Gov. Ned Lamont will veto a line item in a proposed bill that would appropriate $40 million to special education.
At a press conference on March 3, Lamont explained his decision to strike a line item in HB 7067 that would have appropriated $40 million from the General Fund for Special Education Excess Cost Grants.
“I think it’s a wrong way to budget: Pay that, buy it now, pay later, we’ll figure out how we’re going to do it. That’s just the type of budgeting that got this state into the ditch over the last 20 years,” Lamont said at a press conference on March 3, when he announced he was vetoing line items from two bills. “We’ve had five balanced budgets in a row, and I don’t want to compromise on our sixth budget.”
On Feb. 25, HB 7067 was unanimously approved by the Connecticut State Senate, with no votes against it and only Sen. Patricia Billie Miller (D-Stamford, Darien) abstaining. On Feb. 24, the bill passed through the House with near unanimous support (140-5)
The version of HB 7067 that was approved by the Connecticut Legislature would add $181 million to the appropriated funding for Fiscal Year 2025. In addition to providing more funding for special education, the bill contained policies that would make it easier for hospitals that filed for bankruptcy to transfer ownership, give property tax exemption to disabled veterans and change the way motor vehicles are taxed.
Lamont also committed to vetoing a line item in a separate bill that would have provided $3 million to Planned Parenthood and LGBTQ nonprofits.
“You’ve got to start with an honestly balanced budget, and I’m not going to compromise on that. That’s been my North Star for five years. We’ve done it,” Lamont said. “I think it’s made a difference. We’ve been able to increase our budget every year consistently.”
In the 2022-2023 school year, more than $2.8 billion was spent on special education programs. Still, many school districts in Connecticut say their special education programs are overwhelmed.
The Excess Cost Grant provides partial reimbursement for special education for students whose needs cost more than 4.5 times the district’s average expenditure per-student for the previous year.
“We increase funding for special ed. over the last few years by $40 million and we’ve got a plan in place increase another $50 million, plus some capital expenses,” Lamont said. “I understand exactly how what this means to our municipalities. I want to sit down with the legislative leadership.”
A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate.
“We can sit down and try and work this through,” Lamont said. “This is the way we’ve done it for the last six years. There’s no reason to change right now, and we got three months to do it.”
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It very sad when our tax dollar is spent on illegals instead of our own children. I’d say his priorities need to be examined