They saved the easy stuff for Tuesday.
The state House of Representatives voted 147 to 1 Tuesday night on a bipartisan plan to cut the state’s projected deficit of $350 million in the current fiscal year.
In an attempt to avoid the fiscal clashes that have become inevitable between Republicans and Democrats, lawmakers agreed that there would be no tax increases in the package. The intense debates over proposed changes in the estate tax and the creation of a new tax on the gross receipts of hospitals will be held on another day. Some of the best news in the bill for residents is a reduction in hunting and fishing fees.
So Tuesday was slated to be a day for agreement, but even a day of agreement was pushed into the night because placing the finishing touches on the bill took longer than expected.
Lawmakers seemed happy that they had apparently resolved the budget problems for the current fiscal year, but the state is still facing projected deficits of more than $700 million in the next fiscal year that starts on July 1 and more than $3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year.
“For all intents and purposes, this closes 2010,” said House Speaker Christopher Donovan, a Meriden Democrat.
House Republican leader Larry Cafero of Norwalk said the package had broad support because it had no tax increases and no cuts in state aid to cities and towns.
“It’s the first step in a long journey,” Cafero told reporters. “We have a lot more work to do and very little time to do it.”
The regular legislative session will end at midnight on May 5, but some lawmakers expect that the General Assembly will go into special session after that.
The first 33 sections of the bill provided budget cuts, but section 34 included various reductions in hunting, fishing, and sportsmen’s fees that are imposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Lawmakers decided to cut the hunting and fishing fees by $5.35 million, while increasing fines at the state Department of Motor Vehicles and other moves that total exactly $5.35 million. Fishing licenses had jumped from $20 up to $40 last year.
Immediately after the vote, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell praised lawmakers – who have often clashed both with Rell and each other.
“I am gratified that both the House and Senate and both Republicans and Democrats have agreed – with a handful of modifications – to the deficit mitigation proposal I offered,” Rell said. “It is a plan that eliminates the current year’s budget shortfall without increasing taxes or cutting municipal aid, two goals all of us can support.”
She added, “It is vital for all of us to continue to work together to surmount the remaining fiscal hurdles. We must still reach agreement on a securitization proposal and on a plan to eliminate the deficit for the next fiscal year. Reducing spending – cutting the size and scope of state government – remains the best solution to our financial woes.”
The plan called for transferring more than $50 million from various off-budget accounts in order to fill up the deficit-laden general fund. All sides agreed to allow the University of Connecticut to absorb $5 million of debt service costs in the current year and $10 million in the 2011 fiscal year.
The cuts include $25.73 million in savings from defering payments to managed care organizations, $320,000 from suspending coverage of “most over-the-counter drugs” from the Department of Social Services, and $200,000 from suspending a grant for elderly housing support services. Another $570,000 will be saved by updating the definition of “medical necessity” under Medicaid – a long-running, controversial issue at the Capitol that could lead to fewer services for some patients if their care was deemed not medically necessary.
The bill also eliminates meal money for 49 non-unionized state troopers who hold managerial positions, such as colonels and majors – saving more than $190,000 in the next fiscal year. The troopers and master sergeants already have meal allowances in their union agreements that will not be cut.
Rep. Craig Miner, the ranking House Republican on the budget-writing committee, said the state legislature has already drained the “rainy day” fund – essentially emptying the state’s bank account.
“I’ve said to members of my caucus, if you think this is bad, wait until you see $700 million” in the next fiscal year that starts in July, Miner said.
“What this plan really is is a product of delay,” said Rep. Vincent J. Candelora, the ranking House Republican on the tax-writing finance committee. “I am happy to see that we have not resorted to taxes.”
The bill also requires the long-troubled Department of Children and Families, along with Child Advocate Jeannie Milstein, to craft a plan regarding the future use of the state-owned Riverview Hospital – New England’s only state-operated psychiatric hospital for children.
“It’s not perfect. It’s not pretty, but it’s something that’s necessary to do today,” said Rep. Clark Chapin, a New Milford Republican who has served in the legislature since 2001. “Mr. Speaker, as I said before, it’s not perfect. It’s not pretty. … It certainly is deserving of everyone’s support in this chamber.”
Cafero said, “What are they saying at home? What are they thinking about what we’re doing here?”
Many state residents don’t have time to watch the legislature because they’re raising their families and hoping to be able to pay for their kids’ tuition or a new transmission for their car, said Cafero, who supported the bill.
“It is not easy to make those cuts,” Cafero said. “But we felt we had to do that. … When we take the vote on this bill, do we walk home and say our job is done? No. … For today, let’s take the first step together.”
House Majority Leader Denise Merrill, who cut her speech short because of a weak voice Tuesday night, said, “Our revenues are still plummeting. We have to remember that. … It’s instructive to remember there are 48 other states in the exact place where we are. … It is not the end. It is probably the beginning of what we need to do.”
Rep. John Geragosian, a New Britain Democrat who co-chairs the budget-cutting committee, said, “We didn’t take a meat cleaver to the services that people need out there. … We made cuts across the board to our other expenses line. … You know you have a really good compromise if everybody is not really happy and everybody is not really sad.”
Maybe it’s just my family that has problems, but probably not. I just know that I have been warned not to dig up the past by very serious cousins – on more than one occasion and on more than one family line. Of course, reasons were not offered (that would ruin the fun of making the warning). 
