The group of political activists parading around as billionaires stood outside the governor’s residence in Hartford Tuesday morning to drop off a card and greet lawmakers as they made their way through the gates for budget negotiations.
“Humor is an important way to get our message out,” Working Families Party spokesman Joe Dinkin said. He said this is probably not the last time the billionaires will make an appearance as Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature wrangle over a tax and spending plan for the next two years.
Before heading into negotiations, Sen. Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Southport, said “I think we’re still far apart, but we’re hopefully all here with the same goal to bridge those gaps and reach a compromise.” Speaker of the House Chris Donovan said he was optimistic a compromise will be reached.
Last week the legislature’s Democratic majority proposed a $1.8 billion tax increase, most of which is raised through a progressive income tax and Rell proposed a $391 million tax increase, but did not include an increase in the state’s relatively flat 5 percent income tax.
Click the play arrow above to watch as Jon Durham, aka Robert Barron, asks to be let into the governor’s residence.
