Last week, Governor Malloy delivered his State of the State Budget Address. It was optimistic and spoke of an economic revival, which would be something I hope to work with the Governor to achieve.

I agree with the Governor’s proposals to dedicate an additional $50 million to underperforming state schools that are underperforming and to retool the state’s teacher tenure provisions to promote accountability and better reflect the reality that most professionals face in other industries.

While we are very fortunate in Greenwich to have excellent teachers and administrators, proposals giving school districts an option to reward those teachers who perform at much higher levels with merit bonuses - based on a variety of measures that include student achievement, teacher input and parental evaluations – is a commendable start to education reform. However, I remain committed to evaluations that are fair, ones that compare "apples to apples", and not just test scores, which, I believe, do a disservice to both teacher and student. More specific, some teachers will have more challenging classrooms and there needs to be accurate ways to measure progress that are not just test score-related, but reflective of how much each student improves.

To achieve major education reform, Connecticut first must get its fiscal house in order.  The legislature's non-partisan Office of Fiscal Analysis issued a report projects a budget deficit for this budget year.

Here are the disturbing economic reports coming out of Hartford since 2012 started:

• Moodys Investment Services downgraded the state’s credit rating on Jan. 20^th.
• The non-partisan fiscal office of the state, OFA, that projects a nearly $145 million budget deficit.
• The independent state budget analysts on January 27^th said the projected pension fund savings touted by Gov. Malloy in the deal he struck with state employee unions falls more than $3 billion short.

The Governor’s budget from last year has not, unfortunately, produced as promised. Everyone is now learning that his plan isn't working. Relying on taxes just hasn't created enough revenue to support the Governor's spending increases. Moreover, the state employee union concessions package voted in with a four year no layoff provision has produced little in the way of savings from what we can tell. 

So while I share the Governor’s optimism and hope for Connecticut’s turn around, there is no avoiding the fact that we have a long road ahead. We need to get down to business, balance the budget and set some real spending priorities.

It is my duty to make sure essential government services are funded while safeguarding Greenwich taxpayer dollars.
I look forward to working in a bipartisan fashion with the Governor to craft meaningful changes to the state’s financial approach. He is committed to job creation and he will continue to have an ally in me on the Commerce Committee. 

I am committed to righting the ship for Connecticut.  If you would like to comment on this or other issues of concern to you please do so by contacting my office at 1-800-842-1423 or visiting my website www.repfredcamillo.com. I'd love to hear from you.