State leaders hope to get the state budget under control when they vote on it Wednesday. However, there’s a debate brewing about whether $200 million in that plan could be used to help cut the bloating shortfall.
The Democrat’s budget deficit plan, which is up for a vote, includes the Republicans’ suggestion to reduce lottery agents' commissions from 5 percent to 4 percent, it eliminates deputy commissioner positions and expands the state's returnable bottle deposit program to include water bottles.
What it does not include other things that were suggested like extending hours of alcohol sales at the state's casinos.
Legislative Democrats said they've found millions of dollars to cover the current fiscal year's budget deficit and that means they could avoid most cuts Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed to social service programs.
The legislature's office of fiscal analysis has identified approximately $1.6 billion in off-budget funds and accounts.
Democrats said their deficit-cutting plan would include $200 million from those funds.
The governor's budget director said the funds are not pools of hidden cash.
Local
Some, the director said, are large bond funds that finance public school construction and purchasing open space and they can't be used for other purposes, they said.
Donors wishing to make charitable contributions to the state for specific purposes set others up.
Rell said the Democrats’ plan is a disappointment on several levels.
She is upset because it provides no early retirement plan for state workers and contains few real cuts.
In a statement Rell released Tuesday night, she said “They also pull the rug out from under local property taxpayers by cutting special education funds by $8 million. They also hurt our job creation efforts by cutting $20 million from the Connecticut development authority."
