Connecticut Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy has yet to say whether he will sign the state budget that passed the state General Assembly last week. The $41 billion two-year budget is nearly four months late. It was approved by overwhelming bipartisan margins in both houses of the legislature.
At issue is the fact that Governor Malloy was not part of the months-long closed-door meetings by the state’s Democratic and Republican legislative leaders that produced the compromise budget. Malloy and his staff are still analyzing the document, but Malloy has been critical of several provisions in the 900-page budget as they became known.
For instance, Malloy has taken issue with a hospital tax contained in the package. Malloy says the tax might cost the state federal reimbursement money because of the way it’s written. He also says the diversion of $175 million in clean energy funds into the state’s general fund is a tax on the backs of ratepayers.
Malloy has until Wednesday to sign or veto the budget. If he signs it, the bare-bones executive order he had used to take charge of state spending would end. If Malloy vetoes the budget, state lawmakers will have to return to the state Capitol for a veto override session. They would need 101 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate to do that. They apparently have more than enough votes because the budget was passed last Thursday, by a vote of 33-3 in the Senate and 126-23 in the House.
