Malloy Announces $170M in Budget Cuts; $32M from Social Services

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday that he is cutting $170 million from the state budget -- the maximum amount allowed without requiring legislative approval -- in order to combat the state's $365 million projected deficit in the current fiscal year.

The Office of Policy and Management released a nine-page list of the cuts. (The full list is attached to this article as a PDF.) Some of the biggest items from the list include:

• $33 million reduction in fringe benefits for employees, mostly from the "state employees health services" line item
• $21 million from the Department of Developmental Services
• $7.8 million from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
• $32.2 million from the Department of Social Services
• $14.4 million from state colleges, split between community colleges and state universities
• $18.3 million from the Department of Children and Families 

Exactly how the cuts will impact the departments remains to be seen. 

"There is no one reason for the projected shortfall," said OPM Secretary Ben Barnes in a written statement. "The sluggish national economy is part of the equation. Revenue hasn't recovered as it has in the past when Connecticut was working to climb out of a recession.

"The demand for services, particularly Medicaid, remains higher than expected. But we have faced larger challenges than this, and done so responsibly. Nothing on that front has changed."