Rep. Linehan Votes For Bipartisan State Budget

WALLINGFORD, CT — (Contributed press release): State Rep. Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire / Southington / Wallingford) voted in favor of the balanced bipartisan budget that passed the House today and will restore education aid to Cheshire, Southington, and Wallingford.

The proposal reverses the cuts to towns in Governor Malloy’s executive order, restoring $8 million, $19.2 million, and $18.1 million in education cost sharing funding to Cheshire, Southington, and Wallingford respectively in Fiscal Year 2018. Additionally, it will prevent the layoffs of public safety employees that Southington would have been forced to make in the continued absence of a state budget.

“Today we did what residents of Connecticut have been asking for since the start of session – we passed a bipartisan, balanced budget. With this budget we are restoring education aid to schools, ensuring services for vulnerable residents can continue, and ending a stalemate that was damaging our business climate,” Linehan said. “Is this budget perfect? No. It is a budget that I would have written? No. But it is a truly bipartisan document, and by passing it with veto proof numbers we ensure that the Governor’s draconian cuts won’t affect our district, our children, non-profits, and the most vulnerable.”

“The passage of a Connecticut budget is a tremendous benefit to the students of Cheshire,” Cheshire Superintendent of Schools Jeff Solan said. “The uncertainty associated with a lack of a budget was becoming incredibly onerous. Cheshire Schools had not hired 10 positions which has an adverse impact on students. To know where we stand in this budget allows us to get back to focusing on how to use those resources to support our children and community.”

In addition to restoring education funding, the bipartisan budget:

• Rejects the Governor’s plan to shift teachers’ pension costs to towns
• Does not increase the income, sales, or corporate tax rate
• Invests in the school-to-manufacturing pipeline by funding technical schools and workforce training programs
• Invests in small businesses and job creation through programs such as the Small Business Express program
• Funds Care4Kids to help working families afford childcare
• Institutes a spending and bonding cap to provide greater budget predictability

Contributed photo