Legislative process remains broken

For years, the Hartford Business Journal has alluded to the fact that Connecticut's legislative process is broken and that the challenges facing the state are too complex for the current crop of leadership in the General Assembly.

The clown show that broke out last week in Hartford, in which House Speaker Brendan Sharkey and other Democrats refused to attend a planned budget meeting with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy — a move that prompted a verbal spat between the two leading Democrats over major philosophical differences in how to handle the state's growing fiscal crisis — only underscored our observation.

Sharkey didn't like that Malloy targeted hospital and education funding, municipal aid, and health and human services in his unprecedented second budget proposal that aimed to close next fiscal year's $922 million budget deficit.

Malloy shot back, criticizing the legislature for not offering a balanced budget of its own, and again waiting until the waning days of the legislative session, which ends May 4, to pass a budget.

There are a lot of factors in play here, and they all point to a dysfunctional legislative process.

First, Malloy is right to criticize House and Senate leadership for not offering up a balanced budget until the end of the session. Such last-minute policymaking leads to a less transparent process and the adoption of poor policy in a rush to fill budget holes.

Last year was a perfect example. After major outcry from the state's leading employers, some of which threatened to leave the state (General Electric eventually did flee to Boston) legislators haphazardly rolled back $178 million in planned tax hikes on data processing and web development services, among others, that were passed during the final hours of the 2015 legislative session.

Although legislative leaders have sworn off tax increases this year, the business community should have little faith in legislator's ability to keep that promise, especially if last-minute deals are being hatched behind closed doors.

Democratic leaders, including Sharkey and Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, have argued they are waiting to see if April 18 tax collections come in higher than expected before offering up a revised budget, but the clock is ticking and the public deserves a say on any spending package legislators consider.

A simple alternative is to offer a worst-case-scenario budget that takes into account the latest deficit projections and then rolls back any cuts should tax receipts outperform expectations — an unlikely scenario.

Such a move would increase transparency over the process and allow more time to openly debate the issues. However, election-year politics may be holding back good governance in this case — lawmakers don't want to pitch spending cuts that would upset constituents if those cuts may not even be necessary.

Another issue is legislators' failure to come to grips with Connecticut's new economic reality, a catchphrase being peddled by Malloy. It is in fact true.

Sharkey has said Malloy's proposed cuts were perceived as disrespectful to his caucus' priorities, particularly deep cuts to hospitals and local schools.

However, the question remains: What's the alternative? There isn't enough low-hanging fruit to help close a nearly $1 billion deficit, meaning large spending areas such as municipal aid, state-employee benefits and Medicaid funding will be on the chopping block.

These are the consequences of our elected leaders' years of financial mismanagement.

Malloy too doesn't deserve to be absolved off all criticism. While we agree with his approach to cut spending rather than raise taxes, he doesn't appear to have a grand vision for his latest spending plan.

He's making significant cuts to balance the deficit, but has failed to adequately explain how his budget — which reflects his administration's priorities — will lead to a brighter, more prosperous future for Connecticut.

It's a vision that is cloudy at best.

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