Post by Logan on Apr 22, 2016 23:51:03 GMT -6
State budget deficits projected far into the future are taking a ferocious toll on civility at the state Capitol. The place is awash in fallen masks. You know courtesy is on a holiday when surly Gov. Dannel P. Malloy sustains a most memorable rebuke from a fellow Democrat in a fractious week.
The problem, of course, is money. Despite enormous tax increases in 2011 and 2015, the state's economy is not generating enough revenue to pay for everything Malloy and the Democratic General Assembly want to spend. Last year's tax hike was supposed to be enough to get the state through two years of spending. It was out of balance after a few months.
On Wednesday, this year's budget sprang a $141 million deficit with only 10 weeks to go in the fiscal year. This year's deficit has defied repeated efforts to fill it. The budget that goes into effect on July 1 keeps sprouting a bigger deficit every time leaders think they've cobbled together a solution. Malloy's February proposal to fix it was so inadequate that he felt he had to try again with a new proposal this month. It recycled some cuts and power grabs that had already been rejected by the legislature this year and was met with howls of protest.
Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, called the latest Malloy budget "a personal hit list." The governor is renowned in political circles for his taste for vengeance, and a growing budget deficit provides cover for him to indulge in one of his favorite pastimes. Anyone involved in providing or receiving health care in Connecticut can attest to that.
Read more: www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-rennie-ct-deficits-splitting-democrats-0424-20160421-column.html
The problem, of course, is money. Despite enormous tax increases in 2011 and 2015, the state's economy is not generating enough revenue to pay for everything Malloy and the Democratic General Assembly want to spend. Last year's tax hike was supposed to be enough to get the state through two years of spending. It was out of balance after a few months.
On Wednesday, this year's budget sprang a $141 million deficit with only 10 weeks to go in the fiscal year. This year's deficit has defied repeated efforts to fill it. The budget that goes into effect on July 1 keeps sprouting a bigger deficit every time leaders think they've cobbled together a solution. Malloy's February proposal to fix it was so inadequate that he felt he had to try again with a new proposal this month. It recycled some cuts and power grabs that had already been rejected by the legislature this year and was met with howls of protest.
Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, called the latest Malloy budget "a personal hit list." The governor is renowned in political circles for his taste for vengeance, and a growing budget deficit provides cover for him to indulge in one of his favorite pastimes. Anyone involved in providing or receiving health care in Connecticut can attest to that.
Read more: www.courant.com/opinion/op-ed/hc-op-rennie-ct-deficits-splitting-democrats-0424-20160421-column.html