Facing huge opposition from fellow Democrats in the House and Senate, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has decided to drop all plans for cutting state aid to cities and towns, according to sources in both chambers.
In return, Malloy will be announcing plans soon to lay off as many as 1,000 additional state employees.
"There could be up to an additional 1,000 layoffs. It is a lot of people,'' Malloy's senior advisor, Roy Occhiogrosso, told Capitol Watch in a telephone interview. "It's $54 million in municipal aid. Reducing municipal aid is not something the governor wanted to do. The $54 million in aid was a very modest proposal. That said, this is a process. ... That's what's going on here. This is the legislature being involved in the process. In order to take that municipal aid off the table, there are going to be substantially more layoffs. This is why the governor didn't want to go down this road.''
Regarding reports that there could be a union deal in the works by this weekend that will resolve the state's budget problems, Occhiogrosso said, "I have no idea.''
Jim Finley, the CEO of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, confirmed statements by Democrats that Malloy is dropping plans for cutting aid to cities and towns.
"We're good. It's rock solid - based on concerns raised in both caucuses,'' Finley told Capitol Watch on Thursday afternoon outside the Senate Democratic caucus room.
In the House Democratic caucus Thursday, legislators spoke several times about a front-page article in The Hartford Courant that mentioned the proposed cuts in aid to 22 cities and towns, including nearly $2.2 million for Hartford and more than $230,000 for West Hartford.
Politically, legislators do not want to return to their hometowns and tell their mayors, first selectmen, or council leaders that they voted to cut local aid. Word travels quickly in small towns - through the school board and town hall - if the local legislator votes against sending money back to the hometown.