44°
To the Editor:
To hear Governor Malloy talk, he has saved Connecticut from certain death at the hands of prior administrations. As usual, he said that he inherited a mess -- an empty Rainy Day fund, $1 billion in borrowing to pay operating expenses, and a $3.6 billion deficit – blaming it on Republican governors, although the budgets were passed by Democratically controlled legislatures.
Then he claimed to have fixed it, citing spending cuts that were really just smaller increases than planned and job gains that haven’t reduced unemployment below 8 percent. He has had three years to get the state’s financial house in order, and he’s still blaming previous governors because it hasn’t happened. Despite the Governor’s optimism, Connecticut’s economy today is the only one in the country that actually shrank last year and it ranks dead last among all the states, its 8.1percent unemployment rate far exceeds national and regional averages, and we have the country’s highest debt per capita, second highest unfunded pension liabilities, highest combined tax burden, worst rating for financial management, worst credit quality, and lowest ranking as a place to retire.
That’s after three years of the Malloy administration, working with a Democratically-controlled legislature friendly to its goals. Who will the Governor blame now?
State Sen. Toni Boucher
Boucher represents the 26th District towns of Bethel, New Canaan, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Westport, Wilton. She has filed papers with the state to explore a possible run for governor.
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