State Senator Thomas P. Gaffey
February 4, 2010
Responsible Budgeting Must Transcend Ideology
An op-ed by Senator Thomas P. Gaffey
As the gavel came down to convene this year’s legislative session yesterday, the overarching challenge confronting lawmakers and the Governor remains the huge budget deficit that must be dealt with immediately. Responsible budgeting must be our state’s priority as we continue through extremely difficult economic times. Providing for the current needs of residents and our state’s future stability must be balanced with what is likely to be anemic revenue and a compromised ability to pay for services for the foreseeable future.
There are sporadic indications at the national level to suggest a modest economic rebound is underway. One recent wire story reported fourth-quarter economic growth at the fastest pace in six years. But such hopeful signs, even if they do signal the beginning of sustained and meaningful recovery, will take several years to be reflected in our state budget. State revenues continue to lag, contributing to forecast deficits and requiring revised projections of available resources. Austerity must be our watchword going forward.
On the spending side of our budget, there is no other way to describe what’s in store: there will be painful cuts to programs near and dear to everyone. While we will do our level best to preserve essential services, no ‘sacred cows’ can be spared the necessary contraction. In a word, we will have to redefine the meaning of essential as it applies to state programs. True leaders need to recognize and own up to this problem.
At the same time we must not—and will not—allow our students to go uneducated, our parents and grandparents to go without geriatric care, and the vulnerable in our state to go without heat. We cannot skimp on essential public safety measures, and we must maintain a safety net for the truly destitute who have nowhere to turn for daily sustenance.
We also must be careful not to make imprudent decisions. For example, Governor Rell’s recent decision to close the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) education program offered at our vo-tech high schools is extremely shortsighted and costly. First, Connecticut has a nursing shortage. One reason is we lack qualified nursing teachers. Second, the vo-tech nursing program supplied the lion’s share of LPNs working at the state’s nursing homes. Third, instructors who all received their master’s degrees at state expense have been re-assigned to other state jobs. One nursing instructor testified before the Education Committee on Monday that she now earns a whopping $50,000 more per year in her new job at a state psychiatric nursing home. Talk about pennywise and pound foolish.
We can refine the manner in which the state does business and reorganize to make it more efficient and cost effective. One of our first targets for elimination should be a thick layer of political appointees who earn very high salaries yet neither deliver services nor make decisions to administer policy. State agency commissioners and our highest elected officers should drive their own cars to and from work and put the state cars up for auction. We also must consolidate state agencies and eliminate those whose services can be provided by more creative means. We certainly don’t need three economic development agencies particularly when one considers the state has not grown jobs in twenty years.
We need to subject existing tax credits to the scrutiny of a transparent cost/benefits analysis. Any tax credit should be considered unsustainable unless the return on that investment reaches a certain threshold directly tied to job creation and economic growth with strict provisions for accountability. For example, I highly doubt that people who can afford a yacht need the current sales tax exemption on repairs to their vessels.
In terms of additional revenue, creativity and common sense will have to come into play. I would remind readers I remain a longstanding advocate for the reinstatement of highway tolls at Connecticut’s borders. Other states along the eastern seaboard generate hundreds of millions of dollars this way each year; Connecticut can no longer afford to be a toll-free thoroughfare. We ought to bring back the tolls and reverse the illogical increase in hunting and fishing license fees that are exponentially higher than those in other New England states.
Connecticut is resourceful and resilient. Its government must reflect those qualities as it builds a responsible budget for these challenging economic times.
Hindsight reminds us of the obvious: Wall Street, greedy bankers and hedge fund managers, along with individuals who simply overextended their own personal credit and government regulators asleep at the switch, all helped cause this horrible jolt to our economy. To reverse all that and get out of this mess, foresight and thoughtful planning in a cooperative atmosphere that transcends ideological leanings will be required.
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