On the eve of the General Assembly session adjournment, the political battle continued at the state Capitol over whether to alter the budget that kicks in July 1.
Legislative Republicans, the minority party, were attempting to amend budget-related bills with their 105-page tax and spending proposal, but with little success so far. Their bill includes more spending for nursing homes, nonprofit agencies and a gas tax holiday — paid for by a new, early retirement incentive program.
The majority Democrats and Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell have agreed to make no changes to the $18.4 billion budget approved last year for the upcoming 2008-09 fiscal year. The budget still increases spending by about 4 percent.
Senate Minority Leader John McKinney said legislative Democrats are afraid to vote on the GOP budget.
“They want to leave town, do nothing and ride off into the November election,” said McKinney, R-Fairfield.
This year’s legislative session ends at midnight on Wednesday.
House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, said he is not willing to set aside time for a debate on the GOP budget.
“In reality, it’s the Republican do-something-dumb-budget. I mean, come on. We have a budget in place, we’ve had it for two years,” Amann said. “Why would the House of Representatives debate a Republican budget when we have one already? The governor is with us. We have a deal. We have 30 some odd hours left. I don’t think we have time for nonsense.”
Once flush with an estimated $263 million budget surplus, the state now expects to end this fiscal year on June 30 with an $80 million deficit. Rell has asked lawmakers to stop passing bills that would increase spending, threatening to veto them.
The decision to stay with the status quo for the 2008-09 budget has caused a commotion at the Capitol. Various groups are scrambling to find money for their causes.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents cities and towns, want lawmakers to extend the local tax on real estate transactions for two more years. If the tax is not extended, cities and towns could lose about $40 million. The tax is set to expire this fiscal year.
Mayors say they desperately need the revenue and that many cities and towns have already included it in their municipal budgets for 2008-09.
Amann said there’s an effort to pass an amendment that extends the tax. But he said it would be limited to that debate, and not an opportunity for the GOP to bring up their budget.
There’s also concern that some bills that might not have a financial impact are getting caught up in the budget controversy. Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Danaher took the unusual step of holding a news conference outside the Capitol to urge lawmakers to pass several bills that have gotten stuck in the pipeline.
The bills would tighten rules for convicted sex offenders, create a data network allowing images to be sent from emergency 911 callers, and make residential information available to public officials when they need to notify people about a large-scale emergency.
“All three of these bills are consistent with the governor’s message,” Danaher said.
Meanwhile, Rell directed her commissioners and agency heads to ban out-of-state travel by all personnel because of the projected deficit. The ban only applies if the travel is paid with state funds.
“The state is paring its expenses and looking for savings,” Rell said in a written statement. “With tax revenues slipping below projections and the national outlook growing dimmer, we have to make sensible cost-cutting moves.”
