Malloy Brings His Budget Roadshow to Manchester

In what was arguably the hottest ticket in town Tuesday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy fielded questions large and small and seemingly all points in between for about an hour in the auditorium of Manchester Community College, his 12th of 17 planned stops on a statewide tour that puts him face-to-face with Connecticut residents and arguably on the hot seat in an effort to garner support for his .

Right off the bat, Malloy conceded that his plan was “a budget that everybody has a reason to hate,” and his appearance packed the cavernous hall, with many coming to deride the governor’s proposal, others to praise it, and some simply to offer advice and point out areas where they felt Malloy could have done better.

The auditorium holds about 350 people, but by the 7 p.m. starting time the hall was standing room-only, while a line of several dozen people were still queued out the door waiting to get in. School officials said they were preparing to direct those turned away to several classrooms where they could watch Malloy’s remarks over a live feed. Many inside the room came with signs that were critical of some aspect of Malloy’s proposal, or simply of Malloy himself.

“It’s a difficult reality that I’ve laid out,” Malloy said. “And a budget that everybody has a reason to hate – everybody – and I can assure you that it doesn’t even meet the standards in the sense of keeping in tact the safety net that I would like to see the state in which I was born and raised and raised my own children and now serve as governor of do, but I’ve got this $3.3 billion deficit problem.”

Malloy’s recommended biennium budget, a total of $17.94 billion for the 2011-12 fiscal year, and spending of $18.37 billion in fiscal year 2012-13, plugs an estimated $3.3 billion deficit in the coming fiscal year, contains numerous spending cuts and tax increases, consolidates about 30 percent of state agencies, operates under generally accepted principals of accounting, relies on about $2 billion in anticipated “givebacks” by unionized state employees already under contract, and calls for changes in the state’s revenue structure to eliminate dependence on borrowing or one time revenue to meet operating expenses.

“There’s enough in this budget for everybody to hate me, I understand that, but the alternatives are pretty dastardly as well,” Malloy said. “For 22 years we’ve failed to grow jobs. We’ve not made hard decisions. We’ve not established our means and then lived within them, and that’s what this budget tries to do.”

Touching on the theme of “shared sacrifice” that Malloy has touted since he assumed office in early January, the governor gave as an example his proposal to raise the state’s income tax by 0.35 percent, 0.10 percent of which would be funneled back to the town in which it was spent. Malloy said the tax increase would amount to an additional $54 dollars a year to the average Manchester resident, or about 15 cents a day, but helped to plug an estimated $8.7 million hole that Manchester would see due to the loss of federal stimulus money in the Education Cost Sharing Grant over the next two years that Malloy’s budget restores.

“The longer we wait to deal with the deficit, the more uncertainty is generated,” Malloy said. “…What’s the alternative? Honestly, it’s a Connecticut that none of us would recognize.”

But not everyone Tuesday agreed with everything called for under Malloy’s proposal.

Dennis Brenner, a local real estate agent and Republican member of the Manchester Board of Director’s, asked Malloy how he could justify the tax increase with Connecticut, and the nation, facing such difficult economic conditions.

“I’m wondering how with 10 percent unemployment, our seniors on fixed incomes, and many of our residents experiencing the rising cost of living, how we can justify a tax rise at this time in any sector of the economy?” Brenner said.

Malloy said his budget proposal was an effort to stop “kicking the can down the road” and deal with the harsh realities of getting Connecticut’s fiscal house in order.

“I never asked, and I did not believe that we could cut our way out of it, nor do I believe that we could tax our way out of it,” Malloy said. “I’ve been very clear that I believe that we were going to have to find a way to do some of both, and to restructure our relationship with our citizens and our employees to do that, and that’s what this budget attempts to do.”

Robert Morra, Bolton’s First Selectman, said that Malloy’s plan to repeal a $500 tax credit to homeowners would hurt middle class residents of his community particularly hard.

Malloy acknowledged Morra’s concern, but said that repealing the tax credit would add an additional $365 million to the state’s coffers at a time when it sorely needed it.

“I’m aware of it. It’s on my mind. In a perfect world we would not be doing that,” Malloy said. “…On the other hand, I’m going to be quite frank, in a $3.3 billion deficit, $365 million is a lot of money.” 

Heather Gates, president and CEO of Community Health Resources, a behavioral health and social services provider in eastern Connecticut, said she was concerned that some of the savings and taxes called for under Malloy’s budget might not materialize, which could mean deeper cuts to the state’s social safety net.

“Will you remain committed to preserving the safety net for Connecticut’s neediest citizens?” she asked Malloy.

After a pause, an introspective Malloy replied that Gates question was one “that keeps me up at nights.”

“I’m hopeful that we can get this deal done,” Malloy said. “That there’s enough people who understand that we can’t cut our way out of it, we have to add taxes. And there’s enough people who realize that we can’t tax our way out of it, otherwise we stay on the next 22 years of job losses just like we’ve had the last 22 years.”

After fielding questions for about an hour, Malloy wrapped up his forum by stating that he believed his proposed budget offered the best alternative to both address the state’s current budget crisis and its long-term fiscal health.

“It is about creating jobs for the future,” Malloy said. “It’s the only long-term solution to our problem, otherwise we’re going to have a yearly discussion about what services to cut and what taxes to raise. This is a very clear line in the sand that Connecticut is serious about job creation in the future, as well as making strategic investments in transportation and education and reform of government that will allow that to happen.”

Afterwards, Timothy Searles, a Manchester resident and IT analyst for the state of Connecticut who had hoped to ask Malloy a question but was not given the opportunity Tuesday, said he felt Malloy’s proposal placed too much of a burden on middle class residents who could least afford it, while not taxing the state’s highest earners proportionately.

“I’m concerned because his budget calls for shared sacrifice, but overall the middle class are the ones sharing most of the sacrifice,” Searles said. “He’s calling for taking away the $500 property tax credit, and that’s going to hit the middle class the most.”

Malloy is scheduled to hold his next town hall meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Windham Middle School.