The legislative session has barely begun and the people chosen to run the state have a tough task – the state budget.
The governor has posted the full budget on her Web site, along with budget highlights and a town-by-town breakdown.
Lawmakers have to find a way to divide a smaller state budget into pieces at a time when the state is over extended and groups that bank on state money need more help.
The legislature's tax-writing committee will hear more about the plan Friday.
The plan now is for lawmakers to vote Wednesday on Gov. M Jodi Rell's plan to reduce the current fiscal year deficit, which is estimated at $343 million.
Republican senators said they hope not to have a battle of the parties and that the majority Democrats pass Rell's plan, or at least come up with their own.
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Waiting until the end of the fiscal year to use the state's $1.4 billion rainy day fund to cover the deficit would be mistake, they said.
Minority Leader John McKinney said the state's fiscal problems would only worsen. He believes the $6 billion deficit that is predicted over the next two years could balloon to $8 billion.
