Donovan accuses Gov. of hiding $100 mil

Hartford (WTNH) - Lawmakers are scheduled to address the latest round of budget cuts Tuesday. The Speaker of the House is accusing the Governor of not telling the whole story in the budget crisis.

The Director of the Wallingford Community Day Care Center, Kathy Queen, is predicting that hundreds of kids at the state's 105 community day care centers will lose access to pre-school programs if the Governor's latest budget cuts become law.

"Force 600 parents to quit their jobs in order to care for their children leads to the closing of multiple child care center and layoffs of almost 100 teachers," said Queen.

A teacher brought kids from the Burns Early Learning Center in Hartford to the Capitol to demonstrate the point that $121 million in cuts will affect kids statewide of all ages.

"[In total], 36 percent of the $337 million in cuts proposed by the Governor directly target our children," said Rep. Toni Walker [D] of the Human Services Committee.

"It would mean that 4,800 at risk youth would remain on our streets, tempted by all of the illegal temptations that our teenagers are faced with," said Joe Andreana of Connecticut Boy & Girls Clubs, Inc.

The Governor keeps saying that everyone has to give to get us out of this crisis.

"She doesn't tell us the whole story," said Rep. Chris Donovan [D], Speaker of the House.

Rep. Donovan accused the Governor of hiding millions of dollars in potential savings from him and the public; that a section in the Governor's agreement with the state labor unions could produce another huge round of savings.

"There are provisions for the Governor to save another $100 million in that agreement," said Rep. Donovan.

Because of that, and the potential that the spending cuts will result in thousands of job losses, Rep. Donovan said there will be no action on the budget at Wednesday's scheduled Special Session.

A spokesman for the Governor said the $100 million savings provision in the union agreement has never been hidden from anyone.

While there will be no action on the budget, Tuesday, Rep. Donovan said he expects some action before Christmas.