STATE OF CONNECTICUT
NANCY WYMAN COMPTROLLER	OFFICE OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER 55 ELM STREET HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT 06106-1775	MARK OJAKIAN DEPUTY COMPTROLLER

State Comptroller Nancy Wyman today said the state's budget deficit has shrunk to $42.9 million, mainly due to legislative action to cover agency spending deficiencies as the 2008 fiscal year comes to a close.

The deficit stood at $67.8 million on June 1. On June 11, the General Assembly voted to rescind nearly $43 million of appropriations made in the 2008 budget, which reduced the deficit by eliminating $30.7 million of agency deficiencies.

Those deficiencies included $18.5 million in the Department of Correction, $10.9 million in the University of Connecticut Health Center and $1.3 million in Workers' Compensation Claims.

While the legislature's action cut the overall deficit, Wyman said, the state's main source of revenue - the income tax - remains in decline. The income tax continues a slide that began in February, and is now expected to bring in about $150 million below original estimates.

"The drop in the income tax is directly linked to the drop in job growth we saw in the first four months of the calendar year," Wyman said. "I am hopeful that the upswing we saw in the job market in May is a step toward reversing that trend."

About 2,900 new jobs were created in May, many of them at the new Foxwoods Resort Casino's MGM Grand. Of the state's ten major industry sectors, seven showed gains in May and three showed losses. The manufacturing sector lost 400 jobs - its ninth straight month of decline.

For the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state added a net total of 1,900 jobs. At the same point in the previous fiscal year, the state had added 17,600 jobs.

The State Comptroller appreciates input on this and other issues from residents of the state. Please feel free to contact her office by phone - (860) 702-3300; mail - OSC, 55 Elm Street, Hartford, CT 06106; or, via E-mail - osc.opinions@po.state.ct.us

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For Immediate Release
July 1, 2008

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