Witkos, LeGeyt Join Call for Informational Hearing on State Budget
October 20, 2016Hartford – Senator Kevin Witkos (R-Canton) and Representative Tim LeGeyt (R-Canton,Avon) are joining Senate and House Republicans calling for an informational hearing to gather more information about the state’s projected budget deficit.
Connecticut’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis is currently projecting a state budget deficit of $78 million. But Gov. Malloy’s administration has previously denied the existence of a deficit, even after the administration revealed a deficit in a letter sent to agency heads last month. Republicans are questioning why the Malloy administration withheld information about the deficit from the public, and are calling for a hearing to assess the differing budget projections.
“The governor’s office provided misleading information to the public about Connecticut’s financial health. We now know that the state budget has a deficit and we know that the governor tried to withhold that information. We are calling for a public informational hearing so that lawmakers can get together with the administration and review all the facts. We need to talk about solutions to our state’s financial problems, but we have to acknowledge how serious those problems are first,” said Senator Witkos.
“I support the call for an informational hearing as a means of confirming the process and finding out how we’ve arrived at a deficit when the legislature has repeatedly been advised by the governor’s budget office that no such deficit exists,” said Representative LeGeyt. “It would be prudent to have an open discussion in an effort to address this reporting issue as it does not contribute to the efficiency of the process.”
The Republican lawmakers intend to hold an informational hearing with the Appropriations and Finance, Revenue & Bonding committees so that officials from the governor’s budget office can explain the discrepancies in their budget numbers as compared to the nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis. OFA also found a drop in personal income tax collections of $80 million and a reduction in sales tax revenue of $39 million.
Photo attached: Sen. Witkos and Rep. LeGeyt joined Republican legislators at a press conference at the state Capitol on Monday, October 17 to call for an informational hearing on the state budget.