Malloy: Layoffs Will Be Swift and Large-Scale

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said today he will outline spending reductions and mass layoffs next week in response to the apparent collapse of his $1.6 billion concessions deal with state employees.

"We're talking about large-scale position reductions pretty quickly," Malloy said after speaking at an economic development event at the University of Hartford.

With notice requirements, most of the affected employees will lose their jobs by Sept. 1, he said.

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Speaking publicly for the first time since it became clear Wednesday that the concession deal was faltering, Malloy was restrained and even rueful in his response.

Voting on the deal continues through Friday, but he offered little optimism that the concessions can be saved.

"I think we probably know what the results are, which means that we'll proceed with what we have to do," Malloy said.

A special session of the legislature is expected next week to approve a revised budget that Malloy says will be ready Monday. It is likely to call for 7,500 layoffs, a number large enough to bump the unemployment rate from 9.1 percent to 9.4 percent.

He waved off a question about whether he was disappointed that Connecticut soon would join the ranks of states slashing its public-sector workforce.

"I don't have time to be disappointed," Malloy said. "We move forward. I've been clear that one way or another we were going to have a balanced budget."

The $40 billion biennial budget passed last month by the General Assembly relied on Malloy obtaining concessions and labor savings worth $700 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1 and $900 million the following year.

A majority of state employees already have approved the deal, but under the complex rules of SEBAC, the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, ratification appears certain to fail.

Ratification requires two things: approval by 14 of the 15 unions in the coalition; and the unions in favor must represent 80 percent of unionized state employees.

The likely rejection by AFSCME Council 4 will block SEBAC from reaching the 80-percent threshold, since the union represents about one-third of all state employees.

Malloy said he will try to minimize the impact of the budget revisions on the cities and towns in the first year of the biennium, since they already have set their budgets. They should expect cuts, however, in the second year.

He has ruled out additional tax increases.

The governor said he expected the legislature to be receptive to his plan.

"I think there's an understanding that the world is changing, that despite many people's best efforts, we have to go down a different road," Malloy said. "I believe that ultimately we'll have the authority to do that what's necessary."