Marilyn Moore

Senator Moore Joins Colleagues in Passing State Budget, Secures Additional Funds for Bridgeport

Earlier this week, state Senator Marilyn Moore (D-Bridgeport) joined her Democratic colleagues in the state Senate to support a modified second year of the two-year state budget. The new budget will bring Connecticut’s 3.5 million residents a half-billion dollars in tax savings while investing hundreds of millions of other dollars in new childcare, mental health, social service, job creation and other new state programs.
The budget was passed 24-12. The bill now heads to Democratic Governor Ned Lamont for his signature of the 2022-2023 state budget into law.

On the last day of session, Senator Moore worked to pass Senate Bill 9, ‘An Act Implementing The Governor’s Budget Recommendations For General Government. In this, Sen. Moore secured an additional $2.2 million which was added into the budget during the final day of session. These additional funds include:

• Bridgeport Public Education Fund, Inc.
  $100,000
• Colors of the World
  $40,000
• Cook-and-Grow
  $25,000
• Green Village Initiative (GVI)
  $40,000
• Polished Pearls
  $10,000
• RYASAP Bridgeport
  $150,000
• Street Safe
  $100,000
• Trumbull Nature & Arts Center
  $75,000
• Cradle-To-Career Bridgeport
  $150,000
• The Knowlton
  $25,000
• Sisters At The Shore
  $50,000
• Bridgeport Caribe Youth Leaders
  $100,000
• Cape Verdean Women
  $25,000
• Bridgeport Youth Lacrosse
  $25,000
• McBride Foundation
  $100,000
• Bridgeport Arts Council
  $50,000
• Bernard Buddy Jordan Foundation
  $50,000
• Full Circle Youth Engagement
  $450,000
• Elevate Bridgeport
  $200,000

“I want to thank Senator Osten for her hard work and dedication on putting together this state budget,” said Sen. Moore. “This is an opportunity to fix our community and take a look at how we are spending our money. I’m thrilled part of this funding is being focused on early childhood education. Poverty begins before a child is born and when that child leaves the womb, you want to provide that child with everything they need in order to be successful. I appreciate this vision for our children as we work to make a difference for our future.”

Within this budget, the Department of Public Health will establish a gun violence intervention and prevention program and report annually to the Public Health Committee. Senator Moore has been a strong advocate in putting an end to gun violence. Last year, Sen. Moore worked hard to implement a gun violence intervention and prevention committee that will help minimize youth gun violence. This committee will work to coordinate the funding and implementation of evidence-based, community-centric programs and strategies to reduce street-level gun violence in the state.

In Senator Moore’s district, Bridgeport will receive a $3.8 million increase in state funding from FY22 to FY 23. Bridgeport will also receive $188,956,317 in state education funding for Bridgeport Public Schools. As the budget also reduces the motor vehicle mill rate, Bridgeport will be reimbursed $7,069,461 during FY 23 to offset revenue losses. Bridgeport is also being allocated $129 million for construction of Bassick High School.

With an influx of federal aid, and with Connecticut tax revenues soaring due to a rebounding state economy, strong job growth and rising incomes, the second year of the biennial state budget was reconfigured by Democrats and Gov. Lamont to increase state spending in the coming year by 6.5% to $24.2 billion.

The budget includes historic tax cuts for Connecticut’s citizens as well as major new investments in some of the human needs that were highlighted by the past two years of the deadly and disruptive COVID-19 pandemic.

The Democratic budget is still under the state-mandated spending cap, has maxed out our state Rainy Day Fund at $3.3 billion, and makes a massive, unprecedented $3.5 billion payment toward Connecticut’s 70 years of built-up pension debt. Some of the $600 million in Democratic tax cuts that will help Connecticut residents include:

• Continuation of the 25-cent per gallon gasoline tax holiday through December 1, thereby saving Connecticut residents another $150 million.
• Creates a new $250-per-child credit against the state income tax for low- and middle-income households, up to a maximum of $750, for single filers with earnings less than $100,000 per year and couples making less than $200,000. This saves Connecticut families $125 million.
• A cap on the tax rate charged by cities and towns on motor vehicles will reduce car taxes by $100 million for residents in about 45% of Connecticut towns.
• Increase the maximum property tax credit exemption from $200 to $300, saving Connecticut families $60 million per year this year and into the future.
• Increasing the state Earned Income Tax Credit, a program created by former President Ronald Reagan and used by 186,000 Connecticut residents living in every town in the state. The increased tax deduction will save Connecticut families $49 million a year.
• Accelerating the phase-out of taxes of certain pension and annuity income, saving Connecticut residents nearly $43 million.
• The Democratic budget even eliminates the tax on movie theatre tickets, saving movie-goers $2.5 million this year.

On the spending side, Democrats and Gov. Lamont make major investments in the public services Connecticut residents demanded following two years of the deadly and disruptive COVID-19 pandemic: the mental health crisis impacting our children, expanded services for people with substance-use disorders, better wages for people working in our non-profits and as personal care attendants, increased funds to support survivors of domestic violence, more money for community college tuition, job-training programs, and a historic investment in child care services so parents can get back into the workplace.

Some of the hundreds of millions of new dollars that Democrats are spending on Connecticut residents include:

• $10 million for mental health services at School-Based Health Centers
• $30 million for increased 24/7 mobile crisis services
• $1.4 million for no-cost training to address the hiring needs of Electric Boat
• $72 million for private-sector non-profit pay raises
• $23 million for personal care attendants
• $70 million for childcare industry wage enhancements
• $15 million to renovate and construct early childhood facilities
• $2.5 million to combat gun violence
• $2.8 million for survivors of domestic violence
• $50 million for affordable housing
• $75 million to update school air conditioning and heating systems
• $8 million to increase access to town-run summer camps
• $3 million for senior citizens’ adult day programs and Meals on Meals
• $4 million for Alzheimer’s respite care programs