Connecticut House of Representatives Passes Budget

State legislators pulled an all-nighter Saturday as members of the House of Representatives worked on the budget, which the House finally passed in a 5 a.m. vote on Sunday. 

The vote ended months of suspense for Connecticut municipalities, which for the first time in years had no idea how much funding they might expect to receive from the state. 

Governor Dannel P. Malloy's budget had proposed to eliminate car taxes and  Payments in Lieu of Taxes and would have reduced the amount towns received from Pequot and Mohegan funds—all of which make up important revenue streams for cities and towns. 

The budget passed by the Legislature's Finance and Appropriations Committees changed the equation, but also significantly reduced funding for municipalities. 
East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica said he'd been making weekly visits to the Capitol and each time, the scenario was different. 

The budget that passed the House on Sunday, however, has restored much of the money that cities and towns feared they would lose this coming fiscal year. According to the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM), which had been lobbying hard against the proposed reductions in state funding, the adopted budget for Fiscal Year 2014 includes a total of $3,170,749,457 in education and non-education aid for cities and towns. That's an increase of 3.2 percent over the $3,072,287,445 municipalities received from the state in fiscal year 2013.   
 
"The new state budget is a clear win for towns and cities and their local property taxpayers," said CCM President James Finley. "CCM commends the Legislature and the Governor for listening to the concerns of municipalities across our state."

“As our economy continues to recover, it is critical that we balance our state budget with no new taxes, maximize Connecticut taxpayer dollars that come back from Washington, avoid cuts to our cities and towns, and maintain the safety net for our most vulnerable residents," said Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey (D-Hamden). "This budget accomplishes all of these important goals.”