Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Wednesday that proposals from state employee unions for budget savings are "not nearly enough," and he suggested if they don't come across with significant concessions such as a wage freeze, he'll consider laying off thousands of state workers.
"My Administration has received some ideas from state employee union leaders which have the potential to save the state some money - and I appreciate those ideas. But they're not nearly enough. The time has come to take the next step and begin discussions regarding concessions," Malloy said in his budget message to the General Assembly at the Capitol.
He said he needs to save $1 billion a year over the next two years in what the state spends on its work force of about 50,000. He talked of getting to that $2-billion figure over two years via a combination of savings and concessions from the unions who helped secure his narrow victory in the election last November.
"I don't make these suggestions to be antagonistic. Just realistic," Malloy said. "The alternative to the two billion dollar figure would require us to completely shred the safety net and lay off thousands of state workers. Which is to say there's no alternative. We have to get it done. And I'm confident we will get it done."