Broken Budget

Anyone looking for a prime example of how mindless and broken Connecticut's budget-making process has become need look no further than the state's own efforts to market itself to visitors and residents. According to the recently approved state budget, some $2.7 million has been allocated so that everyone working in the Commission on Culture and Tourism will keep his or her job, but only $1 (that's right, $1) will be available for marketing programs. That means the effort that formerly included things like the Connecticut Vacation Guide, the ctvisit.com website, television commercials, press releases, welcome centers, seminars, press events and more--in short, all the support for the billion-dollar culture and tourism industry--will disappear even though all the state employees responsible for them will remain at their desks. How will these public employees spend their time? No one knows. Likewise, who knows how many similar situations there are out there across all of state government?