The Connecticut Senate voted last night 20-16 to pass the $43 billion, two-year, state budget bill.
The Senate”™s action follows Monday night”™s 86-65 passage in the House of Representatives. No Republicans supported the bill and two Democrats ”“ Alex Bergstein of Greenwich and Joan Hartley of Waterbury ”“ voted against it. Gov. Ned Lamont is expected to sign the budget into law later today.
“This budget is fair, balanced, promotes economic growth and support for working families, and was delivered on time, enabling our towns and cities to know what they can expect in their budgets over the coming biennium and plan accordingly,” Lamont said. “Most of all, it further stabilizes our states finances, sending a signal to residents and businesses alike that we are serious about getting our economy growing again. Let”™s be clear: There is still more work to do. But I am proud of this budget and the steps it takes to get Connecticut back on track.”
However, Senate Republican Leader Len Fasano condemned the bill ahead of its passage as an example of “why people distrust government,” arguing that legislators were not given a proper amount of time to examine and debate its 567 pages of policy changes that were crafted without Republican input.
“This is more than just a budget crafted in darkness,” he said. “It”™s a slew of brand new state policies being forced on residents in one fell swoop. Some of these policies had no public hearings and zero input from the families and job creators who will be most affected. It creates new quasi-publics, funds pet projects, and includes countless Democrat policies that never made it through the legislative process. For the majority party, this fits under the category of it”™s good to be king.”
