[This story has been updated.]
In a sweeping three-page condemnation of the Republican budget passed earlier this month, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy vetoed the measure Thursday, calling it “unbalanced, unsustainable and unwise.”
A handful of Democrats broke ranks in the Senate and House to move the GOP proposal forward and pass it two weeks ago, and Malloy has been threatening to veto it since.
In his veto letter, Malloy says the spending plan makes “unilateral” changes to vested pension benefits that create risk of a constitutional challenge.
“Disguised as ‘structural reform,’ these changes echo poor decisions of Connecticut’s past, when the state failed to make full payments on our existing commitments,” he wrote.
Malloy also said the budget “spins a false narrative” about how much funding cities and towns would gain, and he decried hundreds of millions in cuts to UConn and state colleges and universities.
Malloy closes by noting that failing to reach a bipartisan deal soon puts the state at risk for losing federal approval for hundreds of millions of dollars in increased provider tax revenue and Medicaid funding needed to balance the budget.
Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano (R-North Haven) called on lawmakers to reject Malloy’s veto which he said “has now put Connecticut in chaos.”
“By vetoing this budget, the governor’s draconian executive order will remain in effect and create destruction for low and middle income families,” he said in an email. “Beyond the obvious cuts, the governor’s actions will result in collateral damages that will create suffering that goes further than anything we’ve seen thus far. For example, the governor’s actions today threaten federal funding for programs such as women’s crisis centers. Lawmakers can correct this by overriding the governor’s veto.”
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) countered that Malloy’s veto was the correct move.
“The Republican budget hurts middle class families in Connecticut, it hurts seniors, and it hurts students,” Duff said in a statement. “I support the veto because the Republican budget increases taxes and fees by a billion dollars, it increases spending, it defers pension payments at a time when we are trying to catch up with decades of deferred pension payments, and – most importantly – the Republican budget is not balanced.”
