Fasano Statement Regarding Gov. Malloy’s Municipal Cuts & Letter to Cities and Towns

Hartford – Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano (R-North Haven) released the following statement regarding a letter sent to Connecticut municipalities by Governor Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director regarding municipal funding cuts contained in the governor’s executive order.

“What Governor Malloy is doing to our cities and towns is calculated. It was always his goal to push more burdens onto Connecticut municipalities which will result in property tax increases. But taxing our way out of the state’s financial challenges is not a solution. The two largest tax increases in state history did not fix the problem; they made it worse and sparked the chaos we are facing today.

“The administration’s letter to towns and cities touting the governor’s concern is disingenuous at best. The governor’s number one priority throughout this entire budget process has been to gain approval for the labor deal he negotiated with state employee union leaders – a deal that prevents many structural changes to government, that moved our state further away from a budget and that created a situation where chaos is now rampant throughout our towns, cities and schools. The governor pushed for his deal to gain approval so that the upper echelon of state union employees could have security. The state employee union leaders now know what to expect for next year, but our students don’t, our teachers don’t, our municipal leaders don’t, and property taxpayers don’t.

“The governor and Democrat legislative leaders knew they did not have a budget that would balance under the provisions of the SEBAC deal. But the governor and Democrat leaders pushed for lawmakers to pass it anyway. They knew that without a budget, the governor would be making deep and devastating cuts to our towns. But Gov. Malloy didn’t share those cuts in full until after his deal passed. His plan all along has been to target our cities and towns. Now he’s just looking for ammunition to justify what he has been planning to do from the start.

“Republicans are continuing to push for a budget that brings our cities and towns stability, that fairly funds education, and that does not push new tax burdens onto Connecticut residents. As discussions continue with Democrats that remains our goal.”