Governor Rell

Governor Rell is proposing steps to reduce the budget gap:

In an attempt to halt the 2010 budget’s slide into deficit, Gov. M. Jodi Rell released a $337 million package of proposed budget cuts Tuesday afternoon, slashing funding to programs for the poor and sick, local governments and state agencies….

“It is deeply painful even to suggest these cuts – and yet they are unquestionably necessary,” Rell said in a written statement released with her budget plan. “State government cannot afford, literally or figuratively, to allow this budget – which has only been in effect a few short months – to grow any further out of balance.”

Many of Rell’s proposals will require legislative approval, and she said she would call lawmakers back to the Capitol to enact cuts soon. A Senate aide said they anticipated reconvening what has come to seem like an endless budget debate sometime in mid-December.

Democratic leaders did not immediately respond to the substance of Rell’s proposed cuts, saying they would spend the coming days reviewing her plans with their colleagues.

More here at the New London Day.