OPINION: The Numbers Tell A Different Story

I'd like to start out by thanking everyone for giving me the opportunity to represent you for another two years in Hartford.  The beginning of a new session always brings a level of enthusiasm, but I am quickly grounded by the fiscal condition of Connecticut's budget. This next session is going to be more difficult than ever. Throughout the election cycle, we heard optimism about the future and Governor Malloy predicted that our budget would end in a surplus.  He continued to assure us that the budget policies would soon pay off and insisted that Connecticut is turning the corner.  While he may still hold that belief, the numbers are painting a different story.  Two weeks after the election, the state faces a projected deficit of $100 million, and the state has run out of operating cash again. The media seems to focus on the $100 million deficit, but we cannot gloss over the fact that Connecticut is running a negative cash balance – something that hasn't occurred in almost two years.  In my opinion, this occurrence is more dire than others; in previous years when Connecticut has run out of cash, it had a zero budget reserve "rainy day" balance and deficits in the billions.  Today, Connecticut has approximately $500 million in its budget reserve.  Additionally, in October of 2013, pursuant to the Governor's proposal, the state borrowed an additional $598 million and added it to our cash balance under the guise of GAAP accounting.  The state, therefore, had a cushion of $1 billion in its checkbook.  Normally, this cushion is sufficient to get us through the lean months, like November, without borrowing bond funds to operate government.  So the fact that the state ran out of money caught all of us by surprise.  If money is leaving the checkbook faster than it’s coming in, we must take a better look at our expenditures. No one denies that we are in difficult economic times.  I differ with the Governor on how we should handle these budget shortfalls, and I think even his administration now realizes that tax increases and more borrowing is not a viable option.  His own budget chief acknowledges that Connecticut is in a "permanent fiscal crisis".  I am hopeful that we will work together on a budget that solves our short-term problems, as well as our long term deficiencies.  Connecticut can emerge from this recession more quickly if consumer confidence increases, and I believe that can only happen with bipartisan solutions to our budget woes.