06/8/09 A Balanced Budget Needed Now

To The Editor.

A balanced budget offered by House Republicans on the final day of the legislative session was rejected by the Democrats by the use of an arcane parliamentary procedure. The House Republican budget would restore some proposed cuts and preserve all aid to cities and towns -- without raising taxes.

Municipalities throughout Connecticut continue in fiscal limbo, waiting for a budget that will allow them to know how much state aid to expect over the next two fiscal years. The governor and the Republicans asked the Democratic majority to pass a resolution in early May saying all municipalities would at least be flat-funded so they could adopt their own budgets. That was rejected.

Republicans presented their first budget for the next biennium on April 16. The supermajority party used a procedure that disallowed debate on the proposal. Ironically, after several weeks of saying the governor had done nothing to propose a budget reflecting the latest deficit forecasts, the Democratic supermajority voted down its own budget proposal that would raise taxes by $3.3 billion.

Under the Republican budget, no parks would be closed and towns would not be forced to pay more for their resident state troopers. No additional courthouses would be shut and modified grants for tourism and culture would remain.

Features in the Republican budget include:

$350 million of lottery earnings securitized, no Keno gambling.

Transitioning state employee health care from fully insured to self-insured.

Using $28 million in federal stimulus to fund special education.

The modified biennial budget would show a $37 million surplus in each of the two years.

As the state continues without a budget, the deficit increases. The state has done nothing to make systemic cuts in services, employees or departments at a time when tax revenue is decreasing, and if the state does not have a new budget by July 1, it will be forced to fund itself month by month, through temporary budget resolutions. Otherwise, the state runs out of money.

We need leadership during this fiscal crisis. We need to do the people's business today, which means adopting a fiscally sound budget.

Livvy R. Floren

Lile R. Gibbons

Fred Camillo

Greenwich