In an admission of failure, the Democrats on the final day of session Wednesday said they would conduct a special session to address their inability to vote on the real estate conveyance tax in the regular session. Democrats were desperate to avoid even debating the cost-saving Republican budget.

“When the time came to deliver for the state of Connecticut the Democrats blinked. We put an alternative Republican budget on the table that cut the state payroll by $163 million through early retirements, cut the gas tax, and eliminated business taxes. But the Democrats refused to allow a vote,’’ House Republican Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., of Norwalk said.

Senate Minority Leader John McKinney of Fairfield said, “With the state in recession and revenue estimates continuing to plummet, it is frustrating that the Democrats are willing to do nothing. The people of Connecticut deserve to know why the majority refused to even allow a debate on our Alternative Budget Proposal. The immediate impact of doing nothing will be felt when state gas taxes increase again on July 1st and the long-term damage could be felt for years to come. By failing to come to terms with economic reality, Democratic leaders not only missed an opportunity to help working class families and small businesses cope with this recession, but they have saddled the state of Connecticut with huge budget deficits.”

Nursing homes and other service providers will also struggle because of the Democratic Do Nothing approach, Republicans said. The Democratic controlled legislature failed to make budget adjustments for the first time despite the current $67 million deficit.

The Democrats wasted the last week of the session by refusing to pass any meaningful legislation and took extraordinary procedural steps to avoid voting on the cost-saving, balanced Republican budget.

Cafero added, “Taxpayers and voters did not send us to Hartford to do nothing, especially at a time when the people of Connecticut struggle to fill their gas tanks, pay their mortgages and rent or foot their kids’ college tuition. At the very least, we have a responsibility to balance the budget - not run for political cover- and we couldn’t even do that.’’

The Republicans noted that the Democrats refused to find a way to fund public safety measure, but on the last day of the session put a premium on making it easier to erase a criminal’s record.

Republicans proposed a balanced budget that:
• Cut $163 million from the state payroll through an Early Retirement Incentive Program, or ERIP;
• Saved $17 million by accelerating the Money Follows the Person program that allows seniors to be cared for in their homes;
• Eliminated the Business Entity Tax to save $35 million over two years;
• Imposed a gas tax summer holiday and rolled back the scheduled gross receipts tax that automatically goes into effect July 1;
• Provided COLA Increases for nursing homes by $14 million and $13 million for other private providers; y
• Balanced and filled the $67 million deficit.