by Christian Wade
Connecticut Democrats are moving ahead with a $51 billion two-year budget that includes more money for education, health care, and other priorities.
The spending plan, approved Wednesday by the Legislature’s Democratic-led Appropriations Committee, calls for boosting spending in the next fiscal year by an estimated $400 million over Gov. Ned Lamont’s preliminary budget, filed in February.
The two-year budget, which must be approved by the full Assembly and Senate before June 7, would spend $25 billion for the 2024 fiscal year – which begins in July – and $25.8 billion for the 2025 fiscal year.
Lamont issued a statement praising the committee for advancing a budget plan that “appears to respect the fiscal guardrails that have been a key component of our state’s success over the past few years.”
“We’re reviewing the details of the legislature’s spending plan, look forward to meeting with them to discuss their proposals, and will work with them to pass an honestly balanced budget that provides growth, opportunity, and affordability for Connecticut’s residents, families, and businesses,” he said.
In 2017, Connecticut set new fiscal controls that include a spending cap that keeps budget expenditures in line with changes in personal income or inflation, whichever may be larger, and a cap on the value of bonds the state government can issue to finance school construction, renovations to public buildings, open space and other capital projects.
The fiscal “guardrails” are credited with helping Connecticut climb out of a financial hole by generating annual surpluses, building up reserves and accelerating payments on the state’s pension debt, which is one of the highest in the nation. In February, Lamont and legislative leaders agreed to keep them in place for at least another five years.
Members of the Appropriations Committee noted that the spending cap means that some programs won’t see major increases in spending in the next fiscal year from the state’s estimated $3 billion surplus.
“We have not made everybody happy this year,” state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, said during a Tuesday hearing. “We have stuck to the confines of the spending cap.”
The budget plan approved by the committee calls for boosting spending for cost-sharing grants that help public schools cover operating costs, recommending spending $144 million over the next two fiscal years. That’s more than the $136 million Lamont had requested.
They added another $3 million to expand the state’s Medicaid coverage for children up to 15 years old, including undocumented immigrants, which wasn’t in Lamont’s proposal.
The committee also rejected Lamont’s proposal to continue universal free school meals in public schools, which would have cost the state an estimated $60 million.
That move was criticized by anti-hunger advocates, who said it would mean school-age children going without meals as families struggle with inflation and the high cost of food.
Lucy Nolan, a spokeswoman for School Meals 4 All CT coalition, said advocates are “shocked” that the committee decided not to include any funding for school meals, “given the crisis we saw last fall when federal funding for school meals ended.”
“Is Connecticut really going to prioritize giving minimal tax cuts and growing the state’s already-enormous savings account over feeding hungry children and helping working families struggling with inflation and high food costs?” she said in a statement. “The state is awash in surplus dollars.”
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Christian Wade is a contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Ned Lamont” by Ned Lamont.
