This Is An Emergency

Under normal circumstances, there would be a good chance that any budget proposal Gov. M. Jodi Rell put on the table Wednesday would be declared dead on arrival. The simple fact is Democrats control the Legislature by overwhelming margins. They have the votes to mostly ignore her and assemble a two-year budget plan to their liking, assuming they are willing to override a few vetoes in pursuit of doing things their way.

The only factor weighing against Democrats assuming full responsibility for the state budget is the magnitude of the problem they face. With combined budget deficits for this year and the next two inching close to $8 billion, it appears Democrats may have to accept even some of the ugliest options the governor may suggest. There’s simply nowhere else to go.

Deep Spending Cuts

Gov. Rell gave few hints during her January State of the State speech about how she plans to get control of the fiscal crisis. Based on what she did say, it seems obvious she will propose deep spending cuts that may never have been contemplated in the history of state budgeting. She has begun to rub out her own lines in the sand in recent weeks with talk of the need to reduce spending on personnel — abandoning an early no-layoff stance — and acknowledging that taxes may have to be raised to bring the budget into balance.

It’s pretty clear there will be no political winners in this year’s negotiations. All sides are going to have to agree to options they have previously considered unacceptable. Still, at this point in the process, the usual chess game is underway. The Republican governor tries to force the Democratic Legislature to vote for her proposed spending reductions, the Democrats stall, waiting for her to offer truly unpopular proposals they can claim credit for opposing.

A political win for the governor would be to position herself as offering no pain alternatives — no matter how unrealistic — forcing Democrats to take responsibility for large tax increases over her very public disapproval.

If the effort to survive this session boils down to pure politics, that’s the most likely way it will play out. If an effort is going to be made by Democrats and Republicans to actually solve the short-term problem and build a solid foundation for the long term, then conventional means of reaching agreement must be thrown out the window in favor of immediate, bipartisan cooperation.

The normal procedure for how a bill becomes law is inadequate for the problem at hand. The house is burning while the governor and legislative leadership defer to process. It’s a convenient way to avoid leadership — to avoid taking responsibility.

Sidestepping Responsibility

The legacies of Rell, House Speaker Chris Donovan and Senate President Don Williams will be formed during the next four and half months. At this point, none seems to realize that this crisis is a leadership opportunity.

If they did, they would be sitting down outside the normal process to develop and agree to a plan to get things back on track. They have the power to bring in any experts they need, to apply whatever political pressure is necessary, to sell any plan to the general public through their access to the news media. But it is up to them to take the first step.

In the end, Rell, Donovan and Williams will have to agree to any real solution. Every week that they use the process as an excuse for not taking action puts Connecticut at greater risk. This is an emergency. It’s time to start treating it that way.

Dean Pagani is a former gubernatorial advisor. He is V.P. of Public Affairs for Cashman and Katz Integrated Communications in Glastonbury.