Enfield Representatives Vote in Favor of Compromise Budget Agreement
HARTFORD – State Representatives Greg Stokes (R-58) and Carol Hall (R-59) voted in favor of a compromise state budget agreement on the last day of the legislative session, Wednesday, May 9th.
Without adding new taxes, the Agreement restores more than $2.7 million to Enfield between education cost sharing and town aid. It prohibits hold backs to municipal funding by the Governor, restores the Medicare Savings Program and provides additional funding into Retired Teachers’ Healthcare. The budget also respects the revenue volatility cap instituted in 2017 and will deposit the influx of unexpected one-time revenue collected this year into the rainy day fund.
“I have fought hard for the restoration of funds for the town of Enfield,” said Rep. Hall. “The last two years have been a struggle in the Education Committee and Appropriations Committee to keep our town adequately funded. We also fought to keep funding for military honor guard burials that were left out of the Democrat’s initial budget proposal. I was proud to stand with my House and Senate Republican colleagues to offer a balanced budget proposal that would have taken more proactive steps to put our finances in order. This agreement was an acceptable compromise that takes care of Enfield’s near-term needs.”
“Protecting Enfield’s education funding has been one of my highest priorities for the past two legislative sessions, and this agreement does right by the town by restoring funding to our town and our local school district,” said Rep. Stokes. “The agreement also provides funding for our veterans in need by appropriating $2 million to the Veteran’s Hospital in Rocky Hill and provides funding for burial honor guards.”
The agreement also begins the implementation of some of the recommendations from the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth. As recommended by the commission, it requires a study of pro-growth tax rebalancing to produce a report for the legislature by December 2019. The deal also requires the hiring of outside financial consultants to identify $500 million in savings from general fund expenditures to be acted on by January 2019. Also, it requires a study of reforms to the Teacher Retirement System to pay down unfunded liability.