Any End to Budget Nightmares?

The mother of all post-World-War II recessions has left the State of Connecticut’s fisc in a shambles. In a trice, that unnatural disaster undid what four years of prudent budgeting had accomplished, including (by November 2008) a Budget Reserve (“Rainy Day”) Fund of $1.38 billion. That and other one-shot revenue sources will get us through the current budget biennium (FY2010-FY2011) with some relatively modest spending cuts. But the FY2012-FY2014 budgets will test the mettle of Connecticut’s political leaders—and the voters who elect them. We Nutmeggers have some soul-searching ahead of us, to decide what really matters, and what we can do without. The gubernatorial election campaign now cranking up is not too soon to start.