Layoff notices could go out as soon as next week if negotiators cannot reach a deal with state employee unions to provide $1 billion in concessions and savings in each of the next two years.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told reporters that Friday, May 6, is an important date because it is exactly eight weeks from the start of the state's new fiscal year, which begins Friday, July 1. Union contracts require eight weeks' notice for the most senior employees before they can be laid off, and Malloy wants any savings from layoffs to begin at the start of the fiscal year.
If the $1 billion in savings is not achieved, he said, he would bridge the resulting budget gap with spending cuts, not tax increases. Malloy said no additional taxes would be proposed beyond the $1.5 billion tax package approved last week by the tax-writing finance committee.
"I think everybody needs to know that we are at the point where we have a budget where revenue is not going to go up on the tax side,'' Malloy told reporters Monday. "We need ultimately to get to the point where we have a budget that we can live within or we need to start making the kinds of tough decisions -- other tough decisions, all of these decisions are tough -- that will allow us to live within that budget.''
Negotiators have gotten back to work after a lull for the Easter holiday weekend, but Malloy declined to provide details about the substance of the closed-door talks. He did say he is asking state legislators to vote on the state budget as soon as possible.
When asked for an update on the union talks, Malloy said, "No smoke today.'' That was a reference to the Roman Catholic tradition of sending white smoke up the Sistine Chapel chimney in Rome to signify the election of a new Pope.
Both the Malloy administration and the unions have abided by a confidentiality agreement they made to avoid any public discussion of the talks. House Speaker Christopher Donovan, a longtime union supporter, told Capitol Watch on Tuesday night that he did not know the details of the ongoing talks.
"I'm not involved, and people think I would be involved,'' Donovan said in an interview. "When I run into [union] people, they don't tell me anything.''
When asked if reaching $1 billion in savings from the unions is achievable, Donovan said, "I have no idea.''
Some insiders said that the Malloy administration was pushing hard for a budget vote in the House of Representatives, even if it came this weekend.
"I don't think so,'' Donovan said of a possible weekend vote. "There is no reason to do it that quick.''