State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) today criticized the Democrat majority in the state senate for rejecting his proposal requiring municipalities that receive over 30% of their total budgets from state grants to be subject to audits from the state. The legislation was proposed in response to growing concerns throughout Connecticut that some cities have been engaged in reckless fiscal practices, such as offering lucrative retirement packages to workers who go on to take high paying jobs in other parts of the state.
"It looks like the Democrats have yet again left the taxpayers in the lurch and sided with their political allies in the big cities," said Senator DeLuca. "This common sense fiscal measure would have demanded accountability from the same big city governments we send hundreds of millions of tax dollars to every year, and provided answers to all of us who've been asking 'just where do these tax dollars go?' Every year we hear Democrat mayors from the big cities tell us how we never give them enough money - this bill would have simply asked them to open up their books and show us how they're spending it."
According to Senator DeLuca, there are 35 towns in Connecticut that receive over 30% of their total operating budget from the state. Although the audits would not be mandatory, they could be ordered at the discretion of the Executive Branch.
"It's a shame the Democrats are unwilling to pass this very reasonable proposal," said Senator DeLuca. "I live in a town that receives less than 5% of its total budget from the state, and there is a frustration in rural Connecticut when we see hundreds of millions of tax dollars going to the same cities we hear so many administrative 'horror stories' about. At some point the taxpayers of the state deserve accountability for the way their tax dollars are spent, but yet again the legislative Democrats have stood in the way." |
