Democrats ignore GOP budget plan at their peril [The Day Editorial]

The Day

In responding to a proposal by the minority Republican Party, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy set the right tone in offering to negotiate. The Senate leader shows no such inclination, unfortunately.

That Republican proposal showed a serious attempt to grapple with the $930-million deficit projected for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and included some ideas that could help mitigate the much steeper deficits projected for the years to follow. If nothing changes, the gap between Connecticut’s projected expenses and its anticipated revenues will continue to widen.

Give Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano and House Minority Leader Themis Klarides credit for not playing it safe. Republicans could have sat back and enjoyed the intraparty Democratic fight, which has placed Malloy at odds with the House and Senate leaders. Republicans could have let the Democrats boil in their own stew. The Democrats have been in charge of the legislature for decades and the governor’s chair since 2011.

By letting the Democrats deal with the mess, Republicans could have made the handling of the budget a campaign issue in the coming state legislative elections, free from having their fingerprints on it. If the amended budget for the coming fiscal year used gimmicks, they would be strictly Democratic gimmicks. If it inflicted pain, it would be Democratic inflicted pain.

Yet offering an alternative budget was the right thing to do, because all the members of the House and Senate were elected to address problems facing the state, not to look for political openings.

Republicans call for a $1.2 billion cap on general obligation bonding, about 60 percent of the annual borrowing Connecticut has done in recent years. It would place a crimp on Malloy’s big transportation initiative and no doubt some local pet projects would not be done. But when you are running deficits and are already deeply in debt — Connecticut is among the most indebted states per capita — reducing borrowing makes sense.

So too does the Republican call for a three-year wage freeze for state workers, which party leaders note lawmakers could enforce through the legislature’s power to reject state contracts. As many a business has recognized, sometimes raises have to wait until finances stabilize.

Republicans would roll back a plan passed by the Democratic majority to, beginning next fiscal year, devote revenues generated from a half-percent of the sales tax to provide property tax relief to cities. That would generate $240 million in additional municipal aid next fiscal year, $300 million the year after. Republicans would drop that number to $100 million in added aid, enough to offset projected lost revenues tied to a new cap on local motor vehicle taxes.

Property tax relief is a good thing, this newspaper has long called for it, but a fiscal crisis may not be the best time to tackle it. We also note the Republican plan does a better job of supporting local education with state aid than does either the governor’s proposal or the budget approved by the Appropriations Committee.

We’re not thrilled with the GOP’s rejection of adding tolls to raise needed revenues for transportation improvements — all the surrounding states have them — and we think it would be a mistake to cut funding for school choice in the form of magnet and charter schools.

But the point is that it is a serious proposal, one that could form the basis of bargaining and compromise.

Malloy indicated he is willing.

“We thank the Republicans for putting out a budget plan, which appears to tackle the entirety of the deficit. The budget shares key elements with the governor’s proposal,” said the statement from a gubernatorial spokesman.

The statement also said the Malloy administration had “questions and concerns” and called for talks.

Democratic House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey acknowledged the “helpful ideas” and called for the minority and majority leadership to “sit down … work it out, and get this done together.”

Only State Senate President Martin M. Looney turned a frigid shoulder and suggested Democrats will figure this out.

“On balance, their plan is unworkable and eliminates the most significant property tax initiative to benefit municipalities in our state’s history.

We will deliver a budget that is balanced, workable and protects our investments in property tax relief and job creation,” Looney said.
Or perhaps it will deliver a budget that Republicans will have great success running against, after all