| Hartford, CT – Senate Minority
Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield) today called on Democrats
to clarify inconsistent statements made over the weekend
regarding the moratorium placed on school construction
projects as part of the FY10-11 budget. He further called
on Democrat leaders to explain when and how they plan
to restore funding for the scores of shovel-ready projects
they have put in jeopardy.
Sen. McKinney and other members of the Senate Republican
Caucus became concerned about the moratorium last week
after reviewing a summary of the FY10 -11 budget prepared
by the Democrat caucus. The document lists
a $7.8 million reduction in debt service in 2011
with the annotation “moratorium on school construction.”
Senate Republicans were also made aware of a November
2008 memo written by the Office of Fiscal
Analysis (OFA) to the Finance Committee Chairs, outlining
the savings that would be achieved by placing a moratorium
on school construction grants from July 1st, 2009 to
June 30th 2010. In a memo dated September 4th,
OFA confirmed to the Senate Republican Caucus that the
FY10-11 budget puts this moratorium into effect.
Over the weekend, Representative Cameron Staples (D-New
Haven), co-chair of the Appropriations Committee, told
the Hartford Courant, "It's flatly absurd that
there would be a moratorium for two years… That's
just not the case. There's no question we have to pay
for all the projects in the pipeline. Towns are definitely
not going to be stiffed. They're going to be fully paid.
Existing projects are not in jeopardy at all.''
However, Representative Staples’ comments were
contradicted in the same article by his Democrat colleague,
Senator Paul Doyle (D-Wethersfield) who said he knew
about the moratorium prior to voting on the budget.
He told the Courant, "We're in drastic times…
Recognizing the times, [the moratorium] is reasonable.''
“Mayors and First Selectmen need to know whether
or not they can count on the state funding they were
promised for school construction projects,” said
Sen. McKinney. “Democrats are not instilling
much confidence in municipal leaders and school officials
with either their actions or their words. Rep. Staples
says there isn’t a moratorium. Sen. Doyle assures
us there is. We simply want to know the truth and make
sure that funding is restored for these important school
construction projects.”
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