| Hartford, CT – The Connecticut General Assembly is expected to vote today on several bills to implement the FY10-11 budget, including an education bill that will reverse a provision in the Democrat budget passed September 1st that placed a 1-year moratorium on state-matching funds for school construction projects. Republican leaders, who have been speaking out against the moratorium for weeks, today cheered the reversal.
“Democrat leaders thought they could save $8 million by quietly halting school construction funding for a year, while at the same time preserving spending for bloated government programs and special interests. Fortunately, they got caught by Republican legislators, rank-and-file members of their own caucus, and school officials from throughout the state, who were appalled by the policy. Thanks to public outcry, the majority party has reversed its decision and municipalities will not have to wait to receive the funding they need to improve the quality of schools throughout Connecticut,” said Senate Minority Leader John McKinney (R-Fairfield). “The fact that such an unpopular proposal was even included in the budget in the first place, highlights the danger of conducting the public’s business behind closed-doors.”
On September 16th, Senator McKinney sent a letter to municipal officials to inform them of the school construction moratorium, as well as the School Construction Priority List from the Department of Education, which outlines each of the projects that would have been affected. The General Assembly is expected to vote this afternoon on SB-2053. Section 1 of that bill effectively lifts the moratorium.
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