Tag Archives: budget

Popular mayor says State is “on the brink”

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Danbury mayor and possible gubernatorial candidate Mark Boughton, in his personal blog (which posts also to his widely-distributed Facebook page) says we’re on the brink.

Here is a news flash…the State of Connecticut is broke. Busted. Cleaned out.

Here is another news flash…it is not going to get any better anytime soon.

It is time that we all recognize that we have entered a new economic era, and that we seize this moment to redefine the role of state government, examine the nexus between the state and the municipalities, and look at the services that we should offer, and most importantly, how we fund them.

Property tax reform has to be the first and foremost item on an agenda of reform. It is an unfair tax because it does not measure the ability of the property owner to pay. Many people in Danbury and across Connecticut are land rich and yet cash poor.

It’s refreshing to see this level of candor.

The New London Day, which isn’t exactly Connecticut’s answer to World Net Daily, says the state Democrats may face “well-earned losses” if they can’t muster up some courage here.

Frozen with fear when confronting a monster largely of its own making, the Democratic leadership in the General Assembly is readying to “gavel in and gavel out” when legislators return Tuesday for a special session, ordered by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell to deal with a budget deficit approaching $500 million.

In other words, the Democrats in control of the legislature may once again ignore the fiscal crisis that confronts the state and instead head home for the holidays.

Alas for the Day and for your wallet, in 2009 State and Federal legislators have become deaf and blind to the angst (and phone calls) of those who merely pay the taxes.

More here: Dithering While Connecticut Sinks In Red Ink

Nurse-training program on the block

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More hard choices coming up. These are only some of the first.

Chantal Kouoh’s voice cracked Tuesday as she said how disappointed she was to be shut out of a state-subsidized nurse-training program because of budget cuts.

“I feel like a part of my life is gone,” she said to an audience of other students, state legislators, journalists and nurse advocates at a press conference at the Legislative Office Building organized by District 1199, New England Health Care Employees Union.

“As a single mother with a very low income, I really can’t afford to go to a private program.”

Read more here.

Passing it down to the towns

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Governor Rell

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.

Budget woes trickling down to municipalities

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According to this non-partisan State report, you are in trouble.

Will a tax revolt this be the ultimate trickle-down economic effect? Revenue is drying up not only at the Federal level but is now doing so, as was inevitable, at the State and local levels. I’ll go out on a limb and predict that the local level is where the pushback on taxes will occur, not only here but nationwide.

Here’s a little foreshadowing of the fun that awaits us in 2010: a number of stories from around the State which show us why we are about to become California – or one of many Californias.

The Town of Winchester uncovers a “mystery” problem:

The town of Winchester’s budget situation is so bad that there may not be enough money to make payroll next month, according to the newly elected Winchester Board of Selectmen, which voted to set up a process that would allow the town to borrow up to $2.5 million against future tax payments in order to keep the town running.

The process involves using tax-anticipation notes to pay for budget shortfalls, which may reach a critical point next month. If the town goes ahead with the plan, a special town meeting and referendum would be required to allow the town to borrow against future proceeds.

Mayor Candy Perez said she first heard about the seriousness of the budget problem on Nov. 4, (emphasis added) the day after this year’s municipal election, when then-Town Manager Keith Robbins said the crisis was bad enough to warrant tax-anticipation notes. Robbins submitted his letter of resignation to Perez a week later.

In Naugatuck, there are some unhappy days at the Board of Ed, and a $2 million shortfall looming.

Teachers overwhelmingly condemned the performance of embattled Superintendent John Tindall-Gibson Thursday, while the school board continued to search for ways to make up a projected $2 million budget deficit.

The Naugatuck Teachers’ League voted 320-8 in a symbolic gesture to show they have no confidence in the 62-year-old school chief, who has been here since September 2006.

We know where that ends.

And looming Statewide… a projected $3.2 billion shortfall in 2012, according to the State’s Office of Fiscal Analysis. (Click to download as PDF or view above.)

Governor Rell will let budget take effect with few changes

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Governor Rell will allow the budget which has been passed by the Legislature to take effect. From Mrs. Rell’s press release:

“Democrats have repeatedly called this budget a ‘compromise,’” Governor Rell said. “It is hardly a compromise. Last week I put a new budget proposal on the table – my fourth – in which I accepted tax increases I did not want in return for cuts in state spending. The Democrats just could not cut, once again showing they are unwilling – or simply unable – to make meaningful reductions. They refuse to accept the reality that families and businesses accepted months ago: We must live within our means.

