Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is pledging that Connecticut taxpayers will see "no new taxes" in the budget deficit plan he is crafting.
Malloy is facing a $2 billion state budget shortfall when the new fiscal year begins July 1 and is expected to release his new budget on Wednesday, Feb. 6, according to the Hartford Courant.
"There's no new taxes in this budget,'' the Courant quotes Malloy from a press conference the governor held Friday. "I've said that. I told you that months ago, and none of you believed me. There's enough pain to go around in this budget..."
Many in the state are bracing for the cuts that could come as a result of his budget proposal. While Malloy after his election in 2010 quickly gained the trust of local leaders because of his friendly overtures toward smaller communities and their needs, town leaders now are worried that his cuts could come at the expense of local programs and aid.
Malloy's budget dilemma comes after, and despite of, the largest state tax increase in state history — some $1.5 billion in new revenues — that the governor proposed and the state legislature passed in 2011.
