Moments after he was sworn in as the state's 88th governor, Dannel Patrick Malloy issued a call for sacrifice and optimism.
"I believe that Connecticut's best days are ahead - if we join together in what must be a shared, emerging movement for rational, honest, achievable change,'' Malloy told the crowd at the state armory this afternoon. "A movement that restores economic vitality, creates jobs and returns Connecticut to fiscal solvency by establishing our means and living within them."
Malloy, the 55-year-old former mayor of Stamford, is the state's first Democratic governor in two decades. He begins his term facing an immense crisis: a projected budget deficit of $3.5 billion in the next fiscal year. The state has completely drained its "rainy day'' fund and spent all of its federal stimulus money.
"Today I see an economic crisis and an employment crisis, both fueled by an unfriendly employer environment, a lack of educational resources, a deteriorating transportation system, and an enormous budget crisis of historic proportions,'' he said. "All coddled by a habit of political sugarcoating that has passed our problems onto the next generation.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen,'' Malloy said, "the next generation is here.'' The crowd applauded.
Malloy's inaugural address did not delve into the nitty-gritty of how he intends to recover the state's financial footing; that likely won't come until his budget address to the legislature on Feb. 16.
But the new governor laid out the broad themes he has been sounding throughout a long and often bitter campaign season. He made a pitch for "shared sacrifice" and called for a rebirth of the state's proud industrial spirit.
"In our innovative heyday we had more patents issued per capita than any other state in the union,'' Malloy said. "We defined the American industrial revolution on a global basis and consequently enjoyed the highest per capita income of anywhere in the nation. We will forever be home to the world-class legacies of Harriett Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Eli Whitney, Prudence Crandall, and so many others."