With less than two months until Election Day, the two candidates for governor criticized each other Wednesday over taxes and spending.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley said that Democrat Dannel Malloy raised taxes when he served as Stamford's mayor. Malloy said that he trimmed the government in a "responsible fashion'' in Stamford, adding that Foley's numbers don't add up regarding the state's projected budget deficit.
Foley pledged to cut state spending, citing a new report that was released Wednesday by the conservative-leaning Yankee Institute for Public Policy on state government. Foley says he will decline the $150,000 salary as governor as a cost-cutting move that also involves cutting 10 percent of the governor's staff.
The Yankee report notes that all 36 state senators hold a leadership title that entitles them to increased pay. For example, there are only 12 Republican senators, but they all have a title - including chief deputy minority leader, deputy minority leader, assistant minority leader and minority whip.
The three highest-ranking senators, however, voluntarily took 10 percent pay cuts as part of the legislature's budget-cutting efforts. Another, Sen. L. Scott Frantz of Greenwich, is accepting no salary or expenses from the state.
Overall, the increased pay for the leadership titles in the Senate and the state House of Representatives totals about $700,000 annually. Foley says he will decline the $150,000 salary as governor and said he would work "to end this costly insider custom'' in the General Assembly that would require legislative approval.
"The state of Connecticut is facing a budget deficit of nearly $3.5 billion, yet none of the insiders in Hartford, who saw this train wreck coming, have taken any serious step to reducing government spending,'' Foley said in a statement. "Unlike my opponent, I believe Connecticut residents are taxed enough and we need to focus all our efforts on reducing wasteful spending like that exposed by the Yankee Institute. But it won't happen if the next governor is part of the insider crowd that always manages to pay itself first.''
"As mayor of Stamford, Dan Malloy asked that the city raise his salary at the same time he was proposing tax increases and he is relying on $6 million of taxpayer money to fund his campaign,'' Foley said. "Dan favors more taxes and more wasteful government spending. The voters want the tax, borrow, and spend days to end in Connecticut. We need to get our fiscal house in order and get headed in a healthier direction."
In the same fashion, Malloy criticized Foley earlier in the day about the projected state budget deficit, saying Foley's numbers don't add up.
"I know something about balancing budgets, holding the line on taxes, and wringing savings out of government by shrinking it in a responsible fashion,'' Malloy said in a statement. "That's what I did for 14 years as mayor of Stamford. It wasn't always easy, but our city government and our taxpayers knew that, no matter what, they'd get a transparent, open dialogue about the City's finances. That's something Connecticut desperately needs from its next Governor - not more empty promises and budget tricks.''