After releasing its 2013 legislative agenda earlier this month, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA) released another report last week outlining a series of fiscal policy reforms it recommends state legislators adopt.
Current estimates predict a $64 million state budget deficit for the fiscal year and a $2 billion gap for the next biennium. While state officials say the deficit is primarily a result of a slow economic recovery, CBIA officials say the state’s spending policies are also to blame.
“It”™s time to adopt the comprehensive policy changes needed to control spending, develop fiscal discipline, and make government more efficient,” said John Rathgeber, CBIA CEO, in a press release. “That”™s the most viable economic development strategy we have as a state.”
The organization’s key recommendations include continued streamlining of government functions, more home-based care for elders, reformation of the corrections system, modified benefits for state employee retirees and expanded use of nonprofit agencies.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will announce his budget recommendations for the next biennium within the next several weeks.
