Posted on May 7, 2024
Hartford, Conn. – State Representative Rachel Chaleski (R-138) supports an additional $12 million in state aid for the City of Danbury.
“Danbury has long sent more taxpayer dollars to the state than it has gotten back, and I was glad to see this additional aid included in the ARPA bill voted on,” said Chaleski. “Although sometimes there are differences between us, when it comes to supporting Danbury, we all agree that the citizens of Danbury come first. The delegation members have all been working to secure our fair share for the City and its residents.”
HB 5523 also includes $75,000 for Danbury Youth Services, $25,000 for TBICO Danbury Women’s Employment Program, and $50,000 each for Danbury Youth Baseball and Friends of the Danbury Museum & Historical Society. There’s also $200,000 for the Ellsworth School natural gas conversion and $8,000 for Uniforms Grassroots Academy in Danbury.
“While I’m glad Danbury will be allocated additional funding, as a member of the Appropriations Committee, I’m disappointed with how the budgetary process played out this session, especially after having successfully passed a bipartisan budget last session,” said Chaleski. ” The Speaker often references the good in bipartisanship, however, the House and Senate Democrat leaders negotiated without the input of Republicans. The Speaker acknowledged that by sending out the emergency certified language in the early morning hours of Monday morning, with negotiations still ongoing, there would not be time for debate that day.”
A vote was called a little over 24 hours after the bill was officially filed, with debate taking a good portion of the day on Tuesday. The House rules were then suspended so it could be immediately transmitted to the Senate. Chaleski was also concerned with the Appropriations Committee not opening the budget document up for adjustments.
“The ARPA reallocation and provisions related to the biennium budget combined bill gives some of the decision-making process to the administration and various agencies, rather than the legislature carrying out its duties. This contains a slew of bills, policy changes, revenue adjustments, authorizations, interagency transfers without collaboration or compromise. There’s almost 200 million in hold backs for the governor to choose from, and I just hope we are not on the chopping block.”
Chaleski also expressed concern about the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula only being funded under the plan at 96%. The document allocates $139 million of the $150 million in Education Reform funds approved in the biennium budget. The remainder is allocated to other education initiatives, such as $50,000 for the State Department of Education to come up with a plan to convert the State Board of Education into an advisory group.
“This doesn’t direct policy beyond Fiscal Year 2025 so the Education Committee will have to look at all of these issues again next year.”
The bill was sent to the Senate for further action.