The General Assembly convenes for a special session Monday to enact a deficit mitigation plan intended to address the current, 2009 fiscal year’s budget hole.
But the proposal, being crafted by Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature’s Democrat-majority, only goes so far.
According to Jeffrey Beckham, spokesman for Rell’s budget office, the deficit grew this week to over $356 million and the plan on the table for Monday tackles less than half of that amount.
“They’ll address a little over $100 million or so of the $356 million, leaving a balance of $200 million-something,” Beckham said. “We’re not done. We’re chipping away but we’re not done. This is the beginning of a long slog.”
And lawmakers don’t just have the current fiscal year to fret about. When the General Assembly convenes in January for its regular session, members will have to craft a 2010/2011 budget in the face of an estimated, $6 billion deficit.
