Gov. Lamont Issues Veto: Here's Why, What To Know

Gov. Ned Lamont approved most of a legislative bill dealing with reallocating funds, but he also rejected multiple expenditures.

Lamont approved the bulk of Senate Bill No. 298, “An Act Concerning the Reallocation of Certain State Funds and Various Provisions Relating to Education, Public Safety, General Government, Elections, Intermediate Care Facilities and Warehouse Distribution Centers.”

Lamont rejected about $4 million in budget earmarks, including the following:

• $174,000 for a grant-in-aid to the New London VFW.
• $70,000 for a grant to the Village Initiative Project.
• $2,500,000 for outdoor recreation in the City of Hartford.
• $330,000 for a grant to Our Piece of the Pie.
• $750,000 in each of FY 2026 and FY 2027 for a teacher residency program operated by the Capitol Region Education Council.
• $200,000 for a grant to Free Agent Now.

According to Lamont, he objects to the process, not the organizations that would have received the funding.

“Many of these programs do meaningful work in communities across our state,” Lamont said, in a March 3 letter to the Secretary of the State.

However, Lamont said state residents want greater transparency surrounding legislatively directed funds, or earmarks.

“When taxpayer dollars are set aside for specific entities outside of a competitive or formula-based process, the public deserves to know exactly how and why those decisions are made, what standards apply, and what oversight mechanisms are in place,” Lamont said.

Lamont has introduced House Bill 5039, which would require details on recipients and their planned use for funding, annual reporting by recipients, and a public database where taxpayers can see where their money goes, according to Lamont.

“Until meaningful transparency and oversight standards are enacted into law, I will not approve new legislatively directed appropriations embedded in omnibus legislation,” Lamont said.

The approved portion of the bill will strengthen health and safety standards for warehouse workers, safeguard elections from federal interference, and enhance police officer training, according to Lamont.

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said he had called for the line-item veto.

"The Governor's decision to heed our call and apply his line-item veto power to this rushed, emergency-certified bill signals he finally understands the magnitude of the fiscal accountability crisis on his hands,” Candelora said, in a statement Tuesday. “With an FBI investigation casting a shadow over our government, and residents frustrated by state spending and affordability, the stakes couldn't be clearer."

Sen. Rob Sampson, the ranking senator on the legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, has said a Department of Economic and Community Development audit flagged potential fraud at a Hartford nonprofit linked to Sen. Doug McCrory, D-Hartford, and the FBI is probing his connection to the Blue Hills Civic Association.

McCrory has denied wrongdoing. In a January statement about the audit, McCrory said it “makes clear that stronger oversight is needed to ensure that public funds are managed responsibly and effectively.”

“I agree with this goal and will be supportive of reasonable measures to achieve it,” he said.

“At the same time, I also feel strongly that we need to recognize that nonprofit organizations are essential partners in our communities, delivering youth programs, job training, housing assistance, and other critical services that families in my district and across Connecticut rely on every day. Therefore, while Connecticut should seek to strengthen oversight for public funds, it must do so carefully and fairly, without creating unnecessary red tape that blocks resources from reaching residents that need them the most.”

Republican Sen. Stephen Harding said of the vetoed items, “As Senate Republicans will continue to say, the state government ‘Candy Store’ must be closed down.”

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On Tuesday, state Senators Herron Keyon Gaston, D-Bridgeport, and Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox, D-Bridgeport, released a joint statement in response to Lamont’s vetoes.

“We are terribly disappointed by the Governor’s decision to veto this critical legislation,” the statement said.

The lawmakers said there have been “unprecedented” federal cuts, which have been gutting programs that working families depend on.

“The last thing we should be doing is cutting into the bone of some of our most vulnerable communities,” the statement said. “This veto doesn’t just affect Bridgeport or any one city; it sends the wrong signal to working-class families across Connecticut that we do not have their backs. That is simply unacceptable.”