Connecticut needs to close a $500.5 million deficit in the current fiscal year, according to consensus revenue estimates released last week.
In November, Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed a mitigation plan to reduce the deficit that was then estimated by the governor’s office of policy and management at $466.5 million. The new, larger deficit was due primarily to the further weakening of income tax receipts, according to a letter from the office to Comptroller Nancy Wyman.
The Democratic-led General Assembly rejected the Republican governor’s proposal, which relied heavily on spending cuts. The legislature then passed two deficit-mitigation bills that included spending cuts, fund transfers, and delaying a reduction in the estate tax. Rell vetoed those measures last month.
New deficit-mitigation plans from the governor and Democratic lawmakers are in the works and could be introduced next month when the General Assembly begins its 2010 legislative session.
