http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Jeff%20Cohen/2012_02_23_JC%20120223%20%20Malloy%20Phaneuf.mp3
Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy says he's done a fine job balancing the state's books. But as WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, Republican leaders point to official numbers that say he's wrong.
Appearing on WNPR's Where We Live, Malloy said he was handed a $3.6 billion structural deficit and he solved it. Now, his roughly $20 billion budget is off by less than a percent, according to state number crunchers. And, the governor says, Republicans want to beat him up over it.
Malloy: Now, they're complaining that we might have -- and we won't -- but that we might have, they say, a $100 million, $120 million, $145 million problem. Now compare this -- $3.6 billion is $3,600 million. And this is their talking point? Gimme a break."
Phaneuf: I think the word that actually summarizes both arguments from each side of the aisle is perspective.
That's Keith Phaneuf, who covers the budget for the Connecticut Mirror.
Phaneuf: The governor is trying to say, hey look, we had a $3.6 billion problem, and he's saying that's gone, so let's not forget that. And that's true. But by the same token, few fiscal problems do match that amount. If you set all problems against that, it will look like you'll almost never have another problem for several decades."
Republicans, he says, point out that a deficit on the heels of a tax hike is rare.
And then there's this -- less than one percent is still a lot of money.
Phaneuf: Once you get over one percent, there's actually a statute on the books that would require the governor to produce an emergency deficit reduction plan for the general assembly. We're not there."
And Malloy says we won't get there at all. But Phaneuf says that as we make our way through the next few months, it's good to remember this:
Phaneuf: $145 million, if you'll forgive the double negative, is not nothing.
For WNPR, I'm Jeff Cohen.
