HARTFORD -- Fulfilling his promise of offering shared sacrifice, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy unveiled a $19.7 billion budget Wednesday that spread the pain among constituency groups and generated criticism from businesses, senior citizens, and Republicans.
Fiscal conservatives said Malloy's budget taxes too much -- an additional $1.5 billion in the first year -- and cuts spending too little in an overall package that would increase spending by 2.4 percent in each of the next two years.
The plan is balanced partly by assuming that the state will receive $1 billion annually in savings from state employee unions. If no deal is reached, Malloy publicly warned in his budget address that there could be layoffs of thousands of state employees.
Democrats expressed cautious optimism over various aspects of the proposal. They cited Malloy for preserving funding for public education and balancing the budget in a difficult economic environment without borrowing money for operating expenses. They said Malloy accomplished a balancing act by preserving the state's safety net and avoiding large cuts in state aid to cities and towns.
During a 36-minute speech that was interrupted by polite applause 37 times, Malloy called for creating jobs, increasing pre-kindergarten programs, reforming teacher tenure, increasing spending for magnet schools, allowing cities and towns to keep more tax money from hotels and rental cars in their municipalities, and consolidating 81 state agencies into 57.
Anticipating the complaints that have already started on tax increases and spending cuts, Malloy said he believes that the general public will eventually support his ideas in order to close a projected budget deficit in the fiscal year that starts in July. In order to spread that message, he will embark next week on a 17-town tour of public meetings with citizens.
"I believe they are willing to make sacrifices, if they understand why they're being asked to do so, and if they believe that Connecticut is serious about fixing what's wrong,'' Malloy told legislators and a television audience in the historic Hall of the House at the state Capitol.
But numerous constituencies -- from the AARP to CBIA, the state's largest business lobby -- said they could not support the budget as presented. Some legislators say they support selected aspects of the fiscal plan and might eventually support the entire package if it is tweaked to their liking.
The nearly 600,000-member AARP said in a statement that, other than the expansion of a federally funded program regarding home care, "there is nothing but sacrifice in this budget for seniors.''
Malloy's senior adviser, Roy Occhiogrosso, responded that the budget helps senior citizens by providing billions of dollars to cities and towns, thus easing the pressure to raise property taxes, which are particularly burdensome for senior citizens.