Declaring that it is critically important for Connecticut’s citizens have confidence in the budget-making process, Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) today proposed the most open, transparent and candid budget negotiation process in Connecticut history.
In letters sent earlier today to Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Democratic and Republican caucus leaders, and the chairs of the General Assembly’s budget-writing committees, Senators Looney and Duff proposed that all state budget and budget implementer negotiations be held in the presence of the news media and broadcast on CT-N.
“Rather than enduring a month or perhaps several months of dueling news conferences, debating whose contingent, work-in-progress budget is most legitimate, competitive spin, and strategic or retaliatory leaks, let us take a new, more straightforward, unencumbered approach to our current budget challenge,” wrote Senators Looney and Duff. “We believe that working together, in public, will enhance the prospect of achieving a bipartisan agreement which serves the public interest.”
To accommodate these proposed public budget discussions, Senators Looney and Duff have instructed staff to make a room available each day through the end of the regular legislative session on June 7.
View the letter (downloadable PDF).