Connecticut Post

State must stop targeting neediest

Connecticut Post Editorial

Updated: 08/04/2009

Are state officials under the impression their budget shenanigans have no consequences? Do they somehow not
know their instransigence brings real hardship?

In the second month of the fiscal year, and still with no state spending plan, the people and agencies who provide
for the neediest among us are nearly out of options. Service providers are warning of layoffs, hiring freezes and
the rejection of clients seeking medical and mental health care.

State funding is continuing on month-by-month orders from Gov. M. Jodi Rell, and if her priorities to date are
indicative of the final budget, whenever that is reached, then the difficulties are likely to continue.

The economic slowdown has hit all income levels, and the middle class is likely to take a serious hit when a
budget deal is reached. But it is the lowest level, where people have the least amount of breathing room, that
continues to take the brunt of the recession.

Services like alternative incarceration facilities and community health centers help keep society’s gears turning.
Cutting off funding means the problems those facilities help keep at bay are once again a serious concern.

In the best of times, state funding for many social services falls short. Now, with the budget impasse an ongoing
debacle, no one knows what to expect.

The governor and state legislators need to make a deal. And they cannot make their math work by continuing to
take from the neediest among us.