House Republican leaders today unveiled a budget plan that contains an 8.2 percent increase, or nearly $300 million year-over-year, in education spending. According to House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, the caucus is the only one honoring Gov. Ned Lamont’s request for an adjusted budget, which they accomplished by making changes to the governor’s existing budget proposal rather than by creating a new budget.
The proposal utilizes existing education funding proposed in the governor’s budget, as well as roughly $60 million in new proposed spending for special education, to achieve a total of $300 million.
Candelora opened the press conference by stating caucus leadership was there “to do something no one in the building seems to have done in a short session, and that is to recognize the fiscal conditions that we are in, the revenue decline that we are in, and the constitutional obligation that we have to balance a budget.”
Candelora said the caucus’ budget adjustment “keeps intact the spirit” of the most recent biennium budget but also makes adjustments to “keep the promises that were made last year.” Candelora highlighted a promise to fully fund special education but noted a $75 million funding shortfall from the previous year. He said the House GOP budget would cover that cost.
Candelora further said that the budget honors a lot of cuts put forward by Lamont in his budget adjustment proposal, but recognizes that “if we don’t do something today, we are putting the fiscal guardrails in jeopardy and our budget in jeopardy moving forward.”
Tammy Nuccio, R-Tolland, provided more detail on proposals within the budget. She noted residents’ concerns over the state’s high property taxes, which she said are driven by local boards of education budgets. The House GOP’s budget would help address this, Nuccio said, by fully covering education costs, including excess special education costs.
Nuccio also said the budget would keep promises made by HB 5003, passed during the 2023 legislative session, which overhauled funding for several of the state’s education grant programs, including education cost sharing, magnet and charter schools, vo-ag schools, and Open Choice enrollment.
“All of this is direct relief to our local municipal budgets. It’s direct relief to our property taxes. And we respect the fact that Connecticut has to start taking this seriously.” Nuccio said.
During the press conference, Candelora referenced discussions about the use of ARPA funds in the budget, saying it was the “panacea that Democrats are relying on to make everybody happy,” but said that the GOP budget balances without touching ARPA dollars, preserving it for other priorities that might need funding. He said the caucus recognizes that it is not only one-time revenue, but “the last traunch of revenue” the state will see from the federal government.
Nuccio also addressed the use of federal funds the state received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), arguing that the best use of the funds is in areas most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lamont’s proposed budget included additional use of ARPA funding, which expires this year, for several programs, including stabilization grants to childcare programs through the Office of Childhood Education.
“I would argue that the best use of ARPA money is to spend that in areas where COVID had a negative impact and I can’t think of a better place to spend $80 million than to support our special needs students and the increase of special needs students due to the COVID pandemic,” Nuccio said.
She called the budget’s funding of the excess cost grants “one of the main pieces” of the caucus’ budget.
Funding for the proposal would come from a variety of places, including moving existing budgeted funds for things like repairs at the state house to bonding and maintaining staffing plans. The proposal also utilizes $10 million in savings from payments on pensions and debt. Nuccio said the proposal is also funded from savings by eliminating free healthcare for illegal immigrants.
Other items in the budget, according to Nuncio, include funding for public charter schools in Danbury and Middletown, which will also expand the number of charter school seats available, and increasing Medicaid rates for children from birth to three years old. She said the latter measure would also help the state’s nonprofits.
“By increasing our state spend by $12 million, we hope to bring in an additional total of $40 million when we get our federal match, which is an increase in the rate that will be paid from birth to three.”
Nuccio further stated that a portion of the governor’s budget related to roughly $43 million in retirement funds for teachers is not being addressed.
“I would hope by now Connecticut had learned a very valuable lesson about not funding our responsibilities for our retirement systems. We are in a major hole in this state, bigger than almost any other state in the country by not funding our pension obligations.” Nuccio said.
Nuccio said the $43 million was not being accounted for because the budget was not being opened.
Rep. Holly Cheeseman, R-East Lyme, spoke in more detail on funding for the proposal. She said the proposal had taken into account things like the decline in sales tax and that the measure preserves the Municipal Revenue Sharing Account. The budget also reduces the revenue transfer from the previous year, a move Cheeseman said respects reality.
Cheeseman also said the budget fulfills the caucus’ promise to eliminate the highway use tax. She also spoke about the Special Transportation Fund, which she said would run a close to $200 million surplus even with the elimination of the highway use tax.
“And to be honest, given the policy goals of totally getting rid of gas-powered vehicles, I’ll take seriously threats to the Special Transportation Fund when I hear some serious discussions about taxing electric vehicles.” Cheeseman said.
“We believe that leading with an adjusted budget to recognize the revenue shortfall was the way to start a conversation.” Candelora said, wrapping up the press conference. He also acknowledged that the caucus currently does not have a legislative vehicle to pass the budget, but that the first step would be to have the governor review it.
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