Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is expressing frustration over how long it's taking Connecticut legislative leaders to reach a bipartisan state budget agreement.
"We're losing time," Malloy said at a press conference on Thursday. "We're losing important moments, important discussions that we should be having around job creation while other states are not so stymied."
Democratic leaders have told rank-and-file Democrats to keep the week of Oct. 23 open for possible budget votes.
After learning a vote on Friday won't happen, Malloy suggested Thursday that the leaders "maybe need to pick up the pace" of their closed-door negotiations, which haven't included the Democratic governor.
Malloy previously warned if a budget deal wasn't reached by Friday, lawmakers would have a difficult time passing a new two-year plan before Nov. 1 because of scheduling conflicts.
Top Republican and Democratic leaders say they made progress during Thursday's closed-door negotiations but haven't reached an ultimate deal. Only the leaders of the budget committees planned to meet Friday.
The governor has not been included in the latest budget talks but on Wednesday said he was optimistic about the process, though he stressed that any budget he wants to see must be "free of gimmicks."
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He also mentioned that his office was working on another budget plan with fewer tax increases than the previous Democratic proposal.
After meeting Tuesday, legislators said that the discussions are moving forward.
While budget discussions continue, CEA, municipal leaders, teachers, students and parents filed a lawsuit at Hartford Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon, asking the court to stop $557 million in planned funding cuts to 157 municipalities.
Malloy said it's premature for Connecticut's largest teachers' union to seek a court order to block him from cutting state education funding.
