Governor Addresses Full House at Chamber Meeting

The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting sold-out in anticipation of guest speaker Governor Dannel P. Malloy.  This is the second time in the Chamber's history that it has packed the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza to capacity.  

Malloy used the opportunity to reflect on his first year as governor and lay out priorities for the upcoming legislative session.  

In welcoming remarks, Chamber president Larry McHugh stated the governor “had the guts and integrity to tell the people the depth of the budget problem we were facing” by conducting town hall-style meetings throughout the state early in the budget process.  

Sponsors of the event were Northeast Utilities, Yankee Gas and Connecticut Light & Power Company and NU president and CEO Chuck Shivery was provided the privilege of introducing Malloy. 

In the spirit of fence-mending, the Governor remarked that Shivery was “the only other guy in the state who’s possibly had a tougher year than I have.”  

Emphasizing that the State had successfully weathered "two unbelievable storms" as well as successfully managed to address a $3.5 billion budget deficit, Malloy stated that Connecticut citizens “were of a hardy stock” and an inspiration to him.  

“Government should match the greatness of the people they serve,” he stated. “I was not willing to lie to people about how big a problem it was.”  

Malloy laid out his one-year accomplishments including consolidating state government by one-third, putting generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP) in place, balancing the budget in 7 months and creating $20 billion in savings over the next 20 years.  

“We did it right,” he said.  “We did it honestly and we did it all at once.” 

Urging the business crowd to “have the confidence to hire again”, Malloy stated his priorities for the future were job creation and education, including a focus on education reform.  

“There is no issue more important than education.  We need to get it right.  We need to do a better job of educating our students” if we want a strong workforce in the future, he stated.  

He concluded by rallying the crowd around a shared goal to progressively move the state forward after having overcome its  most difficult challenges.  

“Think about the future and realize that we are still standing.”