Connecticut's budget: New year, old problems

Ringing in the New Year has always been a time for new beginnings and fresh starts, filled with hope and optimism. While the calendar may have changed over to 2010, the problems that plagued our great state in 2009 continue to haunt us.

Despite emerging signs of modest economic recovery, it cannot be ignored that Connecticut's fiscal crisis remains a very harsh reality. Just recently, state Comptroller Nancy Wyman released her updated budget deficit estimate indicating that Connecticut is $513 million in debt for Fiscal Year 2010.

This staggering level of debt is unacceptable and it must be dealt with immediately.

In the face of the worst budget deficit in the state's history, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a budget in the early morning hours of Sept. 1, 2009 that was quite clearly out of balance.

So much so, that just about two months after the majority's budget passed, without a single Republican vote, Gov. M. Jodi Rell called the legislature into special session to address a rapidly ballooning budget deficit of about $466 million.

Amazingly, the legislature convened on Dec. 15 as Governor Rell asked, but did nothing. The session lasted fewer than 15 minutes and the majority refused to vote on the governor's package.

Then, days before Christmas, the majority called the legislature back into special session to vote on a deficit mitigation package that cut a mere $12 million.

Governor Rell promptly vetoed this insufficient plan. She was right to do so.

I also support increasing Governor Rell's statutory authority to identify and make cuts. Throughout this crisis, she has proven she can make the tough decisions necessary to help us shovel out of debt. Legislative Republicans have also offered a number of proposals to cut costs and save money but our ideas went unnoticed time and time again.

So now, because the legislature failed to adequately address this crisis last year, we are faced with an old, all-too-familiar problem: a mounting budget deficit.

We must cut the deficit now -- and once and for all. This must be done without partisan politics and without finger-pointing.

I believe we can do this if we collaborate to reduce the cost and size of a state government that has become too big and too expensive.

Early last year, I was appointed to a newly-formed commission -- the Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes (CEAO). I was excited to be a part of the new commission tasked with redefining state government by examining overlaps and redundancies in an effort to eliminate wasteful spending and increase efficiency.

However, the commission has not taken the aggressive approach to redefining state government that I had hoped for. In fact, since its inception, the CEAO has held only a handful of meetings.

What's more, the commission is charged with finding only $3 million in savings. At a time when the state's non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis is projecting a combined deficit of more than $9 billion for 2012, 2013, 2014, we can -- and we must -- do better than this.

I remain committed to the important mission of the CEAO to find responsible and realistic ways for state government to save.

Since being appointed to the commission, I have suggested several cost-cutting measures. In April, I sent a letter to the co-chairs of the CEAO to lay out some of my own commonsense ideas for cost-cutting.

Some of those proposals include merging the Department of Motor Vehicles with the Department of Transportation, and folding the Department of Labor into the Department of Economic and Community Development.

These agencies, and many others in our state, serve similar functions and should find ways to streamline their operations and work together at a price we can afford.

I know you work hard. You deserve to have your tax dollars spent in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.

Therefore, I believe it is important for you, the taxpayer, to be involved in this process of reinventing state government.

I encourage you to contact me with your ideas on how state government can save. You can reach me toll free at 800-842-1421 or via e-mail at Michael.McLachlan@cga.ct.gov.

For more on the CEAO and to see my complete list of proposals visit http://www.cga.ct.gov/gae/CEAO/.

State Sen. Michael McLachlan, a Republican, is serving his first term representing the 24th district, which includes Danbury, Bethel, New Fairfield and Sherman.