Reps. Piscopo and Witkos At the Ready for the Northwest Corner

State representatives John Piscopo and Kevin Witkos met Tuesday with leaders from several Northwest Corner towns to give them an update about the state’s budget crisis and to get ideas about how the legislature could help their communities. Among the towns represented at the 45-minute forum in Torrington were Barkhamsted, Harwinton, Colebrook and Hartland. Several Torrington residents also attended the City Hall event, hosted by Mayor Ryan Bingham. Piscopo, R-76, gave the group the gloomy news from the special session that Gov. M. Jodi Rell called to deal with the budget deficit: The Democrat-controlled legislature made only a fraction of moves necessary to close a $600 million deficit in this fiscal year. To make matters worse, the state faces a shortfall of more than $6 billion over the next two budget cycles. House Republicans such as Piscopo proposed nearly $80 million in cost-cutting measures Monday that Democrats knocked back. Included was a proposal to reduce by half the taxpayer-financed political campaign system to save $8 million. That idea fell flat with Democrats. At the forum Tuesday, local officials such as Harwinton First Selectman Frank Chiaramonte bemoaned unfunded state mandates and dwindling state aid.

Sue Dyer, first selectman in Norfolk, asked when the legislature would take a stance of fiscal responsibility, as she and her colleagues must do in the communities they run. For months House Republicans called for Democrats to do just that: make changes to the budget to avoid the state’s current predicament. But Democrats waited until after the election to even consider the issue, and Monday night the majority party put off making tough decisions yet again.