by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT (Updated 4:30 p.m.) — The state legislature is eyeing a fiscal tactic not seen in half a century to deal with state budget uncertainty. House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said Wednesday morning that a one-year budget was “very much in play” and looking “more and more likely.”
The state by statute adopts a 2-year budget in odd-numbered years. Ritter said the biennial budget has been in effect since the 1979-80 fiscal year.
But a combination of factors, including a $140 million labor settlement with the workers at more than 240 nursing homes and group homes, has made getting to a two-year budget unlikely, Ritter said. Added to that is the time crunch that the legislature is scheduled to adjourn next week.
“We continue to have cordial conversations and negotiations with the governor’s office, but I think we’re at a point where, as a legislature, the worst and most dangerous thing you can do is leave without a budget of some kind,” Ritter said. “Your leverage is gone. Members are away. And so it’s really important to have a base document to work off of to sort of provide some protections and at least some certainties for the near-term future of some of the entities that rely on state funding.”
According to Ritter, the Democratic caucus has a budget plan for next year that is in balance and that has the approval of Gov. Ned Lamont. But the labor settlement, which would take effect in the second year of the proposal, is a sticking point.
“So we’ve expressed to the governor that it’s difficult to go in and open year two without some help and so far we haven’t been able to bridge that divide,” Ritter said.
Earlier Wednesday, in a brief interview posted on X, Lamont said adopting a one-year budget would be a mistake.
And then at a media availability Wednesday afternoon, Lamont said he was disappointed that the legislature appeared to be giving up on reaching a balanced budget for the next two years.
Gov. Ned Lamont reacts to a question during a news briefing on the budget in his office at the state Capitol on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“Look, we’re getting closer but we still have some work to do on this budget,” he said. “I’m finding that it’s just as tough arguing about how much you’re going to increase spending as it is trying to make cuts.”
Lamont listed various increases to items like early childhood development, education funding, special education, and municipal aid over the past six years
“If we can find some common ground and meet in the middle, we’re not talking about cuts, we’re talking about how much we increase,” he said.
A two-year budget is important for the sense of certainty and direction people expect from state government, Lamont said.
“That’s what we’ve had for the last six years and I don’t want to concede it for the next two years,” he said. “I just think we should sit down and try it again rather than run out and say I give up and let’s do a one-year budget. That just breaks every commitment we’ve made to the taxpayers of the state.”
Asked directly if he would veto a one-year budget should it get to his desk, Lamont said he likely would.
“I’d have to take a look at it but I’m inclined to do that,” he said. “But first and foremost I want people to sit down. Don’t throw up your hands and say sorry I can’t figure out a way to get there.”
“Mayors and superintendents and — everybody wants a little bit of predictability. That’s why 35 years ago we went to a 2-year biennial budget,” Lamont said. “We submitted a balanced budget to the legislature back in early February. We’ve got a week to go. I think we ought to be able to figure it out.”
Ritter said negotiations were a little trickier with the General Assembly and the governor’s office both controlled by Democrats.
“In Washington, they just bend the knee or the opposition party can’t put up any fight,” Ritter said. “The legislative branch is gone in Washington and it can’t be gone in Hartford.”
Cutting the budget to accommodate the increased labor cost would mean sharp reductions to programs that residents depend on, he said.
“We cannot cut our way to find the cuts that we would have to make,” he said. “It would be all Higher Ed. All special education. Free lunch. Free breakfast.”
FILE PHOTO: House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, speaks to reporters following a news conference by the Democrats on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Credit: Jamil Ragland / CTNewsJunkie
Ritter faces a tough road to get a one-year budget through the House. In addition to Lamont, House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, is also opposed to it.
“To suggest we should … only look to one year when the second year isn’t stabilized isn’t acceptable,” he said. “You can’t build a foundation that you know is cracked and ignore it and then try to build the walls on the house.”
Candelora pointed to the House Republicans’ budget proposal. Unveiled May 1, that alternate plan allocated about $769 million less than Lamont’s budget in part by freezing wages of state employees, mandating 5% budget reductions from state agencies and pursuing a “policy change” for Connecticut residents working remotely for New York firms to pay income tax in Connecticut rather than New York.
Last week, however, the House and Senate approved pay raises for about 850 State Police union members. The measure passed unanimously in the Senate and 146-12 in the House with support from 35 of the 47 Republicans who voted.
Candelora suggested starting with the Republican budget “would at least offer them 50 votes” in the House of Representatives.
“If they want to have a conversation, then they should be looking at our document,” Candelora said.