After Trump’s Victory, Malloy Says It’s Time to ‘Get Back to Work’

HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Dannel Malloy will go into the second half of his four-year term with an evenly split state senate following the Tuesday election.

“Now, with a different dynamic at play in the legislature, we have an opportunity and even an obligation to work even better together, to find even more common ground,” he said in a statement Wednesday.

Democrats had held a 21-15 majority in the chamber. It will be the first time in more than 100 years that the senate had a party-line tie, according to the Hartford Courant. Republicans last held a majority in 1997.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman can serve as an effective tiebreaker in any senate deadlock vote.

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He plans to start informal discussions in the coming weeks about moving forward on state issues. The General Assembly will convene for its regular session on Jan. 4.

The Office of Fiscal Analysis estimates that state finances will be in a $1.25 billion deficit in 2017-2018 and a $1.4 billion hole in 2018-2019 if nothing is changed, according to the Connecticut Mirror.

Recently it was learned that the state will have to contribute about $47 million more in 2017-2018 and $42 million in 2018-2019 to the retired teacher pension account.

Republicans capitalized on a tough budget session and Malloy’s low approval rating.
Malloy’s overall approval rating was 24 percent in the last Quinnipiac Poll and his approval rating on how he handled taxes, the budget, economy and jobs were in the teens.

Malloy called for unity at both the national and state level following the election.

“At the core of this election, and perhaps at the core of the results, was that a very large portion of our country feels left behind or left out… they feel like they are no longer sharing equally in our nation's promise of prosperity,” Malloy said.

While there is disagreement on how to fix that, Malloy said it will take unity to guarantee everyone has a chance to participate in the American Dream.

“Connecticut can show the country that we can continue to make progress, even when we feel divided,” he said. “We can demonstrate that it is possible to fight hard throughout a tough election, and then get back to work on behalf of our constituents.”

There was rumor and speculation that Malloy would get a job with the Clinton administration if she was elected president. The two have campaigned for each other in the past.

Malloy and Vice President-elect Mike Pence’s disputes reached national attention on several occasions including issues regarding Syrian refugees, LGBT protection and business environments in their respective states. One Syrian refugee family was turned away from Indiana, but was welcomed into Connecticut.

Image via MTA/Flickr Commons