governor Malloy wants the state court system to save money, so here is a great system and model the state should fully fund and support that would dramatically reduce the number of court hearings and wasted time and effort in a typical divorce case – which is exactly what happened in Maryland when that state stripped their GALs of immunity and all of poorly performing GALs left the system as a result.
Peter Szymonik
Berlin, CT
Here’s a few wasteful commissions that should be eliminated at a cost savings as well…
1. African-American Affairs Commission 358K
2. Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission 222K
3. Commission on Status of Women 605k
4. Latino-Puerto Rican Affairs Commission 329K
By ridding the state of these unnecessary commissions you can save another 1.5 million… not a great deal of money but at least it shows a committment to responsible spending….
Lets not forget the Permanent Commission on the Status of Commissions.