HARTFORD -- Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says "everything has to be on the table" when he and state legislators negotiate a new budget over the coming months that attempts to address Connecticut's latest deficit challenges.
"I'm going to make change. I'd like to do that in a cooperative way," said Malloy in a sit down interview with FOX 61.
When asked about whether more pink slips could be passed out, Malloy said, "I hope not but I will tell you this: government is going to be smaller this year than it was last year because that's the way it's been every year that I've been Governor."
But the Democrat stressed to reporters Friday that he's not pushing for higher taxes, even though he didn't rule them out.
Malloy said, "That's absolutely not what I'm leading with."
Malloy says he's likely the most fiscally conservative governor the Connecticut press corps has covered.
The governor will unveil a proposed two-year budget next month. During his State of the State address Wednesday, he said he'll propose additional spending cuts and changes to the state education aid formula for cities and towns.
"Could tolls be part of a long term solution? Sure but they're not a short term solution," said Malloy. "If we decided to have tolls we could have them up and running in four years so it's not a short term solution, but having said that, you can't have zero dollars in your transportation budget either."
Also Malloy says his administration has been meeting with state employee unions about possible concessions.
The Governor's budget proposal is expected in February.