Republicans Fill Leadership Void, Secure Spending Cap and Municipal Reforms

The legislature will have to vote on union contracts and will operate under tighter spending restraints thanks to a budget negotiated by House Republicans. The budget approved by the legislature today provides cities and towns with critical school funding Gov. Malloy threatened to withhold, and the plan received enough votes for the included spending cap to fall under the protected umbrella of the State Constitution. The plan doesn't include the "solutions" to which majority Democrats turn, sales and income tax hikes. It doesn't impose the Democrats' new restaurant and cell phone taxes, either.

In a historic vote last month, Republicans moved a budget through both chambers of the Democrat-controlled legislature only to see Gov. Malloy veto their plan.

That budget ended up serving as the foundation for recent negotiations, which saw Republicans secure wins in long-sought areas on binding arbitration and prevailing wage reform. Republican lawmakers also blocked the Governor's plan to shift teacher pension obligations to municipalities from the state--a move that would have forced local leaders to increase property taxes.