Opinion: Where’s the budget?

As the end of July comes to a close and August begins to heat up I’m still wondering, where’s the state budget?

The legislative session ended on June 7, and nearly two months have gone by without debate or a vote on a state budget. The document that outlines all state spending for the next two years, the document that allows local towns and municipalities to create their own plans for the next year and to set tax rates and provide services, the document that is fundamentally the most important thing legislators are tasked to do has yet to be brought forward for our consideration.

Majority party Democrats control which bills are brought to the full House of Representatives, and which legislation gets debated and which votes get taken.  If they don’t have the ability or will to discuss a specific piece of legislation then it never gets a vote and the people of our state continue to suffer.

To be fair, crafting and implementing a $20 billion budget is no easy task, and with a $5.1 billion deficit to fill it’s even more difficult.  Still, I have to ask why legislative Democrats haven’t been able to deliver even a reasonable breakdown of their plan.  Instead of detailed documents and ideas, we’re constantly being told it’s in the works, on the way or will be ready soon.  How long must the people of Connecticut wait for the majority party to do their job?

While Democrats continue to abdicate their responsibility, House Republicans have been hard at work offering ideas, documents and detailed breakdowns of proposals to move Connecticut forward. Before the session ended, and before the fiscal year expired on June 30, our caucus submitted three fully vetted, no-tax-increase budgets and one “mini-budget” for discussion.  Instead of using those documents as a starting point, or taking the best ideas and creating a compromise plan, they outright rejected our proposals and refused to consider them.   While the state flounders and residents are feeling increased pressure, Democrats decided once again to put politics ahead of people.

Last week, during a special legislative session called by Speaker of the House Aresimowicz, ostensibly to vote on the House Democrats budget plan which was never called, House Republicans called two separate amendments to debate our budget proposal.  The amendments didn’t demand adherence to our ideas, nor did they ask for anyone to vote against their principles or the wishes of their constituents. Our amendments asked for our plan – the only plan currently available for detailed inspection and fully vetted by the non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) – to be open and debated in front of, and by, all elected legislators.  Those two amendments failed along party line votes.  Why?

Instead, the legislature voted on a state employee union contract that was never fully vetted by OFA before being passed along party lines by both the House and Senate. A contract that, among other things, extends no-layoff protections, guarantees two 3.5 percent raises and extends pension and healthcare benefits until 2027. Again, why?

With the state facing another massive shortfall Democrats chose to make certain that state employee unions were protected rather than doing their job and making sure our whole state is secure and operating with a balanced, sustainable budget.  While I don’t believe state employees are to blame for the mess we’re in, I am concerned that future legislatures and governors will be unable to substantially alter these agreements no matter what financial calamity we encounter in the coming years. Binding future leaders for 10 more years is shortsighted and doesn’t allow the flexibility to react to changing market conditions or fiscal catastrophe. Tax increases will continue to be their answer to falling revenue.

The Democrats’ continued refusal to consider any proposal other than their own is not new to anyone who keeps an eye on the legislature, but their refusal to even consider a different approach does indicate they are either unwilling or unable to do the job they were elected to do while the people of Connecticut pay the price.  For too long residents have been treated as a blank check when tough choices needed to be made.

The House Republican caucus is ready to lead if the majority party continues to choose not to.