HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Wednesday called for a new way to calculate state education aid to cities and towns while also warning lawmakers they’re not finished making difficult budget-cutting decisions given Connecticut’s continued spate of projected budget deficits.
Appearing on opening day of the 2017 legislative session before a General Assembly that includes the most Republicans in recent memory, the Democratic governor said additional proposed spending cuts and further modernization of state agencies will be part of the two-year budget he’ll unveil next month.
In the meantime, he said, his administration is meeting privately with state employee labor leaders on ways to possibly reduce labor costs through another round of concessions.
“Like families across Connecticut, just because we responsibly managed our budget in recent years doesn’t mean we can take a year off,” Malloy said. “We must continue to live within our means, spending only as much revenue as we have and no more.”
The state’s main spending account, the general fund, is expected to have shortfall of about $1.3 billion beginning July 1, the start of the new fiscal year. The account is roughly $18 billion. A sizeable deficit also is projected in the second year of the two-year budget.
Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano, co-leader of the new, evenly divided chamber, was pleased with Malloy’s fiscal message, saying “for the first time everything is on the table,” including municipal aid and unions.
But the president of the state’s largest labor organization voiced dismay that Malloy is already pushing another round of labor givebacks. Workers last agreed to concessions in 2011. And last year, more than 1,000 received layoff notices.
“I think that the governor jumped to the head of the line, went after the big ticket items. But we really need a conversation about what else is out there,” Lori Pelletier said, adding how workers have no appetite for more givebacks because they’re frustrated the administration hasn’t followed through with some of their budget-cutting ideas.
Malloy also said the budget plan he’ll unveil in February will call for a “more equitable system for providing town aid,” noting how Connecticut spends one-fifth of its state budget, $5.1 billion, on municipal assistance. It’s the state’s largest expense.
Of the $5.1 billion, $4.1 billion includes local educational funding. That does not, however, include state spending on school construction financing, which accounts for about a quarter of the state’s debt.
Malloy said his education funding formula would be based on a community’s local property tax burden, student need and student enrollment. It would replace the complicated Educational Cost Sharing Grant. He said leaders of the less-affluent communities will, however, be held to “substantially higher standards and greater accountability.”
It’s questionable whether his plan will ultimately become the final product.
“Given the make-up of 18-18 in the Senate, I would argue that all ideas should be brought to the table. That’s what this place is about,” said Fasano, adding how the GOP’s ideas were previously ignored.
The chamber was supposed to be 18-18 following the election, but wound up being 17-17 on Wednesday after a Republican and a Democratic senator resigned in the morning to take other government jobs. Special elections will now have to be held to fill those seats.
Malloy’s education funding proposal comes nearly three months after a state judge declared the state’s education funding system unconstitutional and called for major reforms. While state officials have appealed that ruling, Malloy said Wednesday he believes the state needs to direct financial support to the poorest communities to ensure all children receive a quality education.
That was welcome news to Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, a Democrat whose city is facing a $22.6 million deficit and a more than $50 million shortfall next year.
“I was heartened by what I heard today as a commitment to making sure that our urban centers, which are the engines of economic growth in our state, are on a stable fiscal footing,” he said.
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The story has been corrected to show the Senate is split 17-17 by party membership, not 18-18. It also has been corrected to show a state judge, not the State Supreme Court, declared the education funding system unconstitutional.
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