Top lawmakers met with Gov. Dannel Malloy Thursday morning, six days before the adjournment date for the General Assembly, and they said they will not be able to reach an agreement by the end of the regular session.
Rep. Joe Aresimowicz, the Speaker of the Connecticut House, said lawmakers have decided that their new deadline to come up with a budget compromise is June 30.
The date is not arbitrary, as that's the last day of the state's fiscal year.
Lawmakers would have to call themselves into a Special Session for the second straight time in order to pass a budget. Similar fiscal crises sent the General Assembly into a Special Session in 2015, and in order to balance the 2016 budget, lawmakers met in a Special Session last year.
Sen. Len Fasano, (R- North Haven), the top Republican in the Connecticut Senate, said a nonpartisan analysis of spending plans showed there is only agreement on 25 percent of spending issues.
Gov. Malloy acknowledged that chasm and added that there are big gaps between Democrats and Republicans on everything from municipal aid to how to raise revenue.
"I've wanted to get this done sooner rather than later," Malloy said. "That's why I've convened people and tried to move this along. I'm trying."
