Gov. Dannel Malloy strongly hinted Wednesday that he will shortly veto the Republican budget bill that passed the General Assembly more than 10 days ago.
He said the budget, which passed with Democrat votes in both the House and Senate, is a measure that he can't sign.
“I have one vote," Malloy said during a news conference following bipartisan budget talks with House and Senate leaders. "I am likely to exercise that one vote in the coming days with respect to the existing budget, but I’m hopeful we can get to a budget I can sign.”
The Republican budget narrowly passed the House, but sailed through the Senate with three Democrats breaking ranks, and siding with the minority party.
The budget depends on projected retirement savings due to higher contributions a decade from now, leading to decreased payments for existing obligations. Those changes are what Malloy has described as "illegal," because he said they result in a backdoor to avoid collective bargaining.
Republicans have started a statewide tour, making their pitch to locals as to why the governor should sign the budget.
Sen. Len Fasano, the top Republican in the Senate, said the only budget that has reached the governor's desk with bipartisan support is the GOP proposal, which he said is reason enough for him to sign it.
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Fasano said he would be open to coming back in a Special Session to make changes to the budget saying, “Let’s make that the law and then we can do amendments to it but are you really going to leave the state without a budget?”
Following the news conferences, there was no indication that a bipartisan budget agreement was imminent, or even on the horizon.
