The governor's office has released a summary of its proposed cuts and consolidations in advance of tomorrow's deadline to submit a plan to the legislature.
Transportation, developmental services, corrections and mental health and addictions services are among the hardest hit state departments. Plans call for the closing of several Department of Motor Vehicles branches and two Department of Social Services offices.
The full summary can be read here. It only includes the total number of dollars to be cut from each agency in 2012 and 2013; specifics about what those cuts will mean -- for instance which offices will close and what services will be eliminated -- will be released tomorrow, said Malloy's budget chief, Ben Barnes.
The cuts, when they come, will be felt by the citizens of the state, said Malloy advisor Roy Occhiogrosso.
"It's safe to the more people rely on state services, the more likely they are to feel an impact,'' Occhiogross told reporters at a press briefing this afternoon. "I think it's fair to say that when you are downsizing state government by 6,500 people, cutting programs, people are going to feel an impact. I don't think there's any question about that."
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is in Salt Lake City attending the National Governors Association conference but he released a joint statement with Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman expressing regret that the cuts are needed.
"To be clear, this is not the road down which either of us wanted to go. It's the reason we both worked hard and in good faith to come to an agreement with SEBAC that would have avoided the layoffs of rank-and-file state employees and managers,'' Malloy and Wyman said.
"But at this point, with no clear path to reach a ratified agreement with SEBAC, it's our job to find a way to fill the $1.6 billion hole in the budget and ensure our budget is balanced honestly. Tomorrow we'll send our full plan to the legislature, including these layoff numbers and additional service and programmatic cuts totaling $1.6 billion. And then we'll work as hard as we can to mitigate the impact these layoffs and cuts will have on the people of Connecticut."
The plan calls for the elimination of 6,060 executive branch jobs. However 1,599 of those are currently vacant and will not be filled leaving 4,328 jobs to be scrapped through layoffs and retirements. An additional 133 durational and per diem employment contracts will be cancelled.
The proposed cuts range from eight positions in the military department and 10 in the Office of the Cheif Medical Examiner to 884 at the DOT. Corrections will lose 863. Developmental Services is slated to lose 500 positions.
It is unclear how many of those jobs are currently vacant; the governor's office did not break down the vacancies at the departmental level.
Earlier today, a source confirmed that the following DMV branches are set to close: Danbury, Old Saybrook, New Britain and Enfield will be closing as well as the Putnam satellite office and photo license centers in Middletown, Derby and Milford.
At this morning's press briefing, Barnes said he was unsure about whether the New Britain branch was closing.
Meanwhile, the judicial branch will submit its plan to the General Assembly tomorrow, according to a branch spokeswoman. According to Malloy's summary statement, the branch will lose 450 positions. The legislative branch is expected to shed about 50 jobs.