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State Budget Unconstitutional, Unbalanced, Says Senate Minority Leader

Senate leaders insist the two-year state budget approved last week is not balanced and assumes union contract details that have not been agreed upon.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano says the state's $43 billion budget is unbalanced and unconstitutional.

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano says the state's $43 billion budget is unbalanced and unconstitutional.

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The $43 billion budget assumes nearly $460 million in labor savings resulting from changes to state employee benefits and the refinancing of pension payments.

On Thursday, June 13, Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, a Republican from North Haven, once again asked Gov. Ned Lamont to provide details on hundreds of millions of dollars of projected savings from state employees built into the still unsigned state budget bill.

Joined by other Republican lawmakers, Fasano debated the merits of Lamont's two-year budget adopted by the state legislature on June 5. Fasano said Lamont should veto the spending plan and call state legislators back to "have a legitimate conversation on how we’re going to balance the budget.”

Lamont, a Democrat from Greenwich, said he’s ready to sign the budget into law, accusing Republican leaders of political grandstanding. 

Lamont’s budget director, Melissa McCaw, said Republicans overstated the amount of savings that needs union approval. McCaw said she expects a contract agreement to be finalized in the next 30 to 45 days.

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