Fasano Statement in Response to the Speaker’s Call for Session Tomorrow to Consider the Governor’s Veto

Hartford – Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano (R-Fasano) released the following statement in response to Speaker of the House Aresimowicz’s call for session to consider the governor’s veto to take place tomorrow.

“It’s clear that the Speaker of the House is afraid of the growing public support to override the governor’s veto of the state budget.  Every day pressure increases to adopt a budget that paves a path out of chaos for our state. But the speaker is trying to take the only viable option off the table as quickly as possible. He is rushing to hold a veto session in an attempt to kill this budget before sympathetic Democrats have a chance to witness the full devastating effect of the only alternative: the governor’s executive order. The speaker has not offered any budget that could pass the legislature to date. But rather than advance a budget that does not have his party’s name attached to it, he is pushing for more chaos. To say accepting a veto brings us closer to bipartisanship comes with a slash and burn mentality. The speaker is willing to risk our schools and children, and kill our towns and cities, when we already have a bipartisan solution before us.

“Vetoing the only state budget at this time is blindly accepting the governor’s executive order. It’s accepting hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to towns, cities and schools. It’s accepting a $56 million cut to Hartford. It’s accepting teacher layoffs and property tax increases. It’s accepting additional cuts to nonprofits and social services. The worst part about all of this is it doesn’t have to be this way. We have the ability to stand up to the governor and adopt a resolution. Instead the speaker is racing to kill the only solution to date. This is fiscally irresponsible leadership.”