HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The Latest on the Connecticut Budget (all times local):
12:30 a.m.
The House of Representatives is considering a $40.7 billion Republican-backed budget plan that the Senate approved and which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has vowed to veto.
The Hartford Courant reports (https://cour.at/2y3yc3d ) that the House began deliberating shortly after 9 p.m. Friday and continued their talks early Saturday.
The GOP plan relies on changes in state employee pensions after the current state union deal ends in 2027. Republicans say it achieves $270 million in savings. It was approved on a 21-15 vote Friday with the backing of three Democrats.
Malloy supports the Democrats’ $41 billion proposal. He says the Republican proposal “relies on too many unrealistic savings” and is “unbalanced.”
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9:30 p.m.
Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says if a $40.7 billion Republican-backed budget plan passed by the state Senate reaches his desk he’ll veto it because it “relies on too many unrealistic savings.”
Malloy says in a statement the Senate plan approved Friday contains cuts to higher education and would violate existing state employee contracts.
The GOP plan relies on changes in state employee pensions after the current state union deal ends in 2027. Republicans say it achieves $270 million in savings.
Malloy says if the budget he negotiated with Democrats isn’t going to pass, then lawmakers need to create a new agreement that is realistic and bipartisan.
The Democrats’ $41 billion proposal failed to come up for a vote in the House early Friday.
It’s unclear when the GOP plan will receive a vote in the House.
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5 p.m.
The state Senate has passed a Republican backed budget plan, with three Democrats bucking their party’s leadership.
The plan, which includes no tax hikes and large spending cuts passed the upper chamber Friday afternoon on a 21-15 vote. It now heads to the House of Representatives, where it is expected to fail.
The Democrats, who control the legislature, have their own proposal, which includes a new 49-cent monthly surcharge on cellphones, a new vacation home tax, higher taxes for hospitals, a 25-cent charge per trip on ride-sharing services like Uber and a 45-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase.
That plan failed to come up for a vote in the House early Friday morning.
The budget is two months late. The plan is for the fiscal year that began July 1 and the year beginning next July 1
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1:10 p.m.
Connecticut lawmakers have returned to the Capitol in an attempt to approve an overdue state budget after a late-night session failed to produce a vote.
The Senate planned an afternoon session Friday to debate the two-year plan, which addresses an estimated $3.5 billion deficit.
The Democrats proposal includes a new 49-cent monthly surcharge on cellphones, a new vacation home tax, higher taxes for hospitals, a 25-cent charge per trip on ride-sharing services like Uber and a 45-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase.
Republicans oppose the package.
The House of Representatives is expected to debate the budget later Friday, after failing to reach a vote early Friday morning.
The budget is two months late. The plan is for the fiscal year that began July 1 and the year beginning next July 1.
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