Lawmakers still haven’t decided how to tackle Connecticut’s red ink

From CT Mirror.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has been warning legislators since early February that their preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal year is significantly in deficit. The response he got last week from two budget-writing legislative committees was bipartisan — but less than helpful.

The Appropriations Committee failed to meet its deadline to recommend spending adjustments.

The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee offered a host of ideas that collectively would deepen the hole in the next budget — already at $265 million — by at least another $130 million. Malloy also has been waiting since early December for legislators to close a deficit hovering near $200 million in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

The administration did not weigh in last week on lawmakers’ reluctance to propose deficit solutions. But Malloy offered an assessment two weeks ago about why legislators — who proudly touted the bipartisan budget they adopted last October — are finding fiscal solutions harder to come by as this year’s state election season draws closer. “The grand coalition seems to be fraying, and I think that’s what gives rise to the inability to respond to the budget being out of balance,” he said.

Read the story from CT Mirror online.