Sen. Osten Brings Budget Success to Eastern Connecticut
In addition to $600 million in tax breaks in the new state budget that she helped deliver to Connecticut residents statewide, state Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) noted today that she has also delivered a host of other state funding and public policy successes to cities and towns in her 19th State Senate District and across the region.
Sen. Osten, who is Senate Chair of the budget-making Appropriations Committee, wrapped-up a months-long process of budget-making and budget negotiating this week when she helped lead the state Senate in passing a bipartisan state budget.
“A lot of the talk all year focuses on what the executive branch of government wants, and what the administration is proposing. But that’s just one branch of government, and legislators have a say on their own budget, and their own priorities, and that was my focus over the past several months as a member of the state legislature,” Sen. Osten said. “My priorities are and always will be eastern Connecticut: jobs for eastern Connecticut, economic development for eastern Connecticut, and funding for eastern Connecticut. That’s my focus.”
Sen. Osten’s budget and policy successes for the region include:
- $914,784 more in Education Cost Sharing (ECS) funds for Norwich
- $17,829 more in ECS funds for Sprague
- $500,000 for the Slater Museum in Norwich
- $500,000 for the Norwich Historical Society
- $4,000 for the American Legion Post 85 in Baltic
- The elimination of $2.88 million in payments from small towns toward to cost of unfunded State Trooper pension liabilities
- $1.3 million in LED lighting streetscape improvements for Sprague
- Requiring the State Library Board to consult with blind and physically disabled advocates before making any changes to library services for these clients
- Increasing from $50 to $60 the pay for Honor Guards at veteran funerals
- $500,000 for Veterans’ Rally Point in Norwich
- $1 million for the Coast Guard Academy Office of Military Affairs library, which houses original Alexander Hamilton documents
- Ending the gross receipts tax on the sale of natural gas for Norwich Public Utilities, thereby saving money for NPU customers
- $1.4 million for the Eastern Workforce Investment Board (EWIB) to facilitate the hiring of 3,500 new employees at Electric Boat
- $500,000 to study the removal of the dam at Papermill Pond in Versailles
- $500,000 for Montville Parks and Recreation Department tennis courts
- $300,000 for Artreach mental health and arts agency in Norwich
- $100,000 for the Taftville VFW Auxiliary
- $300,000 for Lebanon Pines treatment and recovery center
- $150,000 for the Preston City Volunteer Fire Department
- $150,000 for the Poquetanuck Volunteer Fire Department in Preston
- $300,000 for the Lebanon Historical Society
