Connecticut’s Speaker of the House hasn’t ruled out approving a spending plan for the next two years before the end of the current fiscal year.
House Democrat and Republican Caucuses met behind closed doors for more than two hours each on Thursday, as the deadline to approve a spending plan is getting closer and closer. The 2017 fiscal year ends on June 30.
Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, the Speaker of the House told reporters, "Our caucus told us as we believed they would that they want us to work as hard as we possibly can in the coming days and convene on June 29 to pass a budget for the State of Connecticut for the next biennium and that's what we intend to do."
One concern making its way through the ranks is the prospect of Gov. Dannel Malloy making all spending decisions without a budget in place. The governor provided his "guiding principles" for how to manage the state’s finances without an appropriations law in place.
In a statement, Malloy’s communications director posed a warning to lawmakers that if they pass a budget it can’t add to a budget and told them their legal authority is extremely limited if they don’t pass a traditional budget document.
One of his top requirements is that a budget can’t add to the state’s deficit, which is currently projected at more than $5 billion over the next two years.
Communications Director Kelly Donnelly wrote, "If members of the General Assembly choose to exacerbate our difficulties and kick the can down the road, they should be prepared to justify that fiscally irresponsible choice to their constituents."
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Donnelly also floated skepticism of Republican support for any budget plan, since it’s been years since they supported any plan put forward by Democrats.
"It would be especially surprising to see Republicans endorse any continuation of the current biennial budget, given their strong criticism of that budget over the past two years," the statement continued.
Republican Leader Themis Klarides told reporters she's open to discussing revenue, but said it has to be combined with adding a real cap on spending and ensuring cities and towns gt the funding they expect every year.
"Finding revenue cannot be done in a vacuum," Klarides said. "You need to find revenue if you need but what you need to do is figure out is why you need so much revenue."
Further, she said she’ll have her members ready for whatever happens next Friday when lawmakers meet on June 29, but said she’s not optimistic about passing a budget.
"I would be very shocked if there was a budget on June 29," Klarides said.
