When is a Spending Cap a REAL Spending Cap!

It seems the Democratic-controlled legislature is knowingly trying to pass a budget that will exceed the state’s constitutional spending cap. The more than-$20 billion budget falls just $1 million under the spending cap.

The budget for the previous biennium exceeded its original spending estimates by close to $330 million.

The state’s constitutional spending cap was put in place in response to the state’s last major budget crisis in 1989-1991, and while for the most part “it has worked pretty well; it also has been subject to criticism, mainly from people who want to spend more. We have never defined the terms of the spending cap and we have never voted on [legislation] to implement it.

The razor thin closeness to the cap the Governor’s Budget comes to, means it will almost certainly goes over the spending cap.

Unfortunately, the Governor proposed delaying his major campaign pledge of implementing General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) by two years in order to close the $400 million budget gap left over when the administration was only able to get $1.6 billion in a tentative union agreement, instead of the $2 billion Gov. Dannel P. Malloy promised.

No governor in recent memory has been able to keep spending within a million dollars of its estimate. For example in 2010, the state comptroller’s office, then run by current Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, overran its own budget by more than $600,000. That would approach the $1 million cushion factored in a $20 billion budget, or less than 1%.

That’s like saying you’re going to balance your family budget for the year within a penny. Who would in their right mind do that kind of budgeting?

There are options if spending were to run up against the cap. The governor could issue a declaration of fiscal exigency, which would allow the state to spend over the cap. However, that would need to be approved by both legislative chambers with a least a two-thirds majority.

In all honesty the legislature needs to recognize that this budget will run over the constitutional spending limit and make the declaration of fiscal exigency now. Instead lawmakers decided to continue to go forward and pass a budget implementer bill that subverts the state constitution.

Let’s heed the will of the people and adhere to the state’s constitutional spending cap.

 
Please feel free to contact my office at 1-800-842-1324 to voice your comments or concerns on this issue or other issues of the day. If you would like to receive regular updates from my office please go to www.cthousegop.com and sign up to get my e-newsletter and latest videos.