Gov. Dannel P. Malloy met with the press briefly this morning. He answered questions about the state Senate's pre-dawn approval of the budget, ongoing discussions with the state workers and Connecticut's overall fiscal health.
Malloy was asked about the three Democratic senators who voted against the budget, but said he prefers to "dwell on the fact that the state Senate....approved the budget, which is groundbreaking. They demonstrated a great leadership and I'm very thankful for that leadership.''
He dismissed talk of a state surplus at a time when the budget package calls for significant tax increases. "This idea of continuing to talk about surpluses when we have billions of dollars of obligations, when in fact by any reasonable measurement we're flat broke, doesn't make a lot of sense.
"I think very frequently it's put forward by folks who want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to be able to talk about the unfunded obligations of the state of Connecticut at the same time that they want to be able to talk about other things.''
Then, he added, they "vote against budgets that actually take a substantial step towards ultimately addressing the unfunded obligations of the state of Connecticut."