Legislative leaders eye possible billion-dollar deficit in 2016-17

From left,Â Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford),Â Speaker of the House of Representatives Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden), House Minority Leader Themis Klarides (R-Woodbridge, Orange and Derby),Â Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D – New Haven, Hamden and North Haven) and moderatorÂ Joseph McGee, Vice President, Public Policy and Programs, The Business Council of Fairfield County. (Photo courtesy of the Business Council of Fairfield County)

Following the Connecticut Legislative Leaders Breakfast at the Stamford Crowne Plaza on March 23, Joseph McGee, vice-president of the Business Council of Fairfield County, said it was good to hear a bipartisan consensus around not raising taxes, but also noted an unsettling amount of discord among leaders who not only need to find a solution to this year”™s $226 million budget deficit, but also the looming $900 million deficit in the coming fiscal year, which could balloon to $1.3 to 1.4 billion due to lower-than-projected revenue.

“That was the first time I think we had heard that publicly,” McGee said of the billion-dollar projection for next fiscal year”™s budget deficit.

“Hopefully that doesn”™t happen, but it is clear there is a structural problem with the way state budget has been constructed. This is one of those critical moments where we have got to really look at how much we raise and how much we spend because we have a government that is too expensive to operate right now.”

Hosted by the Business Council of Fairfield County, the breakfast featured commentary from Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D-New Haven, Hamden and North Haven), Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden), House Minority Leader Themis Klarides (R-Woodbridge, Orange and Derby) and Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano (R-Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford).