Governor Dannel Malloy visited the soon-to-be-for-sale City Hall Annex Monday night making the case for his budget proposal that requires new taxes and state employee concessions to close a $3 billion deficit. Roughly 300 regional residents jammed the Annex auditorium, peppering Malloy with questions about spending, taxes, education, health care and public employee pensions.
Mayor Bill Finch introduced the governor, asserting Malloy’s “doing what’s right even though not popular.” Malloy arrived to a respectful applause. “I have to admit I’m a little nervous,” he told the crowd.
Malloy spent roughly the first 20 minutes sharing information about his budget proposal with an emphasis on job creation to reverse the budget mess. “We have to turn Connecticut into a job producing state again.” He said the state’s nine percent unemployment rate leads to higher Medicare costs that bloats the deficit. Bridgeport’s unemployment rate, he pointed out, is 13.5 percent. He defined his mantra “shared sacrifice” as not overburdening one group, emphasizing a multi-pronged approach to balance the budget. He said irrespective of the new taxes in his budget Connecticut’s overall tax burden is not as higher as most northeast states.
Dozens of residents from the region stood in line waiting for a chance to ask the governor a question. Finch stood at the head of the question line schmoozing them to ask their question without grandstanding.
Questions were all over the place and the governor largely allowed them to have their say without challenging their assertions. It was a good way to let some of the steam out of a cramped environment. Jerry Cunningham of Stratford contended that the governor was taking money from people who pay taxes and giving it to people who don’t.
Then there was the near flip side from Steve Brown of Oxford who told the governor he was punishing the middle class by not taking a big enough bite out of the wealthy. The governor cited several examples where the wealthy will pay more, whether income taxes or luxury taxes.
This was the first in a series of town hall type sessions around the state by Malloy.
“… Roughly 300 regional residents jammed the Annex auditorium …”
Lennie, the CT-Post is reporting over 500 residents.
“… Dozens of residents from the region stood in line waiting for a chance to ask the governor a question. Finch stood at the head of the question line schmoozing them to ask their question without grandstanding.”
Paging Bill Finch. “Grandstanding” is protected under Freedom of Speech.