
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is trying to lead lawmakers through the five stages of grief to get them to a point where they understand the difficult decisions he had to make in order to come up with a two-year, $40 billion budget.
He said he understands that lawmakers, who largely have panned his spending cuts, don’t like the decisions he made, but he thinks it’s too late to start the budget process over again. He said lawmakers are struggling to get to acceptance, which he understands because it also took him time to accept that steep spending cuts were the only way to solve the budget deficit.
“I’m going to tell you that this is the framework,” Malloy said Thursday. “There’s no remaking the budget. Where’s the money going to come from?”
Sen. Beth Bye, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, has said she finds a lot of cuts in Malloy’s budget “untenable.” Her colleagues in the House are just as concerned with some of the spending cuts and, according to sources, the process of coming up with a new budget that ignores some of Malloy’s budget framework is under way.
Malloy said he’s also heard that lawmakers are looking to remake his budget proposal and that’s why he called a group of reporters to his office Thursday to let them know it can’t be done.
Rep. Toni Walker, co-chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee, said Thursday that there’s a process in place where the governor presents a budget to the legislature, the legislature hears from members of the public, and then comes up with its own budget.
Walker pointed out that the budget Malloy gave them this year was two weeks late and out of balance.

Malloy’a budget office miscalculated the spending cap in the first year of the budget by $54 million, which meant lawmakers would need to look for an additional $54 million in spending cuts, if they planned on using his framework.
Walker said the Appropriations Committee has to go through the budget line-by-line and make sure some of the spending cuts won’t cost the state more money in the future.
“There are three branches of government here and we have to make sure whatever we do does not deter people in Connecticut from thriving,” Walker said.
In addition to making changes to the spending side of the budget, some lawmakers have been looking to increase revenue by raising certain taxes or getting rid of tax exemptions.
Malloy said lawmakers can talk all they want about raising revenue, but they won’t be able to spend the extra money because of the state’s constitutional spending cap.
“The reality is we have a spending cap,” Malloy said, adding that there’s no consensus to get rid of the spending cap or to find ways around it.
According to Republican lawmakers, that is because Democrats don’t have a big enough majority to do either.
“The governor does not have to worry about the legislature exceeding the spending cap, because we can assure you Republicans won’t allow it,” Sens. Len Fasano and Rob Kane, said in a joint statement. “Republicans control this issue. Without Republican support, there simply isn’t a strong enough majority to exceed the cap.”
A super majority is needed in both the House and the Senate to exceed the cap. That means the Senate would need 22 of its 36 members and the House would need 91 of its 151 members to exceed the spending cap. Based on the seats picked up by Republicans in the last election, the Democrats hold an 87-64 seat advantage in the House and a 21-15 seat advantage in the Senate. That means that if the Democrats were unified in support of changing the spending cap in any way — which is unlikely — at least four Republicans in the House and one Republican in the Senate would need to vote in favor.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said the budget process is a “two-step dance” and the legislature is on that second step. He said lawmakers have been very busy listening to the public and “putting together a package they feel reflects the values of their constituents.”
He said he fully expects that by the end of the legislative session they will have reached a compromise on a budget package with the governor.
“There’s an understanding of the difficult decisions that are ahead,” Duff said. “And we will have a budget that reflects those difficult decisions.”
House Speaker Brendan Sharkey agreed.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
“The governor acknowledged that the budget is in the legislature’s hands now, and we are committed to building a budget that represents our core Democratic principles – protecting our most vulnerable residents, investing in education and job creation, reflecting a long term vision that encourages economic growth, and is under the spending cap,” he said.
Asked about the Democratic principles included in the budget, Malloy said “I’ll take my core and compare it to anybody else’s core, anytime.” He said he thinks those values are in his budget.
More State Budget news

Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep reading