Leaders of financially strapped Hartford, Conn., are struggling to persuade state legislators facing their own budget crisis to come up with tens of millions of dollars in additional aid to help the city avoid bankruptcy and ultimately become economically stable, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The city is seeking $40 million more from the state to help offset the deficit in next year's roughly $600 million budget. The extra money would come with some strings for Hartford, such as holding the line on spending and working with local unions to cut costs. So far, city officials have made deep spending cuts and sought about $16 million in labor concessions from seven city unions. But after one of the city's largest unions recently voted down a negotiated agreement that could have saved about $4 million over six years, that request for extra state aid has become a tougher sell in the General Assembly, according to Hartford Rep. Matt Ritter, who is also the majority leader of the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, only one of the unions, the firefighters, has so far agreed to labor concessions. The rest remain in negotiations or arbitration.
