Looks Like It's Time for "Plan B"

Just when state lawmakers thought they were out...they got pulled back in. 

On Thursday afternoon Gov. Dannel Malloy called Connecticut legislators back from summer break for a special session on Thursday, June 30, to vote on a revised budget plan, now that it appears a concession deal with state unions is doomed.

“It was always my hope that the SEBAC Agreement would be ratified and we could move forward with the process of getting our state’s fiscal house in order and creating new jobs,” said Malloy in a press statement. "But that looks increasingly unlikely."

The deal, which would freeze wages and lower pensions but guarantee job security for four years for state employees, would have made up for a nearly $1.6 billion deficit in the state's 2-year budget, administration officials say.

Union employees have through Friday to vote on the deal, but early results show that it's unlikely the measure will pass. 

Pushing all else aside to focus on formulating a revised budget by early next week, the administration also canceled an anticipated bonding hearing set for today. 

The administration's revised two-year budget will likely include immediate mass layoffs - about 7,500 - and in the second year, cuts in funding for cities and towns, Malloy said at an event at the University of Hartford Thursday, the Connecticut Mirror reports.

"I am loathe to make the decisions facing us at this juncture – including layoffs, programmatic and municipal aid cuts – but I am left with no choice," Malloy said in a press statement. The Governor has said he will not raise taxes further to cover the gap. "Working with the legislature, we will have a balanced budget and one that, while making painful cuts and difficult decisions, will be balanced honestly without tricks or gimmicks.”

In addition to possible municipal and higher education cuts, if union agreements are not reached, that puts both the First and Second Company Governor's Horse Guards, of Avon and Newton, respectively, back on the list of possible cuts. Either way, the Horse Guards will not know until after the budget is ratified.

State Sen. Len Suzio, R-Meriden, said the failure to pass union concessions could be a "blessing in disguise," according to . 

“If the union concessions deal is approved, state government will be trapped without an option to trim our state employee workforce,” Suzio said, referring to the 4-year freeze on layoffs that was included in the package.

Editor's Note: This story originally appeared on Meriden Patch.