Over the past several months, I’ve received dozens of questions concerning how the state budget is developed and approved. To that end, I’d like to offer some insight into the budget process that is currently underway at the State Capitol.
You may have heard that the Governor proposed a budget at the beginning of February. The Governor’s proposal is only the first step in the budget process – a starting point for the Legislature to make changes and develop its own budget for consideration later in the session.
Connecticut has a two-year budget cycle, which requires us to approve a new budget in odd-numbered years like this one, and make any required adjustments to the budget during the even-numbered years to reflect changes in policy and financial condition of the state. The current budget cycle will cover July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019. Proposed spending in the Governor’s budget is approximately $40 billion.
Once the Governor offers his budget proposal, the Appropriations Committee, on which I serve, holds two weeks of public hearings which include presentations by state agencies as well as comments from various organizations and the general public. After these hearings, the Appropriations Committee holds subcommittee meetings, in which small groups sit with state agency personnel and go through their budgets line by line. There are thirteen subcommittees; I serve on four of them. This process takes several weeks and includes follow-up meetings, and the final results of each subcommittee are then reported to Appropriations Committee leadership.
In late April, the Appropriations Committee is expected to have a spending package to be incorporated into a budget for consideration by the legislature. At the same time, the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Commission has been holding its own hearings, and will develop revenue estimates for the late April target date.
Throughout May, Legislative Leadership and the Governor will negotiate a budget for the legislature to vote on before the statutory end of the session – which this year is midnight on June 7th. If a budget is ready by that time – and there are no guarantees that we will meet that deadline this year – we are unlikely to see the actual budget until the last day of the session. If we do not meet this deadline we will – like last year – meet in special session during the summer.
There are several factors that make development of a budget particularly difficult this year. First, there are significant fixed costs including pension and health care obligations, debt service, etc. which limit our flexibility in what may be cut. However, there are still cuts that can be made without hurting essential services, and some of us have been recommending significant cuts for duplicative programs and administration-heavy departments. Second, we are facing a projected budget deficit of between $3.0 and $3.6 billion over the next two-year cycle – holes that we need to fill in the current budget proposal. Third, we have significant costs for the state workforce that are still under negotiation with a number of unions. The Governor has pledged $700 million in savings from these employee contracts, but many of us view this amount as very difficult to achieve.
There are a number of things in the Governor’s proposal that really hurt our small towns, including reductions in education aid and an unprecedented transfer of accumulated teacher pension expense to our municipalities. Many of us are working hard to reverse these changes, as well as other issues I’ve heard from constituents about, including new or increased taxes and fees. We have had some success in eliminating Connecticut’s $300,000 share to participate in a federal mileage tax study under both financial and legislative pressure. I co-sponsored a bill, with Sen. Suzio and others, to legislate this elimination if DOT did not voluntarily withdraw. It’s a good start, but we have a long way to go to develop a budget that will best serve the people of our district and our state.
The legislature has some particularly tough choices to make this year, and I appreciate hearing from you concerning issues that are important to you. I encourage you to visit my website, www.RepZawistowski.com, for news and opportunities to get involved, and to sign up for email blasts; also check my Facebook page @RepZawistowski. And as always, please contact me if you have questions, ideas, or comments about state related issues, by phone at 860-240-8700 or by email at Tami.Zawistowski@housegop.ct.gov.