FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

SEN. FLEXER LEADS SENATE PASSAGE OF BILL TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR FARMLAND PRESERVATION, PROMOTING AGRICULTURE

HARTFORD – State Senator Mae Flexer today led Senate passage of a bill that increases funding for Connecticut’s Community Investment Account, the nearly 20-year old state program created in 2005 that pays to preserve farmland, promote agriculture, acquire open space, build affordable housing, preserve history, and make other valuable community investments.

Senate Bill 351, “AN ACT INCREASING FUNDING FOR THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT ACCOUNT,” increases by $5 the land record recording fee that funds the General Fund’s Community Investment Account. The bill passed the Senate on a purely partisan 24-12 vote and now heads to the House of Representatives for Consideration.

“We heard nothing but good things about this bill, and about the Community Investment Account, at the public hearing. More than two dozen people testified in support of this bill, people from all across the state, talking about the churches and farms and schoolhouses and community gardens and other precious, local landmarks that have been saved because of this funding,” Sen. Flexer said. “These types of investments are what makes Connecticut such a great state to live in with such a high quality of life.”

The Community Investment Account was created in 2005 when the General Assembly – including a unanimous and bipartisan 34-0 vote in the Senate – agreed to create the program and institute a new $30 land recording fee to pay for it. Since then, the General Assembly has passed a number of new fees, approved by both Republicans and Democrats, including:

· 2017, a new $10 fee on motor vehicle registrations to pay for free admission to state parks (“Passport to the Parks”).

· 2018, a new $12 annual fee on homeowners’ insurance policies to create a crumbling foundations fund.

· 2019, a new $5 annual boat registration fee for all in-state boats to fund an aquatic invasive species removal program.

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