May 15, 2011
AN HONEST BUDGET FOR A BRIGHTER ECONOMIC FUTURE
State’s finances stable for job growth
By Rep. Bob Godfrey, Danbury News-Times
When the General Assembly convened in January we faced an unprecedented challenge – a $3.5 billion budget deficit and an economy still recovering from Wall Street and Big Bank greed. In this Great Recession, traditional budget balancing practices successfully used in past recessions did not work. What to do?
Thankfully, our new Governor Dannel Malloy proposed a responsible, tough yet fair budget that called for all Connecticut residents to share in the sacrifice. It included sweeping spending cuts, significant tax increases, investments to get Connecticut back to work, and new prudent policies. Businesses large and small, city and town leadership, and non-profit service providers called it honest, solid, and the right thing to do.
Best of all it protected the ‘safety net,’ help that you and our neighbors can rely on when needed most. It protected state funds to cities and towns for the most important services, such as public education. In 2012, Danbury will receive $511,610 more in state funding than the $31,656,108 it receives this year. And in 2013, Danbury will receive another $617,242 on top of that. That’s money that keeps your property taxes down and in your pocket.
While the governor’s plan was carefully constructed, I felt it needed more work. I joined in the fights that saved the property tax credit, eliminated a gas tax increase, reversed policy changes that would have hurt Danbury Hospital, reduced some of the proposed sales tax expansions, and even saved my “sales tax free week” each August.
The budget I helped craft and voted for had less spending and less tax increases than the Governor’s. But still, there was a billion dollar place-holder to be filled through concessions by our state employees. They had always come through for us before, and on Friday they did again. Their sacrifice will save us billions through changes in healthcare costs, pensions and wages, and the elimination of managerial positions. All with no more tax increases, no borrowing, no gimmicks. Agencies will still be open and convenient for you.
Then Republican partisan politics tainted the debate. Instead of applauding an honest state budget that protects the working middle class that does not rely on borrowing or accounting gimmicks, detractors went down the same old ideological dead-end road. They proposed their last minute “alternative budget”, not based on sound principles, but full of bad math and fiscal gimmicks. In a recession, it’s foolish to rely on cuts to unemployment benefits and job training, and massive cuts to health care for the elderly to balance a budget. And worst of all, they still insisted that ‘shared sacrifice’ should never, ever, include the rich and super-rich.
After 3 years of economic hardship, we’re stabilizing our state’s finances. I’ve fought to protect the working middle class, and preserve the safety net for our seniors, kids and most vulnerable neighbors. Unlike budgets in New York and New Jersey, I worked to maintain critical funding for our cities and towns. Real cuts have been made, debt has been reduced and our pension obligations funded. We can now move onto our jobs stimulus bill to ensure that all Connecticut residents can share in a growing economy and a prosperous future.