“Instead, this budget calls for more borrowing and vague plans for future savings,” the Governor said. “Worse still, in the hours before this budget was brought to a vote the Democrats had the audacity to add more spending. It is as if they believe the people of Connecticut do not care, are not watching and will not notice.

“Because of this complete disregard for our taxpayers, I will be using my line-item veto to eliminate all of the new earmarks and pork-barrel spending. The total is some $8 million – not an overwhelming amount in the scheme of the two-year budget. But this spending is an insult – a slap in the face of our taxpayers.

“I will not veto the entire budget,” Governor Rell said. “However, I will not sign it into law, because I do not believe in this budget. I do not want, by my signature, to put a stamp of approval on their spending, their inability to make cuts or their levels of borrowing, revenues and taxes.

“But a veto will not bring significantly different results, I fear – and the people of Connecticut are starting to truly feel the effects of our stalemate. This budget crisis has lingered longer than any in state history. Struggling families, people who have lost their job or their home, people with disabilities, cities and towns, schools, state agencies and non-profits – all have been left wondering about the future. They need to know state resources are in place and available. Now they will know.

“Let me repeat: This budget is not the compromise I sought – but it is a fight that has saved our taxpayers billions of dollars,” Governor Rell said. “By digging in my heels, I have forced the Democrats to sharply lower their demand for new taxes. They went from $3.3 billion in new taxes in their April budget to $2.5 billion in the June budget, dropping to $1.8 billion in their July budget – and $900 million in the current proposal.

“This budget reduces the corporate surcharge that the Democrats first proposed at 30 percent to 10 percent over the next three years, and excludes nearly all small- and medium-sized businesses in the state. This budget makes significant changes and reductions in the inheritance tax and requires the state sales tax to drop. And it does cut some state spending. Most importantly: This budget crisis must be resolved. For the good of our state, this crisis is now resolved.”

Connecticut received another black eye today when the popular Drudge Report website carried a picture of our legislators in session playing solitaire on their laptops.

Rell, Legislators agree on deficit – will progress follow?

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Still operating without a budget, but at least the two sides are agreed on the size of the budget deficit. From the Courant:

It’s $8.558 billion — which is different from the $8.7 billion that was originally projected by the legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal office and far different from Rell’s original $6 billion estimate.

Even though the two sides finally agreed over the long-contested estimate, the number is sure to change. Any upticks or downturns in the state income tax, sales tax, corporate tax or other revenue source over the next year will change the number.

The new deficit will prompt Rell to offer an updated budget, but she does not appear to be changing her mind on taxes. Since February, Rell has declared that the budget can be balanced without tax increases.

Rell remains very popular, although her poll numbers have fallen some.

No budget resolution in sight

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Governor Rell

Governor Rell has signed an Executive Order (read here as a PDF) which keeps the State running. Quoted in the Courant, Mrs. Rell said,

Rell said Tuesday that while the negotiations continue, “first and foremost, people should rest assured that state government will continue to operate — services will be delivered; we will care for the vulnerable and the sick; public safety and public health will be protected.”

“I remain hopeful that we will resolve the budget issues that divide us and bring an affordable, responsible budget proposal to the General Assembly for a vote in the very near future,” Rell said. “In the interim, I am taking all of the steps necessary to ensure that state government functions smoothly.”

Budget woes continue elsewhere. In East Haven, teachers are being laid off. Positions are being trimmed in Torrington.  We’re sure more examples could be put forward. Please keep on praying for our State!

State budget battle heating up

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Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty


Power Line reports on the budget controversy in Minnesota, where the fur is flying.

Republicans are out of power in Washington and many other places around the country. They’re out of power here in Minnesota, too, except for Governor Tim Pawlenty. But in this case, one man has been enough–Pawlenty has faced down the Democrats and beaten them.

The Democrats tried to ramp up Minnesota’s already out of control spending and pay for it with a $1 billion tax increase. But Governor Pawlenty, who recognizes that Minnesota’s booming public sector can only come at the expense of private sector growth, vetoed the tax increase. His veto was upheld in the Minnesota House, with all Republicans and two Democrats voting to sustain it. The Democrats in the legislature then refused to pass a responsible, balanced budget as required by state law.

That left Pawlenty, like Horatius at the bridge, standing alone but victorious. He announced that he would use his power of “unallotment” to decide where the state’s revenues will be spent over the next two years.

Pawlenty will cut over $700 million, according to the Star Tribune. I don’t think Governor Rell has any such powers but our own battles proceed and it seems the knives are coming out of the drawers: