What should state do with budget surplus?

So, what do you, dear readers, think the upcoming General Assembly should do with the state's burgeoning budget surplus?

After all, it's our money and we should have a say on whether it's spent or saved, n'est pas?

Yes, the Assembly's comprised of our 187 representatives in the House and Senate, but we hire them through elections and now we need to tell them what we want done with the surplus.

Everyone else, including Connecticut Post editorials, is telling lawmakers how to utilize what is now projected to be nearly $512 million in budget surplus.

Some examples:

l transportation advocates are urging the surplus be used to expand mass transit.

l the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is trotting out a group of mayors and first selectmen at the State Capitol on Tuesday to make a plea for using the money to increase state aid to towns and cities.

l a group of non-profit agency heads recently met with House Speaker James Amann, D-Milford, on a variety of topics, but one of them was using part of the surplus to help them pay their higher fuel bills this winter.

l for his part, Amann has suggested that most of the surplus be used to reduce the unfunded liabilities in state pension funds.

l Gov. M. Jodi Rell and State Comptroller Nancy Wyman, who are on different sides of the political aisle, have continually stressed that most, if not all, of the surplus should be stored away in the state's Rainy Day Fund (and, in the interest of full

disclosure in case you didn't read our editorials, that's what the Post endorses).

There are a zillion more ideas floating around and there are probably some that even haven't been publicly disclosed such as bringing back the abominable practice of creating "slush funds" (as former Gov. John G. Rowland and Assembly leaders did a few years back as they negotiated budgets).

And when the 2006 legislative session opens on Feb. 8, you'll hear even more ideas on what to do with what is swiftly becoming a one-half billion dollar surplus in a $14.7 billion state budget for this fiscal year.

But, let's temper things just a bit.

As the governor wisely pointed out last week, these surplus projections are just that — projections. Her words: "It is not money in the bank."

However, that's never stopped previous legislatures and governors from using projected surpluses before they arrive in the state bank. Though the fiscal year ends June 30, the comptroller usually makes a final budget declaration in mid-autumn after most accounts are settled.

The current fiscal year's projected budget surplus is somewhat remarkable, fueled largely by increasing revenues from the state income tax and corporate taxes. If one goes back to fiscal outlooks offered a year ago, the projections weren't quite that rosy. Economics is an unpredictable science.

So, if the fiscal experts and the politicians can have their say, and are many times way off mark, why not the general public?

Here's your chance. Do you want to see the surplus spent? If so, how? Do you want it returned in tax bonuses or tax cuts? Do you want it reserved for an economic downturn and a "rainy day"? Should we hire more state employees? Should we reduce our bonded indebtedness, currently the highest per capita in the nation?

Offer us your suggestions here at the Post and we'll summarize and publicize them.

Send them to us at Surplus Suggestions, Connecticut Post, 410 State Street, Bridgeport 06604, or via e-mail to edit@ctpost.com and put "Surplus Suggestion" in your subject line.

We'll let lawmakers know how you feel about the surplus and you'll get a bit of a feel for the pressures and competing interests that lawmakers experience.

Stephen J. Winters is editorial page editor of the Connecticut Post. You can reach him at 330-6203 or by e-mail at swinters@ctpost.com