Malloy Says State Won't Have Deficit

Governor Dan Malloy once again said Wednesday that Connecticut won't have a problem balancing its checkbook.

“We won’t end with a deficit" Malloy told NBC Connecticut following an event in New Haven. "We’ll end the year with a surplus.”

Connecticut's Comptroller Kevin Lembo, who essentially functions as the state's business manager, cautioned earlier in the week that the state still faced $45 million in spending shortfalls. He said in the grand scheme of the state's $20 billion spending plan, it's not a huge sum but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Lembo described the issue as "absolutely reasonable" and said, "at a quarter of a percent of the total budget which is what we’re talking about here, that the economy can continue to improve and erase that number but it’s really to keep that number on people’s radar that on the next month and two, that if it doesn’t erase itself, it’ll have to be cut out of the budget.”

Lembo said part of the concern comes from federal grants and reimbursements that haven't been paid to the state even though it has applied for the payments.

“The difficult part about federal revenue is that there’s someone on the other side in Washington approving or disapproving our request for payment.”

Medicaid payments from Washington have been slow to come in. That was an issue described by
Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes several weeks ago and Lembo echoed that sentiment.

“The department of social services has done the job that they think they were asked to do by the fed and now it’s just making that case and in the meantime there’s a lag on the funding coming in and that means cash flow for Connecticut.”

Gov. Malloy who campaigned on a promise that the state wouldn't have a deficit to end the fiscal year in June and that it would have surplus, said taxpayers have to keep in perspective the budget issues facing the state. He said Connecticut's fiscal picture will be much clearer over the next few months.

“We’re starting to come into really important months, now through April will really tell the story whether we’ll have a sizable surplus whether we’ll break even or whether we’ll have a small deficit.”

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