“Room in the budget exists and the legislature has the full authority to spend it. This is Connecticut, not Washington, D.C.”
HARTFORD – Today, Senate President Martin Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) released the following statement on the General Assembly’s plan to appropriate $40 million to help local school systems with rising special education costs.
“The co-equal branch of government in charge of appropriating funding has rightfully determined that we have the fiscal ability to support special education with an immediate infusion of $40 million.
“The General Assembly acted responsibly when we instituted various budget reforms in 2017 prior to Governor Lamont’s tenure. We acted responsibly when we filled the Rainy Day Fund to the full $3.9 billion. We acted responsibly when we paid off billions in pension debt. We are still acting responsibly by planning to spend 0.1% of the annual budget to provide supplemental education funding when we have a surplus of $390 million and a volatility cap adjustment of $1.4 billion, resulting in a $1.8 billion aggregate surplus.
“Room in the budget exists and the legislature has the full authority to spend it. This is Connecticut, not Washington, D.C.”
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