House and Senate Republicans unveiled their proposed fixes to the state budget, which faces a deficit in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and even more in later years.
Top Republicans were visibly frustrated Friday because pieces of their proposals had been linked to members of the press the previous day.
"It's disheartening" said Sen. Len Fasano, (R - North Haven), the top Republican in the Senate.
He said he thought what was said during negotiations that started two weeks ago with Republicans, Democrats, and Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy would remain private.
In all, the GOP budget plan cuts existing spending by more than $300 million, and proposes several initiatives to get spending under control in later years.
Fasano and Rep. Themis Klarides (R - Derby) unveiled an $80 million short-term savings idea to entice retirements from about 1,800 state employees who are eligible to retire but haven't.
Republicans also want to restore cuts made by the governor to hospitals, mental health, and disability services, while also allowing him to identify another $90 million or so in new cuts.
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They proposed trimming the governor's infrastructure and transportation spending plan by roughly 30% from $100 billion over 30 years to $67 billion over the same time span.
In long term savings, they want to see increased payments from state workers for health insurance Gov. Malloy said Friday that he looks forward to hearing ideas from Democrats, who are expected to unveil their budget plans next week.
