Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Malloy to business: Prepare for sacrifice, but hope for the future

  • by Keith M. Phaneuf
  • January 7, 2011
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned businesses Friday they will face sacrifices to help close the state budget deficit, but added that a new emphasis on smart investments and cooperative government offers light at the end of Connecticut’s dark economic tunnel.

“There is no cavalry — except us,” Malloy told nearly 600 business leaders gathered at the Hartford Marriott for the annual Economic Summit and Outlook sponsored by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and the Metro Hartford Alliance.

With a $3.7 billion deficit built into the next budget — a gap equal to nearly one-fifth of current spending — state government can’t solve that shortfall with just one solution, Malloy said.

Malloy CBIA

Dannel Malloy: Tough year ahead

 

Though the new governor did not provide specifics about what he would propose in the budget he will submit to the General Assembly on Feb. 16, he again emphasized it would feature “shared sacrifices” that touch nearly all constituencies.

“I cannot cut our way out of that deficit … and be the state that we as Connecticut residents aspire to be,” he said, adding this would harm social services for the poor and disabled, education from pre-kindergarten through the university level, public safety, and other core services.

Malloy scored a narrow victory this past November over Greenwich Republican Tom Foley, who based his campaign on a pledge to close the largest deficit in state history without tax hikes.

And though Malloy didn’t name Foley during his 20-minute address or 10 added minutes of questions and answers, he made it clear that those holding out hope for a Foley-like, tax-hike-free approach should let it go.

“If anybody tells you they could do that — and they could do that meeting your personal aspirations, your children’s personal aspirations and your grandchildren’s personal aspirations — they simply are not telling you the truth,” Malloy said.

But he was quick to add that it also would be “ruinous” for Connecticut’s hopes of regaining the 90,000 jobs still lost from the last recession to solve the deficit solely with tax hikes.

The governor, a Stamford Democrat, rankled many business leaders during the campaign by pledging to back a key proposal of public- and private-sector labor: mandating paid sick leave for employees.

The CBIA, the state’s chief business lobby, has argued that regardless of the details behind such a mandate, it would send give Connecticut an anti-business image nationwide.

But Malloy said Friday that while he remains open to negotiating the details, he still believes in the principles behind paid sick leave.

“We’re going to have disagreements, but we don’t have to be disagreeable about it,” he said, noting that a continental breakfast was served to the business leaders at Friday’s forum. “I hope no one (who was serving food) came to work today because they feared they would lose their job.”

Malloy used a playful jab at House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, to remind business leaders that he is more fiscally conservative than his fellow Democrats in legislative leadership posts.

“I’m a Democrat,” Malloy said. “Donovan, every once in a while, he’s not so sure.”

Though business leaders sat quietly through the the new governor’s comments about paid sick leave, they applauded Malloy on several occasions for saying that, once Connecticut’s deficit is closed, government must invest more to improve a “badly broken transportation system” and public colleges and universities that need to play a larger role in developing the workforce and planning economic strategy.

Malloy also said state government needs to improve its regulatory process and its overall working relationship with business.

“I want to assure you that I understand we need to change the relationship between the companies that are employing so many of our citizens and state government,” Malloy said. “We need to be clear. We need to be plain-spoken.”

Improving that relationship also means having a governor who is enthusiastic and “intricately involved” in promoting economic development, and a legislature that is not allowed to impose new mandates on business year after year. “We need to end the yearly debate — on everything,” he said.

CBIA President John Rathgeber praised Malloy’s frankness about the budget crisis.”The public doesn’t need things sugar-coated,” Rathgeber said, adding that the governor’s goal of providing great stability to Connecticut’s business statutes and regulations should not be taken lightly. “That’s really important. Consistency in economic and fiscal policy is something companies large and small … are looking for.”

But while Malloy and Rathgeber saw the potential for partnership between government and business, state legislative leaders had a tougher time finding bipartisan consensus during a subsequent panel discussion about the budget crisis.

Though Malloy repeatedly calls for “shared sacrifice,” the Democrat-controlled legislature has not followed that credo, House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-Norwalk, said. The legislature enacted more than $950 million in tax increases in 2009 and since then has relied more on borrowing and one-time revenues rather than spending cuts to close budget deficits, he said. “I can’t think of one program that’s been consolidated or eliminated,” he said.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, added that hundreds of millions of dollars in annual spending could be cut if the state dramatically increased the number of services it hires the private sector to administer. But that would reduce the need for unionized state employees, he said, adding Democratic lawmakers wouldn’t allow this given their strong political ties to organized labor.

But Donovan responded that “this is not a good time to be laying anyone off,” adding that most Republican proposals to cut spending have involved health care and other social services for the poor and disabled. “We’re not going to do that.”

Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, added that this recession has been longer lasting and more painful for many Connecticut residents than economic downturns of 10 and 20 years ago. “This is a different kind of animal,” he said.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Keith M. Phaneuf

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Weeks after the election, Secretary of the State’s efforts to monitor disinformation campaigns ended
by Kasturi Pananjady and Dave Altimari

For weeks, an intelligence analyst monitored social media for the Secretary of the State's office. Then her contract ran out.

Keeping Connecticut’s music industry alive
by Matt Fitzgibbon

By recently passing the Save Our Stages Act, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, in its COVID relief package, Congress has temporarily protected The Constitution State’s music industry from economic free fall. But are the courts now willing to do what’s necessary to provide the permanent security it needs and deserves?

A young Black man sees a need for faster racial progress
by Eugene Z. Bertrand

I first learned that I was Black in kindergarten. More importantly, I learned of the negative connotations that come with identifying with my own skin color.

Sadly, not much has changed since Martin Luther King Jr.’s killing.
by Alberto Cortes

As we approached the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I took the time to read and watch his “I Had a Dream” speech which he  delivered on Aug. 28, 1963; and as I read through it 57 years later, I realize not much has changed.

Sunday in Hartford: Massive show of police, not protesters
by Mark Pazniokas and Dave Altimari

Reporters outnumbered protesters. Cops outnumbered everyone. Sunday at the Connecticut Capitol was peaceful and well-documented.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Keeping Connecticut’s music industry alive
by Matt Fitzgibbon

By recently passing the Save Our Stages Act, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, in its COVID relief package, Congress has temporarily protected The Constitution State’s music industry from economic free fall. But are the courts now willing to do what’s necessary to provide the permanent security it needs and deserves?

Opinion A young Black man sees a need for faster racial progress
by Eugene Z. Bertrand

I first learned that I was Black in kindergarten. More importantly, I learned of the negative connotations that come with identifying with my own skin color.

Opinion Sadly, not much has changed since Martin Luther King Jr.’s killing.
by Alberto Cortes

As we approached the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, I took the time to read and watch his “I Had a Dream” speech which he  delivered on Aug. 28, 1963; and as I read through it 57 years later, I realize not much has changed.

Opinion The struggle for racial justice and equality is far from over
by Marilyn Moore

On the eve of the annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I and many others are reflecting on what recently transpired at the U. S. Capitol and how it relates to the injustices that Dr. King and so many others fought to change so many years ago. It is obvious that our nation's fight for racial justice and equality is far from over. In fact, it continues to this day.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO