Connecticut legislators have been meeting in secret to negotiate a deal that would close the state's budget deficit, the Hartford Courant reports today.
Legislators will meet in Hartford today to vote on a deal that reportedly includes abandoning longevity bonuses for nonunionized state workers and cutting payments to the state's hospitals, the Courant reports. The moves are intended to close a $365 million deficit estimated in this year's state budget and to head off a projected $1 billion deficit projected in the 2013 budget year.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy earlier this month put forth a $123 million “budget mitigation plan” that includes $4.7 million in cuts to some town programs. The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the main lobbying group for the state's towns, has questioned whether the governor had the authority to make those cuts.
Malloy has said the ongoing budget problems are a reflection of the country's economic woes. A recent report by the University of Connecticut indicates the state's economy will remain weak in 2013 but will begin to rebound the following year.