Dan Malloy has now made clear what he wants to do about the state budget. he is in favor of raising sales taxes and borrowing to close the budget gap. he has made a deal with the state employee unions for their endorsement that effectively prevents him from getting any sort of concessions from those unions to close the budget gap. since payments to employees are the single biggest portion of the state budget, this deal by malloy means that it will be essentially impossible to balance the budget without heavy new burdens placed on Connecticut's families. This state needs a governor who will recognize the need to negotiate lower levels of staffing and pay scales for state employees. Since the start of the recession, about 30% of all workers have taken a pay cut and another 6% or so have lost their jobs. If these folks have suffered the burden of the recession, why is it that state employees are immune to sharing any of the burden? Why must the people of Connecticut act as if the state employees are entitled to protection from the same economic problems that beset everyone else?
The short answer is that the state employees need to contribute here. No one is calling for dramatic cuts in salaries. A 2% cut for next year from the current levels would save the state billions of dollars and make the budget gap manageable. A reduction in certain pension costs or other benefits for state employees to bring them in line with the levels paid to private employees in the state would also do much to close the gap and place Connecticut on a sound footing.
The issue is the very future of the state. If the next governor does not act, we will soon see the day where Connecticut joins states like California and Illinois in facing bankruptcy.
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