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But Harding -- whose district covers Brookfield, Bethel and Danbury -- said he and fellow Republicans had fought to open up discussions with Gov. Dannell Malloy and Democrats in the legislature after the budget was approved in June.
"We Republicans knew that the budget could not remain sustainable for long," Harding said. "But we didn’t see it happening this soon. We are already projecting to find [the state] sunk into a $350 million deficit a mere six months from now."
When the House convened last week, Harding said, the Republican caucus wanted votes on union contracts and a state-spending cap. Both resolutions were denied.
One vote was on a constitutional provision to create a “lock box” on the Special Transportation Fund to ensure that revenues from gasoline sales and other taxes are only used for transportation projects.
“On its face, this seems like a genuinely transparent measure,” said Harding, who voted for the measure. That is why, “The actions taken by the majority party in relation to this fund were exceedingly hypocritical and political.”
But Harding blasted the majority party. "Behind the Democrats' proposal of an apparently, and supposedly, effective lockbox is a veiled attempt to divert funds to other accounts in an attempt to balance their sink hole of a budget," he said.
“If the Democrats in Hartford honestly valued our state’s transportation system, like their constitutional proposal would reflect, then why was the fund raided for over $35 million on the same day,” Harding said.
“In addition to the hypocrisy,” he said, “the provision did not have enough teeth, and didn’t expressly list any recourse if the parameters of the ‘lock-box’ were not followed.” The measure ultimately failed.
Harding also blasted the state’s just-approved deficit mitigation package, calling it a “short-term Band-Aid.”
The Democrats' plan to close the budget gap, Harding said, “neglected to address Connecticut’s real problems.” It “didn't even make a dent” in restoring funds to health care institutions, Harding said.
Harding said he voted against the package “because we need to take far bigger steps in addressing our spending habits in Hartford,” he said.
“Shaving money off a line item and diverting funds is only a short-term solution to a structural problem we face in our state government."
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