The Governor’s revenue proposals for Fiscal Year 2011 have exacerbated the challenge of tackling the state’s daunting long-term fiscal problem. The Governor proposes to balance a $450.5 million FY 2011 deficit through the extensive use of one-time revenues and short-sighted fixes, such as transfers between state accounts, delay of payments to state employee retirement accounts, sale of future revenue streams (securitization), and the hope of expanded federal aid. The budget proposal thereby fails to prepare for the significant increase in the budget deficit projected for FY 2012, and this lack of preparation places Connecticut’s children and economic future at greater risk.
This brief critically examines the Governor’s revenue proposals and the failure of both branches of government to confront Connecticut’s grim fiscal reality.
