Senate President Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) today released the following statement responding to comments made by the leaders of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) and the Connecticut Organization of Small Towns (COST):
“For the chief lobbyists of CCM and COST to stand up publicly and declare that they have not and are not asking for towns to be held harmless when it comes to municipal aid is misleading and does not accurately represent the positions of the mayors and first selectmen from whom we have heard.
“It has been extraordinarily difficult to put together a final budget largely because of this issue of municipal aid. If the top lobbyists for the two largest municipal advocacy organizations and their mayors and first selectmen are willing to stand side-by-side with the Governor as he renews his call to pass his budget and the hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to municipal aid, then it should not be difficult reaching a final budget agreement that slashes aid to cities and towns.”