House, Senate Approve State Budget

The General Assembly has approved Gov. Dannel Malloy’s proposed $40.1 billion biennium budget.

Just before midnight, representatives in the House voted 83 to 67, with one person missing, to approve the proposal. Fifteen Democrats joined their GOP counterparts in opposing the proposal. Members of the state Senate approved the budget early Tuesday morning in a split vote, with 19 in favor and 17 opposed.

In the Senate, all 14 senate Republicans voted against the plan while three Democrats – Asst. Majority Leader Edward Meyer, D-Branford, Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, and Sen. Joan V. Hartley, D-Waterbury – joined them in voting against the bill.

As he did the Senate, in a news release sent out minutes after the vote, Malloy praised those in the House that supported the budget, specifically Speaker Chris Donovan, Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey, Appropriations and Finance Co-Chairmen Toni Walker and Patricia Widlitz.

“With the passage of this budget by the Democrats in the House of Representatives, coming on the heels of yesterday’s passage by the Senate, Connecticut has taken another important step toward much-needed fiscal stability,” Malloy said in a news release.

“As I said yesterday, I know it’s a tough vote – it’s also the right vote. This budget is balanced, honest, and contains none of the gimmicks that helped get us into this mess.  It will provide the stability we need to foster much-needed job creation – which is everyone’s top goal,” he said.

In the release, Malloy said it is now time for his administration to reach an agreement with the unions, of whom he’s asked for $2 billion in concessions over the two-year budget.

“Now it’s up to my Administration to reach an agreement with our fellow state employees and to present it to the legislature for ratification. I remain hopeful that we’ll get there. If we don’t, I remain committed to presenting an alternative budget to the General Assembly in the next couple of weeks,” the governor said.

“Make no mistake: come July 1, Connecticut will have an honest, balanced budget in place.  No smoke, no mirrors. A solid foundation for the future,” he said.

Check back to Patch Wednesday morning for more details on the House debate and on the budget proposal