Christine Stuart, CTNewsJunkie.com

Photo: Christine Stuart / CTNewsJunkie

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, and House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, and House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz.

Little progress following Connecticut budget discussions

HARTFORD >> It was the first meeting of Democratic and Republican legislative leaders since passage of the state employee concession package, but theyre no closer to resolving the two-year budget deficit than they were in June.

The labor package resolved $1.57 billion of the two-year $5.1 billion budget deficit, but the two parties were no closer to eliminating the rest of the $3.5 billion state budget deficit Tuesday.

After meeting for more than an hour behind closed doors at the state Capitol, members of both caucuses and parties emerged to tell reporters they are continuing to share information about how to resolve the remainder of the budget deficit.

I want to share ideas and thoughts, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said. I think the people of Connecticut want us to work together.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said theres no question the people of Connecticut want the parties to work together, but we have different ideas about how the state of Connecticut moves forward.

She said Republicans dont believe tax increases will fix those problems.

Were open to see if there are any other ways to move the budget forward without them, Klarides said.

The Senate Democratic caucus has also bristled at the notion of a sales tax increase to 6.99 percent. The House Democrats have maintained their support for a sales tax increase to help municipalities keep property taxes low, but Aresimowicz admitted that a budget with a sales tax increase wouldnt pass the Senate.

Aresimowicz said Tuesdays discussion was hard because they dont have a completed budget document to negotiate.

This isnt a single party negotiation, Aresimowicz said.

He said it has to pass the House, the Senate, and it has to be signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. And theres no document they can all agree on that would get enough votes at this point to become law.

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Little progress following Connecticut budget discussions - New Haven Register