Connecticut Budget Deficit Skyrockets

Connecticut’s budget deficit for next year is now projected to reach $911 million, according to new figures.

The Hartford Courant reports that tax payments from the state’s small businesses, millionaires and billionaires were lower than expected for the month of January, which is leading to the new deficit projection.

As a result, state Republican lawmakers are fuming at Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy and their Democratic counterparts in the legislature.

“It is a very, very sad day, an upsetting day here in Connecticut,” Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, told the Connecticut Mirror. “These are just incredible numbers.”

The deficit for the current fiscal year is now expected to be $266 million, according to nonpartisan financial analysts, and even with close to $600 million in proposed cuts next year, the budget will still projected to be behind by more than $400 million.

Officials had projected the deficit to be about $500 million.

“People should be scared. This is shocking,” Fasano told the Courant. “We can change it, though. We can change it. We can move this state forward. ... This is a great state. It’s a strong state. It’s just on the wrong path.’’

And it is projected to keep getting worse. Deficits could reach $1.72 billion in 2017-18 and $1.9 billion in 2018-19, according to the Mirror.

“We’re scared to death,’’ House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, told the Courant.

Click here to read the full story on the Connecticut Mirror website.

Click here to read the full story on the Hartford Courant website.