The state Appropriations Committee is expected to vote in favor of a two-year, $43.3 billion budget today ”“ essentially equal to Gov. Ned Lamont”™s proposal in terms of dollars but differing in some of the details.
The Appropriations budget will then go to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, which is expected to finalize proposals for taxes, borrowing and other revenues for the two-year period; that decision is expected to come as early as tomorrow.
The differences between the legislature”™s and the governor”™s plans lie mainly in the areas of municipal aid, hospitals, social services, and state-funded pensions.
The General Assembly and the governor will then have five weeks to negotiate the budget”™s fine points before the legislature”™s scheduled June 5 adjournment.
In the meantime, nearly 1,000 other bills are still unresolved, including those dealing with the return of electronic tolls to state highways and the legalization of recreational marijuana.
