GOP Lawmakers: Scale Back State Government

In just a few weeks, Governor Dannel Malloy will present his budget proposal to the state which, he has indicated, is likely to contain substantial spending cuts and savings.

This week, Republican state legislators unveiled their plan to cut state spending, reform state government and grow jobs in Connecticut’s economy.

Central to the GOP’s “Common Sense” agenda is a rescaling of state government in size and cost to make it more effective and affordable.

The plan would reorganize and downsize state government, freeze state employee salaries and make other spending cuts to save Connecticut taxpayers billions over the next two years. It also preserves municipal aid over the next two years while saving the state approximately $1 billion.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield) and House Republican Leader Larry Cafero (R-Norwalk) pointed out that neighboring New York and Massachusetts are already working on significant cuts in state spending, “and Connecticut needs to follow suit.”

To address Connecticut’s $70 billion in long-term obligations to state employee retirees, the Republican plan would raise their retirement age and require state workers to contribute more to their retirement packages.

While Connecticut state employees now contribute between zero and two percent to their retirement plans, other New England states have contribution rates between 5.1% and 8.75%. State employee pensions and benefits have to be brought more in line with those offered in the private sector, said the GOP leaders.

Among other things, the Republican plan would:

• Merge 43 state agencies into 11
• Reduce the number of managers 
• Limit bonding to no more than 10% of the state budget. 
• Eliminate the 10%  corporate surcharge and the business entity tax
• Provide tax credits to companies that hire off unemployment rolls

For the complete plan, visit senaterepublicans.ct.gov/.