State Bond Commission approves $550M to fund numerous CT projects

The Connecticut State Bond Commission has approved approximately $550 million for a number of projects, mostly for school construction and transportation.

The commission approved $200 million for school construction projects and roughly $111 million for transportation projects with $30 million going to municipalities to help with road repair.

In addition, $20 million was allocated to complete the state”™s $80 million commitment to the Crumbling Foundation Fund and $5 million for a low-interest loan program for minority-owned businesses.

A WFSB report underscored a partisan disagreement over the commission”™s actions.

“Three are important projects that need to go forward,” it quoted Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney (D-New Haven) as saying. “Remember, bonding does promote economic development, it promotes construction jobs, it means jobs in the building trade and municipalities and also for nonprofits.”

“While the projects may have value, is today the day we should be voting these in?” asked State Sen. Kevin Witkos (R-Canton), the ranking senator on the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee, in the same report. “As the governor said at the beginning of the bond meeting, we don”™t know what the state is going to look like in a couple of months.”

In his latest letter to Office of Policy and Management Secretary Melissa McCaw, dated July 20, State Comptroller Kevin Lembo wrote that his office is projecting the state”™s general fund will close fiscal year 2020 ”“ which ended on June 30 ”“ with an operating shortfall of $153.1 million.

While that is an improvement over Lembo”™s previous forecast of a $291.6 million deficit, he noted that revenue accruals and General Accepted Accounting Principles accrual adjustments have yet to be finalized.

Lembo”™s office further estimates that the state”™s rainy day fund balance at the end of the year, after closing the anticipated FY20 budget deficit, will be $2.67 billion, or 13.3% of net general fund appropriations for the fiscal year that began July 1.