Roy Occhiogrosso, Gov. Malloy’s top advisor, just told reporters that the municipal aid reduction proposed by the governor has been saved by lawmakers. The result will be that instead of 6,500 current employees getting layoff notices, about 7,500 will be laid off by September 1. Plus, 1,000 vacancies will not be filled.
Ken Dixon's Blog-O-Rama
Connecticut politics is a contact sport
Archive for June, 2011
Forgot those local budgets! Muny aid taking big hit: Malloy
So much for Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch’s election-year, no-new-taxes budget. Under Gov. Dannel Malloy’s budget revisions he will present to the General Assembly tomorrow, Bridgeport would take a hit of more than $900,000. Here’s the list of proposed town-by-town cuts, according to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities. The total cuts amount to about $54 million a year for the next two years.
Ansonia- $84,319; Beacon Falls- $48,705; Bridgeport-$907,069; Brookfield- $77,522; Danbury-$388,177; Darien-$88,777; Derby-$123,106; Easton-$59,657;Fairfield-$285,161; Greenwich-$225,478; Milford-$195,169; Monroe-$89,461; Naugatuck- $110,938; New Canaan- $85,294; New Fairfield- $70,976; New Milford- $150,582; Newtown- $161,556; Norwalk- $317,528; Orange- $79,469; Oxford- $76,869; Redding- $75,503; Ridgefield- $103,349; Seymour- $75,780; Shelton- $126,294; Stamford- $450,887; Stratford- $164,294; Weston- $63,386; Westport- $136,084; Wilton- $82,755.
Reapportionment hearing scheduled for Thursday in Norwalk falls victim to special legislative session
| The legislative Reapportionment Committee had a public hearing scheduled for Thursday night in Norwalk to listen to public input on where legislative and congressional district lines should be redrawn. But the special legislative session scheduled to tackle, yet again, the state budget has precluded it. It will be rescheduled for July 18 at 7 p.m. in a Norwalk location to be announced. |
Other hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, July 5 in Waterbury City Hall and Wednesday in Norwich City Hall. Both events start at 7 p.m.
Concession breakdown an across-the-board embarrassment for union leaders
Gov. Dannel Malloy is bound to see his approval ratings rise in the polls if he eventually pulls the trigger on 7,500 or 8,000 layoffs. And how embarrassed are national union figures who called Malloy the poster boy for level-headed dealings with state workers at a time of national push-back? Too bad too many self-centered veteran state employees, many of whom believe they won’t get touched in a mass layoff, can’t see the layoffs for the pink slips.
How about this scenario, which is being contemplated by the Malloy team: Social workers in the DCF rejected the concessions, so how about wholesale shutdowns of the DCF social-worker departments, who would be replaced with private non-profits, saving the state lots of money? Those jobs would be so easy to privatize that the social workers wouldn’t know what hit them.
The program of providing teachers in state prisons is another one that could be so easily privatized. It would almost be as if Republican Tom Foley had won the gubernatorial election after all. And the liberal Democratic lawmakers will be sitting up there in the stands with Malloy, giving the state employees the big thumbs down.
Malloy, on WNYC, defends his budget, “paid sick leave,” marijuana decrim, same-sex marriage
The governor is on WNYC radio with Brian Lehrer right now. “We were in a bigger hole,” he said, when asked to compare Connecticut’s budget crisis to New York State. “Our deficit represented about 18 percent of revenue,” Malloy said in defense of his tax-raising tactics that have apparently netted his 38-percent approval rating in today’s QU Poll. “I think I am more conservative in some circumstances, than (N.J.)Gov. Christie. “Is CT becoming Vermont?” Lehrer asked the Democrat. “We are becoming a fiscally prudent state,” Malloy responded, stressing 20 years of Republican governors who preceeded him. “Obviously if you’re wealthy you’ll pay more,” he said of the tax hikes.
Himes joins chorus for Weiner resignation
Fourth District U.S. Rep. Jim Himes this morning joined the chorus in calling for U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner of Queens, N.Y. to resign. Himes said he has donated the $2,000 in political contributions he has received over the last two election cycles from Weiner to the Yerwood Center on Stamford’s West Side.
“While millions of Americans go without work, families throughout the country fear foreclosures, and our nation faces a fiscal crisis, we cannot afford the continued distraction of this sorry situation,” said Himes. “I hope Mr. Weiner will choose to step down so Congress can put this matter to rest and so that he can focus on his personal situation.”
