http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/nc%20110511%20Plan%20b.mp3
While Governor Malloy continues to negotiate with state employee
unions for $2 billion in concessions, his budget chief has come up
with a contingency plan to balance the budget. It’s known as “Plan B”.
As WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports, Plan B proposes cutting more than 20%
of the new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the
entire staff at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.
Without the Experiment Station, there would be no surveillance
of mosquitoes for the deadly West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalitis
viruses. And no inspectors to certify the export of plants out of
state, a big part of Connecticut’s nursery business.
The proposed cuts at the state’s environmental agency would reduce
funding for cleaning up oil and toxic spills, close all state fish
hatcheries that stock trout for anglers and cut funding for issuing
and enforcing environmental permits. It would also significantly
reduce the number of summer state park workers. 19 environmental
groups are speaking out against Plan B. Roger Reynolds of the
Connecticut Fund for the Environment says it would result in massive
park closings and reduce enforcement of pollution laws.
“This would really cripple the agency and make it incapable, we
believe, of performing its most basic functions. And this could have
consequences, such as there might be law suits filed because of our
inability to enforce the clean water act with this level of staff.”
The plan also calls for eliminating state funding for Operation Fuel,
a program that helps low income families pay for heat and electricity.
The Governor has until the end of this month to find $2 Billion dollars
in savings.