Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is seeking $2 billion in savings over the next two years in order to balance the state budget.
The amount of savings had been a well-kept secret in recent weeks as the Malloy administration and state-employee unions began closed-door talks on closing the state's projected $3.7 billion gap in the next fiscal year.
On Tuesday morning, Malloy's senior adviser, Roy Occhiogrosso, said that the number of savings that is being sought is $1 billion in each year. He declined to answer further questions on the details Tuesday.
In the first year, Malloy is seeking a total of $1.8 billion in overall spending reductions, which would include $1 billion in savings from the state employees and $800 million in spending cuts. Insiders have been careful to use the word "savings'' from state employees instead of the word "concessions."
Even though the talks began recently, the two sides had initially not had any discussions about concessions. Instead, they were talking about various ideas that the state employees have for saving money in operating the state.