Connecticut gov proposes layoffs to shut deficit

[The Northerner]

(Reuters) - More than 5,000 Connecticut public employees would be laid off and another 1,000 positions left vacant under a deficit-closing plan unveiled by Governor Dannel Malloy on Tuesday.

The Democratic governor proposed laying off 5,466 state workers to help close a $1.6 billion budget gap. The proposal comes after state labor unions rejected a labor deal that would have averted layoffs. Malloy has recalled the legislature for Thursday.

The move came the same day that Moody's Investors Service cut Connecticut's outlook to negative from stable because the state has burned through reserves and has some of the country's most underfunded pension systems.

With tax collections for many states lingering below pre-recession levels, governors around the nation increasingly are weighing once-unthinkable remedies, from laying off public workers to reducing pension and retirement benefits.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/28/us-connecticut-outlook-idUSTRE75R7PD20110628

[LiberalFighter]

1. They could save a whole lot more by laying off the bosses.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

2. They just don't get it... laying off 5,466 state workers means 5,466 people not paying taxes.

Sad, more people without money.