Layoff Notices Could Go Out To State Employees Next Week

Malloy: Spending Cuts, Not Taxes, Would Fill Budget Gap If Union Can't Agree To $1 Billion In Savings

By CHRISTOPHER KEATING,The Hartford Courant

Layoff notices could go out as soon as next week if negotiators cannot reach a deal with state employee unions to provide $1 billion in concessions and savings in each of the next two years.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told reporters that Friday, May 6, is an important date because it is exactly eight weeks from the start of the state's new fiscal year, which begins Friday, July 1. Union contracts require eight weeks' notice for the most senior employees before they can be laid off, and Malloy wants any savings from layoffs to begin at the start of the fiscal year.

If the $1 billion in savings is not achieved, he said, he would bridge the resulting budget gap with spending cuts, not tax increases. Malloy said no additional taxes would be proposed beyond the $1.5 billion tax package approved last week by the tax-writing finance committee.

"I think everybody needs to know that we are at the point where we have a budget where revenue is not going to go up on the tax side,'' Malloy told reporters Monday. "We need ultimately to get to the point where we have a budget that we can live within or we need to start making the kinds of tough decisions — other tough decisions, all of these decisions are tough — that will allow us to live within that budget.''

Negotiators have gotten back to work after a lull for the Easterholiday weekend, but Malloy declined to provide details about the substance of the closed-door talks. He did say he is asking state legislators to vote on the state budget as soon as possible.

When asked for an update on the union talks, Malloy said, "No smoke today.'' That was a reference to the Roman Catholic tradition of sending white smoke up the Sistine Chapel chimney to signify the election of a new pope.

Both the Malloy administration and the unions have abided by a confidentiality agreement they made to avoid any public discussion of the talks. House Speaker Christopher Donovan, a longtime union supporter, said Tuesday night that he did not know the details of the ongoing talks.

"I'm not involved, and people think I would be involved,'' Donovan said. "When I run into [union] people, they don't tell me anything.''

When asked if reaching $1 billion in savings from the unions is achievable, Donovan said, "I have no idea.''

Some insiders said that the Malloy administration was pushing hard for a budget vote in the House of Representatives, even if it came this weekend.

"I don't think so,'' Donovan said of a possible weekend vote. "There is no reason to do it that quick.''

Donovan, though, said he does not expect major changes to a budget deal that is "99 percent'' complete and approved by both the budget and tax committees.

"We worked out a lot of this already,'' he said. "There'll be some trimming around the edges.''

Donovan's policy analyst and union liaison, Rick Melita, said that he, too, is unaware of the progress of the confidential talks.

Roy Occhiogrosso, Malloy's senior adviser, said the administration is following the requirements of the contracts regarding potential layoff notices. He said Tuesday that he was unaware if commissioners were compiling specific names of employees to be laid off.

Both the state House of Representatives and the Senate will be in session Wednesday at the state Capitol, but no votes on the budget are scheduled.