Governor Dannel Malloy wants to restart bipartisan budget talks with Connecticut legislative leaders. It's unclear whether this latest effort to come up with a plan that Democrats and Republicans can agree on will actually bear fruit. The two parties failed to reach a bipartisan agreement months ago when they met to solve a $350 million deficit that developed in the current $20 billion fiscal year budget.
The new fiscal year is projected to have a $560 million shortfall. Larger deficits are predicted in the following two years.
The closed-door talks are likely to begin Tuesday. They come as the General Assembly's Appropriations Committee holds hearings on Malloy's proposed $19.8 billion budget proposal.
Newtown Representative JP Sredzinski is among the lawmakers calling for a fundamental change in the way Connecticut comes up with a budget. He says there are no easy answers to solve the state's financial woes. But he wants the General Assembly to adopt a long term vision for budgeting, not just to get through to the next election cycle.