Budget Kabuki Dance Finishes for the Night. It’s in the Optimistic-We-Can-Finish-By-May 5 Stage

The Blogster hopes all the not-unhappy faces outside the governor’s office a little whil mean that republicans and Democrats can reach a deal on the $730-million deficit in the adopted budget that starts July 1. Gov. M. Jodi Rell just said they’re discussing another early retirement incentive, offset by another $100-million reduction in the state employee-retirement plan, on top of a $100 million deferral in the current budget year’s pension funding. Yikes. If you’re a state employee next year you might want to cash in for retirement just to make sure there’s money to pay your retirement.